Our Staff Team

Rupert Blomfield - Manager

Part time 4 days Mon - Thurs

Rupert took over managerial duties from Annette Hughes in October 2021. He has spent the last twenty five years working mostly in the charitable sector with rough sleepers, subsistence farmer blacksmiths, refugees, asylum seekers and victims of human trafficking and modern slavery. He has previously held managerial/directoral posts with organisations such as Amber Initiatives, Plymouth Hope and Devon Inclusive Housing Project  

Annette Hughes - Finance Manager. 

Part time 1 day flexible

Originally trained as a nurse, then qualifying as social worker, Annette spent 3 years volunteering in Mozambique supporting rural community groups and volunteering projects through an international development agency. This life changing experience drove Annette to follow a career with an international context and in areas of justice and equality. Following a short spell of working with the local government on return to the UK Annette was pleased to become the first Project Coordinator for Refugee Support Devon in 2003. In September 2021 Annette stepped back from managerial duties and now focuses on supervising RSD's financial affairs and assisting with fundraising.

Kiven Emmanuel - Senior Drop-in Coordinator. 

Part time 3 days Tues - Thurs.

Kiven oversees our Drop-in and Immigration Clinic Services. He joined RSD in May 2023, having previously worked in operation management and project support roles with Devon and Cornwall Refugee Support and Plymouth Hope. Before that he worked for many years in a range of international development roles in the UK and Cameroon. Kiven is experienced in drop-in environments and is accredited by OISC to provide Level 1 immigration advice .

Valentina Todino – Drop-in coordinator

Part Time Tues to Fri

Valentina pursued her interest in languages and cultures by specializing with a Masters in Applied Translation at the University of Exeter and thereafter she has been working with the Department of Modern Languages as a community liaison officer on a project called Transcultural Devon. The project collects video interviews of speakers of other languages that live in the area about their experience of migration and cultural identity. She is currently an Honorary Associate Research Fellow of the University of Exeter and she is involved also in community projects, including being an active member of the Italian Cultural Association Exeter. She has hosted screenings of Italian films about the refugee crisis and organised online Italian lessons which brought students from Exeter University together with refugees in Italy. Her interest in refugee issues brought her to RSD, first as a volunteer and then, at the end of 2022, as our drop-in coordinator, assisting Kiven by triaging new drop-in clients and coordinating our team of drop-in volunteers.

Souad Fadel - Resettlement Coordinator

Full Time Mon - Fri.

Souad joined RSD in 2018 to provide welcome and support services to families resettled in Devon as a result of the war in Syria. More recently she has taken on similar responsibilities for families evacuated from Afghanistan in August 2021. Initially a lecturer at Benghazi university in Libya, Souad came to the UK in 2007 to complete her Ph.D in Politics at Exeter University, focusing on immigrants and refugees. Souad has a clear understanding about the risks people take to find safety, and vast volunteering experience with diverse groups in Exeter, including being Vice Principal of Exeter Muslim Association.

Denise Parker - Education & Employability Coordinator

Part time flexible.

Denise coordinates our education and employability projects, helping our clients access local vocational and academic training and moving them towards employment. She has worked in the UK and abroad as a TEFL teacher and online teacher trainer, EAP specialist in Business and Medicine and assessor for IELTS and Trinity College London exams. She started with RSD as a volunteer tutor specialising in Medical English to work with refugee doctors and much of her time now is spent on our new RAMP project.

Jennifer (Jen) Schoen – ESOL coordinator

Part Time Wed.

Jen has worked in education in the USA for over 20 years, mostly with students ranging in ages 10-18. She started her career as a Reading Specialist, working with students who struggled to learn to read. Most recently she has been a classroom teacher for 10-14 year olds in Humanities. She joined RSD as a teaching volunteer in 2021 and, at the beginning of 2022, took on the role of assisting Denise by coordinating the work done by our team of ESOL volunteers.

Jury Arevalo - Outreach coordinator

Part Time Wed and Thurs

Jury joined RSD at the beginning of 2023. She has been contracted by Exeter City Council to work with asylum seekers recently accommodated by the Home Office in local hotels, identifying their most pressing needs and liaising with the hotel management, local volunteers and partner organisations to develop strategies and systems to address those needs.

Trupti Desai - Administrator. 

Part time Mon - Wed.

 Trupti worked for the British Council for over 20 years before joining the RSD team as an Administrator in 2013. Her work with the British Council led her to work in countries such as the Gaza Strip, India and Thailand. Working mainly in partnership with other NGOs Trupti developed an acute awareness of the needs of people at grassroots level and engaging them in all aspects of the British Council’s work. Trupti transfers her excellent managerial and administrative skills to RSD, bringing in some order where there is often chaos!

Nick Floyd - Administrative assistant. 

Part time Wed - Fri.

Originally trained as a microbiologist Nick eventually left science to pursue a career change and explore a range of new activities, including qualifying as an ESOL teacher and living and teaching in Malaysia. On return to the UK Nick worked as enrolments administrator in a language school for over 10 years, bringing his wealth of skills to RSD as admin assistant in January 2018.