Our team

Alex works closely with Big Local area facing challenges in delivery of their local plans, working with colleagues across the organisation to help ensure an effective range of support is available to partnerships to achieve their ambitions and build their legacy and sustainability.

Alex joined Local Trust in July 2024 and knows the Big Local programme well having supported its development in previous roles at the National Lottery Community Fund, and as CEO of a charity acting as Locally Trusted Organisation for Palfrey and Mossley Big Local areas. Prior to joining Local Trust, Alex was Deputy CEO of NAVCA, the national body for local VCSE infrastructure organisations, many of which support Big Local areas.

Alex is a trustee of Black Country Together, a charity supporting local community and public sector collaboration, and a member of City University’s Centre for Healthcare Innovation Research Advisory Board. Alex is based in Lichfield and outside of work can usually be found cycling or walking in the UK’s National Parks.

Georgie’s role has oversight of the specialist and technical partners who support Big Local areas to deliver their plans, and our learning and networking programme.  

Georgie has been at Local Trust for several years, and previously worked in our partnerships team, developing strategic partnerships. Georgie came to Local Trust from the Tech for Good sector, where she had been using her skills in human-centred design to lead on projects for Civic Tech wizards mySociety ­– a planning tech start up. Her work there also involved supporting increased diversity in Bristol’s high-tech and digital future workforce.

Prior to this, Georgie spent eight years coordinating community engagement projects in communities in East Anglia, London and the South West, working with people locally to improve the places they lived in.

Expanded bio:

Megan has a key role in assessing proposals and supporting Big Local partnerships to deliver their plans, with a focus on the London region. She is also responsible for ensuring all Big Local areas are able to successfully close out of the programme.

Megan is a Clore social fellow with a background in grant making. Prior to joining Local Trust she was Grants Manager at the Portal Trust, and has also managed funding programmes at The Royal Society and John Lyon’s Charity.

Megan has an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and a masters degree in the History and Philosophy of Science. In her spare time she volunteers as an Independent Visitor, through which she is a mentor and advocate for young people in care.

Helen coordinates Local Trust’s core support offer to Big Local areas, primarily delivered through our area coordinators and our network of area advisors, alongside external delivery partners.

Before joining Local Trust, Helen worked in various grant-making and compliance roles for BBC Children in Need, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, and The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award. She is also a volunteer befriender for The Children’s Society supporting unaccompanied young people newly arrived in the UK.

Claire has a key role in assessing proposals and plans from Big Local areas and supporting in delivery.

Claire has a background in grant making, starting her career at Capacitybuilders delivering infrastructure funding. She then held a Grant manager role at The National Lottery Community Fund, working across several thematic programmes, including developing the key strategic programme Ageing Better, before working in the regional team delivering Reaching Communities funding across the West Midlands. Claire also worked at NHS Charities Together, managing the Grants Team and enabling the delivery of their core programmes, carrying out process reviews across programme delivery and informing initial stages of new programme development.

In her own time, Claire is a Governor at a local school and has also been an advisor to the Grants Committee at Dunhill Medical Trust.

David has a key role in assessing proposals and plans from Big Local areas and in supporting delivery.

David has a background in grant making having previously held grant manager roles at Spirit of 2012, Lloyds Bank Foundation and Cloudesley, a placed-based funder in North London. Prior to this, whilst with Tearfund, he trained and supported faith groups across the UK to develop and run local community projects. He is a trustee of a children’s charity in East London and has previously been a member of a Big Local Partnership.

Rachel assists the programmes team with supporting Big Local areas. She joined Local Trust from Macmillan Cancer Support, where she worked as part of the supporter donations team. Prior to this, and after graduating with a degree in History and Geography, Rachel spent a few years working, traveling and volunteering abroad.

Pamela works in the delivery team, coordinating the Support Partner offer across the Big Local areas. Before joining Local Trust Pamela has experience of Project Management and Contract Management in both the charity and public sector. She has experience of grant making to smaller charities and performance management of those grants.

She has a background in grant making working at The National Lottery Community Fund across several thematic programmes, including developing the Multiple & Complex Needs Strategic programme, as well as working on a range of government funded, small and strategic grants programmes. Recently, she has worked in the regional team delivering Reaching Communities across the Midlands, focusing on supporting applicants from Birmingham

Vicky plays an integral role in supporting Big Local areas to deliver their plans.

