Meet The Team

Chair and Founder

Annys founded LEGS in 2016. She has a background in sport and exercise science and has over 10 years of experience as an NHS physiotherapist. Annys worked as an exercise instructor prior to becoming a physiotherapist and believes that strong bridges can be built by exercise and health professionals to create optimal rehabilitation and exercise solutions for people living with long term neurological conditions. Annys is the Chair of Trustees.

Director (Clinical) & Lead Physiotherapist

Sarah is a highly specialist physiotherapist in Neurological Rehabilitation. She leads the LEGS classes and development of our services. Sarah also works at St George's NHS Trust as the Principal Physiotherapist at the Wolfson Neurological Rehabilitation Centre and is regional representative for London ACPIN (a professional network which encourages the pursuit of excellence in the field of neurological physiotherapist practice) and sits on the National ACPIN board. Sarah has completed Level 1 and 2 PD Warrior training. 

Director (Operational)

Victoria joined LEGS in April 2019. She oversees the administration and day to day operations of the charity and supports the trustees in the governance of LEGS. Victoria studied History of Art at Leeds University before commencing a 15 year career in education administration, supporting executives in strategic and governance roles in both the public and private sectors.  

Sarah Shiner   BA, BSc, MCSP, HCPC

Physiotherapist

Sarah joined LEGS in 2021 as our full time physiotherapist, running many of our groups and overseeing all of our services. She has a broad clinical experience across NHS and private settings, specialising in neurological conditions. Sarah is passionate about exercise and its power to improve mental and physical well-being, and is particularly excited about bringing people together through fitness and activity. 

Lisa Cahalan    MPT, MCSP, HCPC

Physiotherapist

Lisa started helping lead LEGS exercise sessions in 2018. She is a physiotherapist with over 15 years' of experience working in hospitals, outpatient clinics and in domiciliary care in a variety of areas. She studied Exercise Physiology as an undergraduate, then focused on neurological rehab in her Master’s program for Physical Therapy.  She is a big believer in exercise rehabilitation empowering people to improve their movement and achieve better physical and mental health. In recent years, she has been working privately in domiciliary care and with small groups for fitness, strength as well as neuroprotective exercise. Lisa runs her own Parkinson's Disease groups. 

Conor Devlin  BSc, Msc, HCPC

Physiotherapist

Conor is a recent MSc Physiotherapy graduate who joined LEGS in 2020 as a Rehab Assistant, with support from short term National Lottery funding. He now assists with the running of the LEGS exercise classes and runs the weekly Neuro Café. Conor studied Sport Rehabilitation and Athletic Therapy as an undergraduate degree in Ireland where he developed his skills in exercise prescription. He is a strong believer in exercise therapy and feels group exercise is a fantastic way to improve a person’s physical and mental health resulting in an overall improvement in quality of life.

Nancy Farmer MPT, MCSP, HCPC

Physiotherapist

Nancy started at LEGS in 2020. She is a physiotherapist with over 14 years of wide ranging experience, specialising in rehabilitation for those with neurological needs and older people. Nancy worked alongside Annys on the Hyper Acute Stroke Unit and Local Stroke Unit in Charing Cross Hospital and has been a been a long time supporter of LEGS before joining in November 2020. Nancy also has her own business, Elwell, with life long friend Jessica Silver, educating and supporting people who are looking after their older parents.

Esther Slinn  MPT, MCSP, HCPC

Physiotherapist

Esther has nearly 30 years’ experience as a physiotherapist specialising in neurological and elderly rehabilitation and joined LEGS in 2021. She qualified from the University of East London with a clinical distinction in 1992 and has since worked in a variety of outpatient, inpatient and community services across both NHS and private settings. In 2020 she was awarded the staff excellence award by London Northwest University Healthcare Trust, reflecting her passion for providing highly quality rehabilitation through hands on treatment, exercise therapy and education. Esther has completed Level 1 and 2 PD Warrior training.Esther is currently developing her own domiciliary service and believes that everyone should have access to ongoing affordable exercise to optimise and maintain their physical and mental wellbeing.

Jen Collins  BSc, MSc, MCSP, HCPC

Physiotherapist

Jen is a specialist physiotherapist with over 20 years of experience working both in the NHS and charitable sector and joined the LEGS team in 2021.She has a wide range of experience as a physiotherapist, specialising in neurological rehabilitation and palliative care. Jen is passionate about helping people living with long-term conditions enjoy the benefits that physical activity, particularly group exercise therapy, brings to physical and mental wellbeing. As well as working for LEGS Jen also works as a Specialist Physiotherapist for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust in their Specialist Palliative Care Team. 

Laura Jeu Louis  BSc, DPT, MCSP, HCPC

Physiotherapist

In 2009, Laura earned a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (USA). She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Loyola University Chicago (USA), (2006). She specialises in neuro-rehabilitation including post-stroke and brain injury rehabilitation, and is certified in clinical acupuncture.

Laura worked at BMI Blackheath Hospital, held a clinical research post at King's College London and has been published in connection to a Multiple Sclerosis study. She has also worked as a clinical researcher for Imperial College NHS Trust at St Mary’s Hospital, in a clinical trial setting involving participants living with HTLV/HIV. When not at work, she enjoys running marathons, cooking with her husband, and walking her corgi at Greenwich Park.

Michaela Zelenkova  

Physiotherapist BSc, MCSP, HCPC

Michaela has over nineteen years of experience in exercise prescription. This includes over fourteen years as qualified Physiotherapist in the NHS, over the past ten years she has been treating clients with neurological, vestibular and complex medical history. Michaela works for West London NHS trust Enable team community therapy neuro-physiotherapy outpatients clinic.

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Michaela joined the LEGS team in 2021 bringing Tai Chi exercises to the broad remit of exercise classes LEGS already offers. Tai Chi has proved to be great exercise for improvement of balance, standing tolerance, leg strength and coordination. Michaela believes that anyone, regardless of their age and physical limitation, should and can exercise. What's needed is to find the right supportive environment and to set the exercise to a suitable level so it can be fun and enjoyable. That way it becomes part of one’s life.