Meet the Recruitment team

Annie Rose Fitzpatrick

Talent Acquisition Manager

Annie began her recruitment career at LEYF 7 years ago, since then she has progressed to leading the Recruitment team.

Annie has experience recruiting for most, if not all, of our nurseries, which has enabled her to build strong relationships at all levels across the organisation. She continuously looks at different recruitment strategies to showcase why we are the employer of choice and works very closely with Marketing to deliver this. She has a real passion for ensuring we recruit the best quality staff for our nurseries.

Annie loves going to the gym, taking long walks and is always looking at where to book her next holiday.

Nivine Arafa

Senior Talent Acquisition Officer

Nivine first joined LEYF in 2015 where she worked in the Business Acquisition team, after graduating in Journalism.

Nivine then returned to LEYF in 2018 where she joined the Customer Service team for a year before moving to Greece where she worked in a refugee camp as an Arabic translator/support worker.

She retuned to LEYF in 2020 to support in the Recruitment team as a Recruitment Officer and has since worked her way up to Senior Talent Acquisition Officer.

Lucy Bourne

Early Years Recruitment and Partnerships Manager

Originally from Canada, Lucy moved to the UK in 2016 after receiving her certificate in Human Resources in 2016, and previously studied Business Administration in 2009, where she obtained her Diploma.

Lucy has spent roughly 4.5 years working to support care-experienced candidates into sustainable employment, where she built relationships with companies in London to support internships and work experience. From this, Lucy’s passion for social mobility, diversity and inclusion, and strong relationships have supported her in her new role at LEYF.

When not working, Lucy loves to cook and has travelled to over 35 countries.

Chloe McCann

Talent Acquisition Officer

Chloe joined LEYF at the beginning of 2022 as a Recruitment Officer.

With 8 years of recruitment experience, Chloe has a wealth of knowledge of recruitment in various sectors such as marketing, business support and the financial industry.

With Chloe’s knowledge and experience of the recruitment sector, she also provided tailored support to 18–24-year-olds who suffer with mental health barriers, and supported them to get into education, employment or a form of training.

Sarah Jane Bourke

Talent Acquisition Officer

Sarah Jane joined the Recruitment team at the end of July 2022 as a Recruitment Officer.

She spent the last six years recruiting within the healthcare industry (NHS and private sectors) before beginning her journey within Early Years recruitment with LEYF.

Her experience also includes Administration and Customer Service.

Amina Askar

Education Employment Advisor

Amina joined LEYF in 2022 as an Education and Employment Advisor and she supports the Apprenticeships team.

After graduating with a degree in history, Amina went on to working on a programme that supports young people aged between 18–24 years with SEMH needs, with their personal and professional development. Amina managed a caseload of 60, and built partnerships with learning providers, employers and the DWP in the communities she supported.

LEYF will be Amina’s first role in the not-for-profit sector.

Lacey-Anne Farr

Talent Acquisition Officer

Lacey joined LEYF in June 2021. She has worked in Health & Social Care and Early Years recruitment for the last 6 years.

In her first role as a recruiter, Lacey also worked in mother and baby units in family assessment as a support worker, where she learned how important it is to match the right people to the right roles as a recruiter. Making sure the people she recruited were not just qualified but compassionate, caring and understanding, and had a genuine passion for looking after children.

Sophie Manns

Talent Acquisition Officer

Sophie joined LEYF in 2020 and is now part of the Recruitment team as a Talent Acquisition Officer.

She started working with LEYF as an Administrative Assistant in Camberwell Grove Nursery & Pre-School, before joining the Recruitment team in 2022.

Sophie’s background is in retail, where she worked her way up to a managerial position before deciding to start a new career, after 9 years in that industry.

Our recruitment partners

These are some of the partners that we work with. If you’re interested in working with us, please contact our Early Years Recruitment and Partnerships Manager.