Who We Are
The Accessible Learning Foundation Limited is a private company limited by guarantee without share capital. It is a registered charity (Registered charity number 1209876 in England & Wales) founded by Rt Hon Matt Hancock in 2023. The company has four directors who act as trustees.
Meet the Team
Matt Hancock
Founder
Matt was a member of parliament for West Suffolk from 2010 until 2024. In that time he served in several ministerial roles under Prime Ministers David Cameron and Theresa May in the UK Government, in Business, Energy, Digital and Culture, and is best known as the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from 2018 to 2021.
In that role he was responsible for leading the NHS and wider UK health system through the Covid pandemic, and led the vaccine delivery programme. Matt is responsible for over a dozen pieces of UK legislation, including the legislation underpinning UK data rules and the modern operation of the NHS.
During his time as an MP, Matt worked to introduce universal screening for neurodivergent conditions in all UK primary schools, alongside better teacher training and support for those in schools, business, and the criminal justice system. In 2023 he founded ALF to promote this cause.
Sarah Dixon
Trustee
Sarah, a qualified solicitor, brings a wealth of knowledge not only from her legal training but as her experience as a mother of two neurodivergent children.
Navigating the education system with children that "don't fit the mould" is incredibly challenging, expensive and time consuming. Having put in place support groups locally, Sarah is now adamant to bring about change on a larger scale.
Sarah has experience in fundraising and has spent time organising and running projects within schools. She is a volunteer with the Prison Advice and Care Trust and holds a BSc from Bristol University.
Martin Bloomfield
Trustee
Martin has taught and worked in neurodiversity awareness for over twenty years, winning a commendation for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion from the British Council, driving transnational projects such as the SEN Toolkit (providing free online training in neurodiversity awareness for mainstream teachers) and the Dyslexia Compass (aligning international dyslexia measurements across Europe), and delivering lectureships and training in SEN issues to schools, universities and businesses internationally.
He runs the Dyslexia Bytes project, raising awareness of dyslexia from an intercultural perspective, has created the Dyslexia Map, the world's most comprehensive map of dyslexia providers around the globe, and is Editor-in-Chief of NeuroConverse, the online neurodiversity academic journal. He holds a PhD in Ethics and Diversity from the University of York.
Fiona Dixon
Trustee
As a teacher for over 20 years, Fiona has broad educational experience across the primary and secondary sectors and is an experienced school governor. After completing a Masters in Specific Learning Difficulties, she now works with families and schools diagnostically assessing and supporting children with dyslexia and other co-occurring difficulties. She provides assessment feedback for those training as specialist teachers and assessors of dyslexia at UCL.
Currently, Fiona is completing a Masters in Child Development to develop her expertise in a wide range of areas relating to children and the contexts in which they grow and develop, including families, schools and care settings, and taking the opportunity to be involved as a research assistant.
Fiona is delighted to be involved with the Accessible Learning Foundation in its drive to influence the debate around early identification, provision and support for neurodivergent people, knowing first-hand the challenges this brings to the individuals and their families.
Julian Hosking
Trustee
Julian brings a wealth of experience in the criminal justice system, serving as a Senior Manager for Family and
Relationships for HMPPS. His expertise lies in developing and
implementing embedded Family and Significant Other policies and provisions nationally for Prisons. This includes leading peer mentor support programmes and contributing to responses to critical reviews like Lord
Farmer’s.
With a background in the programmes and partnership team
within RCSG, Julian has championed complex projects and teams, including co-commissioning for health
and wellbeing.