Meet the Volunteers

Beryl Whyatt

Finance Officer

Beryl joined Phoenix as a volunteer in 2013. Previously she had worked for the BBC as Assistant to the Executive Editor of BBC London. She took early retirement from there to administer a national dance charity and for the past 10 years has been Finance Officer at Phoenix.

Lucy Buckley

Communication Support

Lucy has worked for many years as a CSW in secondary schools and colleges. She has BSL Level 6 and a degree in Deaf Studies from Bristol university. Her last role was an LSA at a Deaf school and now she is delighted to be volunteering for The Phoenix Group.  She has been a freelance CSW for Phoenix in the past so will be known to some of our members.

Yana Zayed

Activity programme

Yana has spent many years working with self-advocates from across the globe on disability equality and non-discrimination. After returning to the UK in 2020, with a meagre handful of random signs from different countries, she finally embarked on her goal of learning BSL and is currently navigating her way through Level 3. She volunteers with the Phoenix Group whenever she can spare the time, in support and admiration of the valuable work it does.

Kristina Elkins

Activity programme support

Kristina has volunteered at various charities in the past and continues to work with the NDCS where she works with parents who have Deaf children. Her aim is to instil the belief that Deaf children can do anything that comes their way, there will be barriers in life but it's finding ways to overcome them and do what is best/right for your child, there is no right or wrong. She is proud to be Profoundly Deaf as it is who she is and what defines her. Her future aims are to become a Deaf advocate, she has first-hand experience of the challenges and barriers Deaf people face and would like to help to improve that for future generations.