Vicky has a background in developing and delivering UK-wide funding programmes. At the National Lottery Community Fund, Vicky was responsible for managing a number of funding streams including the Growing Great Ideas programme focused on long-term, transformational change within society, exploring how networks of people, communities and organisations can work towards a common purpose. She has also been a part of several funder collaborations, together with developing funding programmes on behalf of government departments, such as the Coastal Communities Fund.

She is passionate about exploring how to break down existing barriers and power dynamics that lead to distributing funding equitably across society.

Christine has a background in developing and delivering UK wide funding programmes at National Lottery Community Fund. Christine was responsible for supporting a number of funding programmes including the Climate Action Fund, A 10 year £100m programme aimed at supporting communities across the UK to take action on climate change, Christines role focused on supporting projects  with progress and financial monitoring, enabling regular communication, sharing learning and cross project collaboration. As programmes are approaching final two years Christine will be assisting areas to close out.

Christine really enjoys the ‘relationship building’ aspect of funding, and her personality naturally lends itself to ‘collaboration and convening’ and ensuring ‘fairness and inclusivity’ in her role.

Ezra works in the Delivery team, coordinating support for a portfolio of Big Local areas in London.

Before joining Local Trust, Ezra worked as the Programme Officer for W12Together Big Local in Wormholt and White City.

Lucy works in the Delivery team, coordinating support for Big Local partnerships in London and the South East region.

Lucy has worked with and for communities for over 20 years and has a background in creative practice. She has created high impact projects that have local relevance, and is committed to collaborative practices that democratically involve a broad range of voices and stakeholders in decision making.

Lucy has expertise in scoping and imagining a wide range of collaborative creative activity, delivered in supportive, inspiring environments. She has been making visual art about the politics of incarceration and the performance of gendered bodies since 2005.

Maxine coordinates support for Big Local partnerships in the West Midlands region, as part of the Delivery team.

Maxine has many years’ experience of service delivery and project management within the third sector.

Before joining Local Trust, Maxine held various roles in community development, working for local charities with responsibility for managing and supporting organisational planning and delivery of funded projects. She is passionate about empowering communities and has led the delivery of a number of funded partnership contracts and initiatives designed to strengthen and enable communities to become resilient and bring about change.

Natasha coordinates support for Big Local partnerships in the Northeast region and parts of Yorkshire. She aims to support areas to have the resources, information, advice, and guidance to complete the implementation of each Big Local area plan.

Natasha is experienced in community engagement, and development, setting up several grassroots organisations and movements that include: York Timebank, Refugee Action York, Magnetic Arts, Good Organisation and Coterminous.

Natasha is passionate about systems change, and Asset Based Community Development and has worked at a strategic level in the transformation of health and wellbeing support across the Yorkshire region. Natasha is an experienced facilitator, developing models to support consensus within community conflict resolution, coproduction processes, and service transformation.

Oscar supports the funding team in delivering the Big Local programme, with a particular focus on administering the grant and contact management system.

Before joining Local Trust, Oscar was an Executive Officer in the Hong Kong Government, where he administrated the countryside conservation funding for non-profit organisations and supported other projects related to countryside conservation.

He graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong with a degree in Government and Public Administration, minor in Sociology.  He is interested in public administration and social empowerment.

Prior to joining Local Trust, Ray worked in the non-profit sector for an equity in education charity providing research support and graduated from Erasmus University Rotterdam with an MA in Sociology. Ray has an interest in social urbanism and ensuring accessibility in community spaces.

Jayne is a senior manager who develops, manages and monitors the strategic and day-to-day work of Local Trust with peers and the chief executive. She leads the research team and is responsible for delivering legacy projects drawing on our learning.

Jayne has over 30 years experience of working with communities and the voluntary and community sector. Previous to her role at Local Trust she has managed a volunteer centre, led several teams and was director of community development at the Community Development Foundation.

Lucy leads on a range of research projects to do with evaluation and learning from the Big Local programme, including overseeing the evaluation of the Community Leadership Academy.

Prior to joining Local Trust, Lucy worked as a researcher for several years. Her experience includes working at the criminal justice charity Revolving Doors, where she undertook service evaluations and developed reviews of the evidence into what works for people with multiple needs. She also worked for the local government thinktank New Local Government Network, where she led on policy research projects on public health, housing and the local government workforce.

Chloe manages the delivery of Local Trust’s flagship legacy project for all learning from the Big Local programme. She supports the Local Trust research team to deliver in-house activities and effectively collaborate with other teams and external stakeholders to ensure high quality learning and outputs.

Chloe has previously worked in community arts, public/service user engagement, research agency and what works centre settings and has an interest in community resilience and community-led action, particularly in context with climate adaptation.

