Kelly Louise Swain

(She/Her)

Founder and Joint Director of National Online Wellbeing Services (N.O.W.S)

Hello and welcome. I’m Kelly Louise Swain, Founder and Joint Director of National Online Wellbeing Services, known as N.O.W.S.

My work is rooted in a deep belief that children, young people and families should not have to reach crisis point before receiving meaningful support. Early intervention can change the direction of a person’s life and this belief has remained at the heart of N.O.W.S since I founded the organisation in 2018.

Today, my role reaches far beyond the personal story that first led me here. As Joint Director and Operations Manager, I provide strategic and operational leadership across N.O.W.S, working closely with commissioners, health services, education settings, community organisations and delivery partners to develop safe, accessible and needs-led pathways of support.

I help oversee service delivery, safeguarding, workforce development, programme implementation and the continued development of our early-intervention provision. I am committed to ensuring that N.O.W.S grows responsibly, with accountability, professional collaboration and the voices of the people using our services at the centre of that growth.

As the organisation’s Designated Safeguarding Lead, I hold responsibility for helping to ensure that safeguarding remains central to our culture and service delivery. This includes supporting the team with safeguarding concerns, maintaining clear reporting and escalation pathways and working alongside families and relevant professionals when additional or statutory support may be required.

N.O.W.S provides early-intervention emotional and mental wellbeing support for children, young people, adults and families. Our work includes one-to-one therapeutic coaching, emotional resilience programmes, school-based support, parent support, staff training, community programmes, workshops and workplace wellbeing.

Our services have supported thousands of children, young people and families across Essex and beyond, including delivery within hundreds of schools and education settings. We have delivered support through NHS-commissioned pathways and worked alongside Integrated Care Boards, Essex County Council, education settings, community organisations and other partners committed to improving emotional and mental wellbeing.

My understanding of this work began through lived experience.

From a young age, I experienced emotional challenges, low self-worth and the impact of growing up within a difficult home environment. These experiences followed me into adulthood and after becoming a mother, I experienced postnatal depression alongside significant physical health challenges and chronic pain.

Following complications from pelvic mesh surgery, my life changed in ways I could never have imagined. I underwent major surgery and lived with an ileostomy stoma for seven years. There were times when I felt disconnected from the person I had once been and unable to live or mother in the way I wanted to.

My children became a powerful reason for me to keep moving forward. I began rebuilding my life one step at a time, learning more about emotional wellbeing, trauma, the mind-body connection, self-worth and the tools that can help people feel more able to navigate difficult periods in their lives.

That journey did not give me all the answers. It gave me compassion, determination and a genuine understanding of how it can feel when someone is struggling beneath what the outside world can see. It also showed me the difference that safe, timely and person-centred support can make.

My lived experience remains an important part of who I am, although it does not stand alone. I have continued to develop my professional knowledge and practice through qualifications, training, direct service delivery, safeguarding leadership and years of working alongside children, young people, adults and families.

I am trained as an NLP Practitioner, Personal Breakthrough Coach, Law of Attraction Mentor, Reiki Master, Rahanni Practitioner and Sound Therapy Practitioner. I am also trained in Youth and Adult Mental Health First Aid.

My professional development, lived experience and leadership responsibilities have shaped the way I lead N.O.W.S today. I understand the importance of listening to the whole person while recognising professional boundaries, scope of practice and the need for clear safeguarding, consent, information governance, supervision and escalation procedures.

N.O.W.S does not seek to replace clinical mental health, medical or statutory services. Our role is to provide early-intervention and complementary emotional wellbeing support within clearly defined pathways, helping people develop greater self-awareness, confidence, emotional resilience and practical tools for everyday life.

Where a person’s needs fall outside the scope of our service, we support appropriate communication, escalation or signposting to relevant professionals. We recognise the importance of working collaboratively with families, education settings, health professionals and statutory services so that people can access the right support at the right time.

Our approach is needs-led, trauma-informed and centred around the individual. We recognise that every person brings their own experiences, strengths, challenges and circumstances. There is no one-size-fits-all pathway to wellbeing, which is why our support is shaped around the person rather than asking the person to fit into a rigid model.

Alongside my leadership role, I continue to advocate for earlier access to support, particularly for children and young people experiencing anxiety, low self-worth, emotional overwhelm, self-harm, emotionally based school avoidance and the additional barriers that may be experienced by neurodivergent young people and their families.

I am passionate about creating stronger connections between health, education, families and community services. Too many people fall through gaps while waiting for their needs to become serious enough to meet a threshold. I believe there is an important space between coping alone and reaching crisis and this is where safe, well-governed early-intervention services can make a lasting difference.

Under my joint leadership, N.O.W.S has continued to grow its partnerships, programmes and commissioned delivery while remaining true to its founding purpose: to meet people with compassion, listen without judgement and provide practical support before difficulties escalate.

Our work is strengthened by service-user feedback, outcome monitoring, safeguarding oversight, professional collaboration and continued learning. We are committed to reflecting on what works, listening to the people accessing our support and using that learning to develop our services responsibly.

I am also a motivational speaker and mental health and wellbeing advocate. I speak openly and honestly about resilience, recovery, motherhood, mental health and rebuilding life after adversity. I do this because I understand how much courage it can take for someone to say they are struggling and how powerful it can be to realise they are not alone.

My personal interest in holistic wellbeing and spirituality remains an important part of my own life and personal journey. Within N.O.W.S, any complementary wellbeing approaches are clearly explained, delivered within an appropriate scope and never presented as a replacement for medical, psychological or clinical care.

I am incredibly proud of how N.O.W.S began and of everything it has grown to become. What started with a personal desire to make a difference has developed into an established organisation supporting children, young people, families, schools, communities and workplaces.

At the heart of it all is still the same promise: to see the person, not simply the presenting difficulty and to provide support with care, integrity and respect.

With warmth and gratitude,

Kelly Louise Swain