Cass Palmer

Chief Executive Officer

Cass started her Health and Social Care career in 2007. She had finished her Law and Taxation degree and took some time out to travel to prepare for her legal career. After travelling Southeast Asia, she began working in a residential home providing care and support for individuals diagnosed with complex mental health conditions. The rest is history!

With extensive experience in the field, she has run residential, supported living, and community services for both national and smaller providers. Her main focus is ensuring individuals are in the most appropriate settings to meet their physical and psychological health needs. A strong advocate for people with learning disabilities, autism, and mental health conditions, she firmly believes that everyone should have an exceptional quality of life and access to meaningful activities and hobbies. Passionate about increasing awareness and understanding of psychological health, she has been a trainer in Mental Health Awareness since 2013. Additionally, she has supported individuals navigating legal processes, striving to make their experience as stress-free as possible.

Health, fitness, and wellbeing are key interests in her life, and Cass continues to study within this field. A qualified personal trainer, nutrition advisor, and health coach, Cass volunteers as a health coach to individuals with various health conditions. Her goal is to help those who may struggle to access the resources needed to achieve their health and fitness goals. Cass also volunteers for Crohn’s and Colitis UK by supporting the charity with the content within their publications.

Sue Vaughan

Founder & Ambassador

Since 1987, Sue has worked in various areas of health and social care across the spectrum of age groups from birth to the elderly. In the eight years prior to founding Acorns Sue was firstly Head of Care for an independent company providing residential care for young people. During her tenure and leadership the company achieved consistent “outstanding” Ofsted inspections at all their homes. She took her outstanding service user led outcomes approach to care to her next post where, in three years, she successfully guided a start-up company providing adult care in growing from four service users to thirty service users across five homes on various types of care packages.

Sue has a thorough knowledge and understanding of the legislation regulating the care industry gained from her breadth of experience at all levels in the sector. She is passionate about the importance of building excellent teams of care workers so that service users are positively supported to achieve “outstanding” outcomes from their individual care plans. Sue’s practical experience is backed up with a Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People’s Services – Children and Young People’s Residential Management.

“I have always had the ethos that I would care for anyone in a way that I would want my family cared for. This ethos has driven me to expect the highest standard of care from any team that I have led, ensuring that the team works as a ‘we’.”

Margarita O’Malley

Finance Director

Margarita is an experienced CFO and qualified Company Secretary with over 30 years’ expertise in healthcare, technology, and consultancy. She holds a BA from the University of Limerick, where she completed her teacher training, and later went on to qualify as a Chartered Management Accountant.

Her role as CFO and Acting COO of a group of residential and dementia care homes in 2022 was a pivotal point in her career. Joining at a time of great change, she stabilised operations, supported 400 staff, improved occupancy, and ultimately delivered a sale that ensured continuity of care for vulnerable residents and protected jobs for staff. It was during this time that the human impact of healthcare finance resonated with her most strongly, and her passion for making a difference in the care sector truly took root.

Margarita contributes her expertise to charities including the Bangladesh Medical Relief Foundation and Singing Gorilla Projects, and she previously served as Trustee and CFO of Debt Justice, a charity working to eliminate unjust and unpayable third-world debt. She believes that finance should not only safeguard balance sheets but also protect people, communities, and the quality of care they receive.

Andrew Arkinstall

Head of HR

Andrew has a wealth of experience in health and social care, with over 25 years’ experience of working in senior HR roles across the public, private and charitable sectors.

In is early career, he worked in local authorities, and it was whilst working at West Berkshire Council that he led the HR team supporting social care teams in Adult and Children’s services. From there, he has headed up HR roles for FitzRoy Support, the national learning disability charity which helps transform the lives of people with learning disabilities, moving on to Colten Care where he contributed his skills to developing “Outstanding” care homes with great staff support and training.

Prior to joining Acorns in September 2025, he worked at the Future Care Group in Older People’s care, setting up new systems and processes to assist home managers and team leaders.

In addition to holding Chartered Member status for the professional institute for people and development specialists, the CIPD, he also holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration.

Andrew has a keen interest in developing our managers and teams to be the very best that they can be to meet both the needs and the aspirations of the people in our care.

Amanda Barnwell

Registered Manager & Nominated Individual

Immediately prior to joining Acorns, Amanda was a Deputy Manager and then the Registered Manager across five locations in CQC regulated care homes providing both personal care without nursing and domiciliary care within the Adult Care sector. Prior to that she was a Deputy Residential Care Manager in residential homes for both children and young people.

In all these roles she provided optimum care to children, young people and adults with learning disabilities, emotional behaviour problems, autism and Asperger’s syndrome. She was responsible for many aspects of her previous company’s safeguarding practices which put her at the forefront of protecting service users from abuse and mistreatment. Her experience has equipped her with a proven track record in safeguarding, adhering to laws, regulations, policies and best practices to ensure service users’ dignity, confidentiality, choice, rights, respect and equality.

Helen Green

Head of Recruitment and Wellbeing Lead

Helen spent 31 years working in retail banking, followed by 2 years in a GP surgery before joining our Team in January 2020 as Book Keeper and HR Administrator.

She has a vast experience of working within an office environment and has acquired skills relating to the recruitment of care staff as well as a good knowledge of what is required to assist in the staffing of an excellent care staff team due to her previous 5 years with Acorns and now promoted Head of Recruitment and Wellbeing Lead.

Helen is a volunteer Trustee for a local children’s cancer charity Abby’s Heroes. She has also been an active member of Girlguiding for over 35 years and volunteers in Southampton General Hospital running activities with children at their bedside on behalf of the Hampshire Girlguiding and Scouting Hospital Team.

“I am incredibly proud to work for Acorns Healthcare and love the passion our whole Team have for supporting our service users in their daily lives.”

Hayden Foster

Business Development Director & Registered Manager

Hayden completed his A levels before beginning his career in social care as a support worker, where he gained first-hand experience of the difference high-quality care can make. He went on to achieve a postgraduate-level Diploma in Health and Social Care Management, equipping him with the leadership skills to step into senior management.

Since then, Hayden has played a central role in the growth of Acorns. He has been instrumental in developing services, supporting staff teams, and strengthening links with commissioners and local communities. Passionate about ensuring Acorns’ family ethos remains at the heart of the organisation, Hayden is committed to carrying its values forward and ensuring residents receive the highest standards of care and support.

Outside of work, Hayden is a keen sportsman. He enjoys playing golf and regularly takes part in a variety of physical activities to raise money for charity, combining his personal interests with his dedication to supporting others.