Jack leads on a range of projects including the Partnership Reviews and Partnership Member Surveys.

Jack’s background is in social psychology. Before joining Local Trust, Jack completed his PhD in the University of Limerick, Ireland which was funded by the Irish Research Council. His previous research experience covers topics such as intergroup relations, group identification, and bias reduction. His research utilises advanced quantitative research methods and he has previously taught analysis and research methods at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Laura leads on contracts to support impact measurement in Big Local areas and research to support programme delivery. She also supports the Learning from Big Local project.

Before joining Local Trust, Laura worked at London Youth, a membership and advocacy organisation for youth organisations across London. Here, she was involved in programme evaluation and a variety of research projects, including a report on how youth organisations can support young people to feel a part of their local communities.

Alongside her previous role, Laura gained a Masters in Research at Birkbeck College, University of London, completing her studies in September 2018. Her final dissertation was written on the subject of serious youth violence and assessed the justifications and implications of policy solutions aimed at tackling the issue.

Jocasta is supporting the development of the Learning from Big Local project by bringing Big Local stories and learning from each area together.

Prior to joining Local Trust, Jocasta completed her masters in Anthropology of Global Futures and Sustainability at SOAS, University of London. For her thesis, Jocasta conducted ethnographic research into alternative community currencies across the UK to analyse how they both generate community resilience but also reproduce marketised, gendered and ableist divisions of labour.

Lisa-Marie supports the research and evaluation team on projects as part of the evaluation of the Big Local programme. She leads on projects and initiatives such as research on community hubs and our community research conference.

Before joining Local Trust, Lisa-Marie was a senior team administrator at Centrepoint, a youth homelessness charity, where she supported senior housing and support managers in the delivery of accommodation services. Prior to this, she was a programme assistant at the Commonwealth Secretariat, where she helped gender advisers deliver gender equality projects across Commonwealth member countries.

Ruby works with the research team to highlight stories from Big Local and promote shared learning.

Previously, Ruby worked for a social enterprise that builds cross-sector partnerships to progress gender equity in workplaces. There, she coordinated research outputs from a global network of activists and led a research project exploring the connection between public and private acts of gender-based violence.

Ruby has an undergraduate degree in Anthropology and a masters in International Development, Social Justice and Sustainability, and in her spare time volunteers with Refashion the Future to promote circular alternatives to fast fashion.

Hazel supports delivery of the Learning from Big Local project; the flagship legacy for all learning from the Big Local programme.

Previously Hazel has worked in the funding team at Local Trust and in project support roles for Groundwork London and the NHS. She graduated with an MA in Environment, Development & Policy from the University of Sussex and continues to support local environmental campaigns

Sue supports the research team across a range of research activities and team administration.

Sue has worked on a number of research projects related to displacement and large social change within communities. Sue has conducted surveys and interviews to gather evidence, including projects on the Aylesbury estate in Elephant and Castle, HS2, London Prosperity Board and working for Just Space.

Sue worked in health care for the NHS for over a decade, based in mental health, learning disabilities services, addiction and a medium secure unit for those too vulnerable for prison. Sue completed a Masters in Social Research Methods with the Open University.

Madeleine leads on policy and communications for Local Trust. Overseeing stakeholder engagement both within the policy and legislative sector and with wider civil society, Madeleine provides strategic direction across Local Trust’s external output. With colleagues on the communications team Madeleine seeks to maximise engagement with the Big Local programme, celebrating its successes and the people at its heart whilst looking for opportunities to embed the core principles of the programme in public policy.

Madeleine’s background is in public affairs and strategic communications. Previously, she worked for the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) and the British Association of Social Workers (BASW). She started her career working with parliamentarians in Westminster and has extensive experience volunteering in community-facing roles.

Ruby leads on the strategic partnerships for the policy team to develop a strong legacy for the Big Local programme. Previously, Ruby led the Connect Fund for social investment infrastructure at the Barrow Cadbury Trust.

She has worked internationally across programme management and strategic communications within the social enterprise and innovation sector. Ruby holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from UCL’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose.

Tilly leads on parliamentary engagement and developing Local Trust’s policy programme. She is responsible for managing the APPG for ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods,and building its network of supporters and the case for community-led change.

Prior to joining Local Trust, Tilly worked in policy and research roles within UK and Australian universities.

Roshni works to build relationships with parliamentarians and ensure that they are informed on our advocacy work.

