Hear from our team
Alexander Chidgey
Head of Older People and Disabilities
Alex has responsibility for operational services for older people and people with disabilities. This includes the Adult Social Care front-door, hospital discharge, Reablement, occupational therapy, neighbourhood teams and safeguarding.
Alex is a registered Social Worker and is committed to supporting people to live independently, with dignity, connected to their local communities. Alex is passionate about supporting staff to use their professional skills in strengths-based approaches to understand what matters to people and how the best possible outcomes can be achieved.
Sissi Mylona
Head of Mental Health, Learning Disabilities, Safeguarding Adults and Independent Living
Sissi has held various leadership positions before joining Newham in 2019. She leads the Mental Health, Learning Disabilities, Autism and Safeguarding Services and is committed to providing the best possible care and support to Newham residents.
Sissi is driven by her desire to make a positive difference, and her approach to service delivery is firmly rooted in the belief that there are always ways to improve outcomes for residents, promote their independence, keep them safe and create positive experiences.
Erika Natale 
Principal Social Worker, Adults Services
As the Principal Social Worker, Erika’s vision is to create a culture of learning, development and wellbeing for the Social Care Practitioners in Adult Services. She is keen to ensure that staff are equipped with opportunities to grow and develop their expertise, knowledge, skills and practice alongside their professional judgement.
Erika is committed to staff career development and recognises that our Social Workers need a pathway to progress in their profession and reach their full potential from the point of entering the organisation to the point of stepping up to more senior professional and social work leadership roles in their career.
Sarah Forshaw
Service Manager: Independent Living & Principal Occupational Therapist. Adult Social Care, Older People & Physical Disability
Sarah oversees the service delivery of three teams: Occupational Therapy, Reablement, and the HAIL team, which handles Disabled Facilities Grant-funded adaptations. As the Principal Occupational Therapist in Adult Social Care at Newham Council, she collaborates and communicates with colleagues across Newham, London, and nationally to ensure Occupational Therapy services for adults with disabilities are value for money whilst being person-centred and strengths-based.
"I am passionate about helping individuals to engage in the everyday occupations that are important to them. I love my role as it is so rewarding to hear how we are making a positive difference to the lives of those we support."
