Team & Partners

Our founder

John Paul Randles

Director · Designated Safeguarding Lead · Lead Facilitator

Working musician, DJ, music producer and tutor — and a health-and-social-care practitioner with over a decade of experience across the NHS, home care, prison healthcare and mental-health settings.

As a parent of a child with autism, John Paul brings lived experience of SEND families into every part of how Play Northwest works. He holds an Enhanced DBS certificate and completes safeguarding training annually.

Contact: hello@playnorthwestcic.com

Governance

Play North West CIC is a Community Interest Company registered in England & Wales (Company No. 15796794). As a CIC we operate under a legally-binding asset lock — all surpluses are reinvested into delivery and bursary places. No part of the CIC’s income is distributable for private benefit.

Directors

Play Northwest CIC has two unconnected directors — not related, not partners and not living at the same address — both listed on the Companies House register:

• John Paul Randles — Founder and Director · Designated Safeguarding Lead (appointed June 2024)
• Andrew Reeves — Director · Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (appointed November 2024)

Adding independent board members

We want a board that doesn’t depend on the people who run Play Northwest day to day. We are recruiting two independent members — people with no family, personal or financial connection to either director, who are not paid by the CIC.

• Who: we are prioritising lived experience of mental-health services or SEND — the communities our programmes serve.
• How: an open call with a published role description, shared through voluntary-sector networks across Knowsley and Merseyside.
• Safeguards: every board member holds an Enhanced DBS check, completes safeguarding induction and declares any conflicts of interest, reviewed annually.
• When: both appointed by 31 March 2027.

Interested in joining our board? Email johnpaul@playnorthwestcic.com.

Key policies are reviewed annually:

• Safeguarding Policy (PDF)
• Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy (PDF)
• Data Protection Policy (PDF)
• Privacy Policy (UK GDPR-aligned, on-device data storage by default)
• Complaints Policy (Fundraising Regulator-compliant)
• Accessibility Statement