Our Team
Radish Online was set up in 2005 by Neil Morris and Paul Baker, who have long experience of community development work and of hosting and supporting community based websites and online discussion forums.
About Neil
Neil Morris grew up in New Zealand, and has worked in the field of intellectual disability since 1983. Prior to leaving New Zealand for the UK, he managed community-based services for people with intellectual disabilities.
In England, he worked for 14 years as a support person supporting the management and development of Central England People First, an organisation run and controlled by people with learning difficulties. In this role, he was involved with a number of local, national and European projects, research and policy initiatives.
Neil was first introduced to the internet in 1989. He has been developing, moderating and managing online forums in the disability and mental health areas since 1996. This includes three forums for the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities which have been running since 2000. These forums now have some 4900 members.
Neil has created web pages together with colleagues with learning difficulties as far back as 1995, and has a special interest in web usability and accessibility, and the internet's potential to empower people at a local and (inter)national level.
Neil's educational qualifications include a Certificate in Teaching People with Disabilities, a Bachelor's degree in Sociology, and an M.A. in Policy Studies.
In his spare time, he is the director of Freecycle UK, an internet-based, non-profit network which aims to divert reusable goods from landfill. The Freecycle network now has over 1 million members in the UK.
About Paul
Paul Baker was born in Winchester, in the south of England. He graduated from the University of Manchester where he was awarded an Honours Degree in American Literature, he also has a Post-graduate Diploma in Community Education, specialising in working with young people.
Paul has worked in the health care and education sectors for the last 30 years. He had the responsibility to develop new health care services in the community. He has a special interest in working with groups of people to find ways of help themselves overcome difficulties and problems.
Paul has published three books and written chapters and articles for many publications. He also lectures and provides training on a variety of subjects related to his career interests.
For fifteen years Paul was the President of a large charity for homeless people.
Paul now is based in Spain with his wife and children.
Other Team Members:
Joy Lewis
A teacher by profession, Joy went on to become a head teacher of primary schools before home-schooling her children.
She has been moderating internet forums in the mental health and learning disability area since 2003.
Joan Walker
Joan has been working with people with learning difficulties since the early 1980s. She is a trained social worker.
Joan has been involved with moderating online forums since 2005. She has supported people with learning difficulties in the self-advocacy area for a number of years.
Sandra Morris
Sandra has a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and a Master's degree in Applied Social Research. She has been writing websites and running and moderating forums in the health and mental health sectors since 2004.
She has a special interest in making the internet accessible and usable for everyone. Sandra has a good knowledge of HTML, CSS, and a variety of forum software.
