About us
A Community Interest Company built on lived experience.
MCDWORKS CIC works alongside families, professionals and communities to create more inclusive systems, stronger voices and better opportunities.
Who we are
What MCDWORKS CIC is
MCDWORKS CIC is a Community Interest Company (No. 14428779) based in Thurrock, Essex, working UK-wide. We deliver cultural competency training, SEND advocacy support and community wellbeing programmes.
A Community Interest Company (CIC) is a business type designed specifically to serve a community purpose. Our surpluses are locked in to community benefit — reinvested into programmes for the people we exist to serve.
Why we exist
From lived experience to practical change
Our founder Sharleen DaCosta is a SEND parent, advocate, educator and community leader. She founded MCDWORKS CIC because too many families and professionals were navigating systems that were not designed with them in mind.
We turn lived experience and cultural insight into practical tools, credible training and durable community relationships.
What we stand for
Mission, vision & values
Mission
To strengthen inclusion, cultural understanding and wellbeing through community-led programmes and credible professional training.
Vision
Communities in which every family, professional and organisation is a valued point of light — connected, heard and supported.
Values
Community first, cultural humility, safeguarding, honesty about outcomes and practical partnership.
Our approach
How we work
- Co-design with families, communities and commissioners
- Cultural humility as a professional standard, not a slogan
- Practical tools translated for schools, health, charity and corporate settings
- Safeguarding as the baseline of every programme
- Honest, measurable outcomes — no invented statistics
- Long-term relationships, not one-off interventions
Governance
Accountability & transparency
MCDWORKS CIC is regulated as a Community Interest Company. We publish our annual CIC report, keep clear organisational records and welcome scrutiny from funders, commissioners and community members.
Our safeguarding, accessibility and complaints policies are published on this site. Where a formal document has not yet been signed off, we say so honestly rather than displaying a placeholder.
Founder
Meet Sharleen DaCosta
Sharleen leads MCDWORKS CIC as founder, director and lead facilitator. Her work as a SEND parent, advocate and community educator shapes every programme we deliver.