Breaking Free Group

OUR COMPANY Breaking Free Group's mission is to increase people's access to effective behaviour change interventions and empower them to overcome their addictive behaviours, wherever possible through self-management. Since 2010 our UK-based team of clinical, health and research psychologists has developed evidence-based digital interventions for problem drinking, drug misuse and smoking on a proprietary digital health platform we created by applying robust behavioural science. These digital programmes deliver confidential and highly personalised support 24 hours a day, equipping people with the insights and specific techniques they need to achieve enduring behavioural change. They operate at a deep therapeutic level by targeting not only the addictive behaviours, but also the underlying cognitive, emotional, physiological and lifestyle issues that cause and maintain them. Designed to be scalable, cost-effective and easy to deploy, our digital health innovations overcome many of the key barriers to treatment such as shame, stigma, waiting lists, lack of access to services, time constraints, geographical proximity and language. Crucially, our solutions enable commissioners to deliver more evidence-based interventions with greater reach, consistency and treatment fidelity using fewer resources. Each one is supported by an online dashboard that demonstrates return on investment by tracking uptake, reach and clinical impact in real time, and by stratifying the anonymised, aggregated data to show performance against identified KPIs. We seek to build long-term partnerships with the agencies and organisations that adopt our solutions. We engage, consult and support stakeholders at all levels – commissioners, service managers, substance misuse practitioners, healthcare professionals, service users and peer mentors – to maximise the therapeutic impact of our digital interventions. At the heart of our approach is ongoing research and evaluation. As well as demonstrating the efficacy and clinical integrity of our interventions, this research provides valuable insights into the most effective ways of implementing and diffusing them in a wide range of settings. OUR TEAM DR JONATHAN WARD, MANAGING DIRECTOR BA (Hons), MSc, Clin.Psy.D. jward@breakingfreegroup.com Jonathan founded the company in 2010 to realise his vision of harnessing digital technology to increase people’s access to evidence-based behaviour change interventions. As well as providing our strategic direction, he leads on the design and development of our digital health innovations. He previously worked in various roles in industry and as part of a leading research group at the University of Manchester. He then trained as a Clinical Psychologist and practised in the National Health Service in adult mental health. Jonathan Ward Glyn Davies GLYN DAVIES, SERVICE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR BSc (Hons), MSc (Econ) gdavies@breakingfreegroup.com Glyn leads on building long-term relationships with commissioners and service providers and liaising with key stakeholders such as NHS England and the Ministry of Justice. Having been with us since our inception in 2010, he has played an instrumental role in developing and evolving our interventions. His academic background is in criminology and criminal justice, and he has extensive experience of both the commissioning and delivery of substance misuse and criminal justice services. DR SARAH ELISON-DAVIES, RESEARCH DIRECTOR BSc (Hons), MSc, MPhil, PhD, C.Psychol selison@breakingfreegroup.com Sarah leads our systematic programme of research and evaluation in collaboration with other research scientists at leading academic institutions. She joined us in 2013, having worked previously as an academic researcher at numerous UK universities and in the National Health Service. She completed her MSc at King’s College London, MPhil at St George’s Medical School, and PhD at the University of Salford. She is accredited as a Chartered Psychologist by the British Psychological Society. Sarah Elison-Davies Kingsley Pinto KINGSLEY PINTO, IT DIRECTOR B.Eng, MBA kpinto@breakingfreegroup.com Kingsley leads our web development team and drives the implementation of our long-term technical and risk mitigation strategies. Before joining us in 2015, he worked in technical and team leadership roles at a diverse range of Indian, German and UK companies. Most recently, he was Product Director at Corso, where he designed and implemented a proprietary cross-platform enterprise architecture and innovation management solution. EMMA HILTON, CHANNEL MARKETING MANAGER Adobe Suite ehilton@breakingfreegroup.com Emma leads on our marketing, external communications and multi-channel stakeholder engagement initiatives. She is also involved in the process of designing the user interface of our digital interventions. She joined us in 2015, having worked previously in a marketing role in a fast-moving commercial environment at the Fragrance Shop, and before that in the public sector in a quality assurance role at Blackpool Social Services. Emma Hilton Stephanie Dugdale STEPHANIE DUGDALE, RESEARCH ASSOCIATE BSc (Hons), MSc sdugdale@breakingfreegroup.com Steph helps to develop the evidence base for our digital interventions and expound the behavioural science that underpins them. She joined us in 2015 and is currently a Health Psychologist in Training, undertaking a Doctorate in Health Psychology at Staffordshire University that is being funded by the company. Prior to this, she completed her BSc in Psychology at the University of Manchester and MSc in Health Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University. PAUL FLETCHER, FINANCE DIRECTOR ACCA pfletcher@breakingfreegroup.com Paul leads on our financial function, overseeing our financial control and planning and helping us to achieve our commercial objectives. He joined us in 2017, having worked in a range of financial management and accountancy roles at companies including technology-based SMEs, Craegmoor Healthcare, Bowater Windows Group, The Hospital Medical Group and South Staffordshire Water. He also worked for a time in the public sector at Birmingham City Council. ISMAIL JAN, CUSTOMER SERVICE EXECUTIVE ijan@breakingfreegroup.com Ismail ensures that we provide high-quality, responsive customer service to all the agencies and organisations that implement our solutions. He joined us in 2018, having performed numerous customer-facing and dedicated customer service roles in the retail, banking, IT, hospitality and media sectors. The companies he previously worked for include Jack Jones, Innov8 International, Royal Bank of Scotland, Capgemini, Travelodge and Virgin Media. Breaking Free Group is the trading name of Breaking Free Online Limited Company registered in England with the number 07441522 Registered office at Innovation Birmingham Campus, Faraday Wharf, Holt Street, Birmingham, B7 4BB, United Kingdom Privacy and Cookies Policy All content © Breaking Free Online Limited 2010-2018. All rights reserved. Programmes developed by Clinical Psychologists: HPC The British Psychological Society