Committed to Safer Outcomes in Practice
Our Story, Mission, and Values
Waymark was founded from frontline experience working across mental health crisis care, safeguarding, and mental capacity decision-making. It grew out of the recognition that many of the most critical conversations in practice do not fail because of a lack of knowledge, but because of how that knowledge is applied in real time under pressure.
Our mission is to translate complexity into useable practice - helping professionals navigate uncertainty with confidence and consistency, so that decision-making is safer, more defensible, and more human. We are committed to improving the quality of conversations at the point where outcomes are shaped.
Our values are rooted in three principles:
- Real-world practice over theory
- Safety through structured thinking, not rigid rules.
- Respect for the person at the centre of every decision.
Waymark exists to support professionals in doing difficult work well - especially when it matters most.
Meet the Team Behind Waymark
Waymark is led by Laurie Simmonds, a registered Social Worker with extensive frontline experience in mental health and safeguarding systems. This includes Community Mental Health services, Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) practice, suicide prevention training, and compex capacity and risk decision-making within statutory and third-party commissioned sector contexts.
This lived professional experience is central to our approach. It ensures our training and consultancy is not abstract or overly theoretical, but grounded in the realities of frontline practice - where uncertainty, risk, and accountability intersect in real-time.