Prior to joining Local Trust, Roshni worked in public affairs roles at Age UK, NCVO and the Local Government Information Unit.

Millie has a key role in research, writing and publications work, with a focus on harnessing evidence from the Big Local programme and other previous neighbourhood initiatives to identify what a successful future community development programme could look like. Millie previously worked at Welsh Government, and before that, as part of the Community Wealth Fund team at Local Trust. She is also a member on a co-operative 6.5 acre farm, supplying veg boxes to communities in her area.

Prior to joining Local Trust, Cameron worked at charity and think-tank British Future. His work focused on the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush, celebrating Britain’s diversity and increasing public understanding of the history of race and migration to Britain.

Before moving to the charity sector, Cameron worked as a teaching assistant in a special needs school where he led on supporting children with sport.

Kyle works on research and parliamentary monitoring with the policy team.

Prior to joining Local Trust, Kyle completed an undergraduate degree in History and International Relations at the London School of Economics, while volunteering for the Refugee Council where he provided clients with specialised welfare and immigration advice. He also completed a history dissertation which analysed the roots of the American system of mass incarceration and its discriminatory outcomes.

Kyle previously gained experience in the international development sector, working on policy issues in large organisations like USAID as well as community-based alternatives like Voluntary Service Overseas.

Natasha supports the policy team with parliamentary engagement and the development of Local Trust’s policy programme. This includes working towards building a network of supporters and advocating for community-led change.

Prior to joining Local Trust, Natasha completed her undergraduate degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from the University of York. She then gained her postgraduate degree in Environmental Policy and Regulation from the London School of Economics and Political Science, after which she completed an internship at The Division for Sustainable Development Goals in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

She is passionate about both social and environmental sustainability, particularly how we can build social infrastructure to help our communities thrive.

He provides strategic advice and direction on marketing matters, with responsibility for the development of Local Trust’s brand, raising awareness of key areas of our work including the Big Local programme.

Andrew’s background is in marketing and communications, with significant experience in the charitable sector. This has included roles at the Co-operative College and the WEA, the UK’s largest provider of Adult Education. Andrew has also worked at Empower, a digital marketing agency that works solely in the charitable and purpose-led space.

Ben promotes the fantastic work that Local Trust does and all the great successes the the big locals have achieved to the national and local media.

Ben has over 8 years in the working in press and media. Prior to joining Local Trust, he worked for a number of national healthcare organisations as well as MPs and local Councillors. As well as being a qualified football coach Ben is also a trustee of a local charity and political organisation.

Melissa is part of the communications team, leading on work across the organisation’s digital platforms.

Prior to Local Trust, Melissa worked in marketing communications for the New Zealand Law Society. She also has experience in editorial, publishing, and digital content across the e-commerce, public health and education sectors.

Aastha supports the communications team in building the organisation’s digital presence.

Prior to joining Local Trust, she worked towards promoting youth leadership and the UN Sustainable Development Goals as part of the communications team at One Young World.

Aastha has a keen interest in the relationship between media and social change, particularly in the context of climate change and sustainability. She is an Associate of King’s College London, where she earned her master’s degree in Global Media Industries. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi.

Tosin supports policy research, stakeholder engagement and strategic communications to amplify the impact of the Big Local programme.  She assists in drafting policy briefings, managing digital contents and coordinating events to influence public policy on community led change. Tosin is also responsible for ensuring effective communication and organised system within the team

Prior to Joining Local Trust, Tosin has over 3 years’ experience working across paid and volunteer roles in the social development sector. She has occupied various policy and program focused roles in organizations focused on gender inequality, education and community development. She has extensive volunteering experiences in various organizations like Global Shapers and Actionaid UK. Tosin has a first degree in law and masters in Public Policy from the University of Bristol.

Alex’s role includes people responsibilities such as overseeing hiring, training, colleague development and our benefits programme. Additionally, Alex works with the board of trustees leading governance, requirements and operational secretarial support, alongside the systems, resource and the Local Trust closure plan.

Prior to joining Local Trust, Alex has gained over 15 years’ experience working for charities and the non-profit sector working across health prevention and community grant making. Alex’s most recent role was leading Asda’s corporate charity, The Asda Foundation.

Outside of work, you’ll find Alex either in her garden growing veggies or planning her next travelling trip.

Verity supports Local Trust’s board of trustees and other committees.

Before joining Local Trust, Verity was a Deputy Secretary to the Board at Heritage Lottery Fund and had worked in governance support at the National Lottery Community Fund.

