Seeing the potential within
At the heart of this project since the very first day was kindness and empathy; I saw this immediately and wanted to be a part of it, to help nurture this idea and watch it grow.
Our Foundation
For nearly three decades I have worked in social justice, supporting marginalised communities and challenging systems that fail to meet the needs of those they were intended to serve. My work has always been driven by creativity, imagination, and the belief that change happens when we refuse to accept “the way things are.” This is the creative disruptor in me
In 2003 I founded Pathways to Independence UK (PTI UK). What began as a small supported accommodation service for young people seeking asylum, young refugees and care-experienced youth grew into a trusted and respected organisation, working with local authorities and partners across the South East. Over 22 years, we supported thousands of young people who experienced disadvantage and isolation, helping them to build stability, independence, and belonging. This has been the privilege of my lifetime. This is the change-maker in me.
Our work has always been rooted in principles of justice, equity, and connection — recognising strengths, amplifying voices, and creating opportunities for young people to thrive.
More recently, I created Alice’s Wonderland Ltd. — a cultural and creative platform for storytelling, exploring neurodivergent identity, and reimagining systems of health, education, and social care. Like Pathways, it is grounded in social justice, but it also provides space for new ideas, research collaborations, and imaginative blueprints for the worlds still to come. This is the story-teller in me
I also served as Autistic Co-Chair of the Brighton & Hove Autism Partnership Board and remain active in neurodiversity-focused networks, working to ensure that lived experience shapes policy, practice, and services. This is the activist in me.
Like Alice in Wonderland, I have spent my life questioning the world as it is and imagining what it could be. Thinking differently about identity, belonging, and the systems that define us. Disrupting norms, reshaping narratives, and illuminating new possibilities. This is the dreamer in me
I believe in the interconnectedness of all things — that we build strength through connection, not separation. This is my hope ✨ ✨ ✨
My vision is a world that prioritises connection, community, identity, and belonging. This is my joy ✨ ✨ ✨
✨ One Future. Different Pathways. ✨
Alice Conroy. Founder I CEO
We had a dream…
Jeanne Revest, Assistant Director, narrates the origins of PTI UK in 2003
On a cold winter's day back in 2002, when I was between jobs after a stint overseas as an education development worker, a good friend Danny told me about an interesting lady called Alice that he was sharing an office space with in the Brighton Peace Centre. "You two should meet, you'd have a lot in common" he suggested, and we went then and there to meet Alice Conroy, then a one-woman band planning the first steps in setting up her own supported accommodation service for unaccompanied asylum seekers and refugee young people. We met, we chatted, we went for a coffee, she told me her plans ... and the rest, as they say, is history….
It began with an idea
Back then Pathways was very much the energy and ideas of one lady, which I played a small part in helping to turn into a reality. With years of social care experience under her belt already, she had a vision of the kind of service she wanted to provide, to help young people find their feet and accompany them along the path to greater confidence, more stability and, eventually, independent living. At the heart of this project since the very first day was kindness and empathy; I saw this immediately and wanted to be a part of it, to help nurture this idea and watch it grow. From those first days, when it was just Alice and me, we slowly grew, opening more houses, employing staff and eventually expanding into new locations and different projects. From my start as a trainee keyworker, I went on to open up our first project outside of Brighton in Redhill, Surrey, and am now still involved remotely with the organisation, nearly two decades later, as Assistant Director.
A Family
I am proud of what has been achieved over the years, of every young person whose life we have touched, helping them to write their own stories and be their own, authentic selves. While both the faces and the world have changed over these many years, for me the central message at the heart of PTI has remained strong - to care and to empower young people on their pathways to independence.
Jeanne Revest. Assistant Director
Read more about our young people in Our Stories