Previously, Verity worked for an education charity as a project officer and executive assistant, providing support in new areas of development, events and planning.

Catherine manages the Local Trust office and facilities, day to day HR needs and coordinates with trustees and senior management.

Before joining Local Trust, Catherine worked at the British Red Cross in Income Processing, specialising in Ukraine donations and has previously provided office and managing support across a range of industries, including student accommodation, property and retail.

Kamille supports the head of finance and resources to manage the day-to-day finances of Local Trust. This includes the Big Local Trust expendable endowment, the grants we distribute and the social investments we make. Kamille is responsible for developing robust management accounting systems and supporting Local Trust colleagues with understanding and managing their budgets.

Kamille is a certified accountant with over 13 years’ experience in the not-for-profit sector, with expertise in charity governance and financial management. Prior to joining Local Trust, Kamille was Finance Manager at the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART), where she was responsible for managing all aspects of finance, IT and HR. Before that Kamille was the Assistant Company Secretary at NCVO, where she was responsible for managing the charity’s governance and regulatory framework as well as supporting the Director of Planning and Resources with performance management, risk management and budgetary control.

Stefan aids in financial services, including conducting payment runs, producing the management accounts and approving payroll.

Stefan has worked in the not-for-profit sector for the past five years, previously working as a management accountant for a social housing charity. He has a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from Southampton University and has had experience in refugee voluntary work.

Mary provides support to the Finance team ensuring the routine financial administration tasks are managed efficiently and effectively on a day-to-day basis.

Mary has worked for other charities and for private schools in the past, covering a range of roles in the Finance Department. She is also an Alternative Therapy practitioner/teacher and has an interest in Alternative Medicine and Psychology.

Clair previously worked for the past ten years as a Finance Manager at Liberty Human Rights, a membership and advocacy organisation.  Prior to that she worked in the financial services sector as a Finance Analyst and also as a volunteer as a business mentor for the King’s Trust (formerly the Prince’s Trust).

Zoe joined Local Trust at its inception in 2012 and has supported Big Local areas to deliver, leading the funding team and implementing the move of Local Trust’s funding and CRM functions to Salesforce.

Previously, Zoe managed grant-making programmes with national funders such as Comic Relief and Lloyds TSB Foundation. Zoe also managed Local Involvement Networks (LINks) in London, which became Healthwatch. Prior to this she worked in public policy for the Australian Government.

Andrew O’Brien is Head of Secretariat at the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods (ICON). Before joining ICON, he was Director of Policy and Impact at Demos. Andrew has worked in Westminster and Whitehall on policy for over a decade and a half. Andrew has written extensively on neighbourhoods, social capital, economic and public service reform. Before joining Demos, Andrew worked in policy development in the VCSE sector including at Social Enterprise UK, Charity Finance Group and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

Prior to joining ICON, Ross was Senior Research Analyst at the Centre for Progressive Policy, an economics think tank, and has previously worked in research at United Nations University-MERIT, and in policy roles in local government.

Before joining ICON, he was Head of Social Policy at the think tank Demos, where he led the Future Public Services Taskforce. At Demos he authored policy research on public services, economic and fiscal policy, and political governance.

He started his career as a fast stream civil servant, working across three government departments in Whitehall. He has also worked in the parliamentary office of a Labour MP.

Ellis joins ICON on a year-long sabbatical basis from local economics development consultancy Metro Dynamics. Ellis has experience in both qualitative and quantitative analysis on a range of areas including economic geography and regional policy, high street regeneration, economic modelling and appraisal, and business cases and infrastructure financing.

Prior to this role, Carola supported the policy team and delivery team at Local Trust

Carola graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science with a MSc in social science with a focus on inequalities, writing a dissertation on the impact of gentrification for local communities in Mexico City.

She believes in the importance of social empowerment and people-led change to build a more equitable future.

Molly is part of the independent secretariat working on the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods. Molly’s role centres on building policy recommendations and communicating the commission’s findings. The commission will examine the case for a new focus on neighbourhoods in national policy as a means of addressing multiple challenges, regenerating communities, and enabling government to achieve its mission objectives.

Molly has 5 years’ experience with charities and NGOs, previously working with Advocates for International Development, championing the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals through pro-bono support; and Creative Youth Network, a Bristol based charity platforming the voices of young people facing barriers. Molly also volunteers for Conversation Over Borders, mentoring asylum seekers and refugees new to the UK.

Molly holds an MSc in International Relations from the University of Bristol and a BA (Hons) in English Literature from the University of Plymouth.