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Matt Leach
Chief executive

Matt has overall responsibility for Local Trust

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Matt Leach
Chief executive

Matt oversees the operations of Local Trust, leading the staff team and working closely with the board on strategy and governance.

Matt Leach was formerly CEO of HACT, the social housing sector’s ideas and innovation agency. Prior to joining HACT in 2011, Matt’s roles included CEO of civil society funding agency Capacitybuilders, associate director of the ResPublica think tank and director at the Housing Corporation. He has also led start up work on the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation and held a range of senior roles at DCLG and the Cabinet Office.

Rachel Rowney
Chief operating officer

Rachel has overall strategic responsibility for the design and successful delivery of Big Local

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Rachel Rowney
Chief operating officer

This includes the effective maintenance of Local Trust’s finance, business planning and performance management functions; and the management of other resources needed to ensure Local Trust is able to deliver its business.

Previously, Rachel worked as a consultant and researcher at Shared Intelligence, where she worked on neighbourhood renewal, community engagement, and social housing projects. At the same time, she was also a programme manager for the National Association for Neighbourhood Management, where she designed and delivered learning and networking programmes. Before this, Rachel worked for Croydon Council.

Delivery

Jon Fox
Director of delivery

Jon has overall responsibility for the successful delivery of Big Local

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Jon Fox
Director of delivery

Jon has primary responsibility for ensuring the Big Local programme is successfully delivered and that Local Trust has provided the right support for Big Local partnerships to put in place their plans for legacy and sustainability.

Jon joined Local Trust in June 2022, and knows lottery funded programmes well from a variety of roles at the National Lottery Community Fund, and more recently as lead on investment design at Sport England. Jon’s working life has included roles in community development in Bradford, building a national equality alliance, active communities policy in Government, and as a senior manager at BVSC and Capacitybuilders. Jon is now based in Birmingham, and out of work can often be found tending his allotment.

Jayne Entwistle
Head of area support

Jayne is responsible for developing and managing the strategic day-to-day aspects of Local Trust's support to areas

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Jayne Entwistle
Head of area support

Jayne has the responsibility of developing and managing the strategic and day-to-day aspects of Local Trust’s support offer to areas primarily through our network of Big Local reps, alongside external delivery partners and peers within Local Trust.

Prior to joining us, Jayne spent six years working within the Social Housing sector, most recently in the role of Head of Social Investment for a large North West based provider with a portfolio including community development, employability, anti-poverty strategies and broader social inclusion. Jayne has also held senior positions within the not for profit and statutory sectors including a range of targeted and universal services for adults and young people, along with managing key regeneration projects namely Surestart Children’s Centres and the Neighbourhood Nursery Programme.

Chris Falconer
Head of programme delivery

Chris leads on strategic and day-to-day aspects of Local Trust’s programmes

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Chris Falconer
Head of programme delivery

Chris works in the Programmes team leading on strategic and day-to-day aspects of Local Trust’s programmes including Big Local and Creative Civic Change.

Previously, he spent 10 years at the Heritage Lottery Fund in a variety of roles across operations and strategy departments working on projects from community history to national museum redevelopments. He was latterly responsible for managing UK programmes focused on nature conservation and new models of finance and governance for historic assets.

Chris graduated from University of Leeds, specialising in the American civil rights movement. He is a Clore Social Leader and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Georgie Burr
Partnerships and learning manager

Georgie supports the development of Local Trust's partnerships

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Georgie Burr
Partnerships and learning manager

Georgie’s role involves meeting partners who may be able to offer support directly to Big Local areas, and supporting the development of Local Trust’s strategic partnerships across the public, private and voluntary sector.

Georgie comes 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 and to support 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.

Megan Falck
Programme manager

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

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Megan Falck
Programme manager

Megan’s background is in grant making. Prior to joining Local Trust she was Grants Manager at the Portal Trust, overseeing their grant making to organisations delivering educational programmes for young people in London. She 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 a young person in care.

Zoe Sykiotis
Programme manager (funding)

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

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Zoe Sykiotis
Programme manager (funding)

Zoe has a key role in assessing proposals and plans from Big Local areas and supporting delivery. Zoe also supports programme managers to coordinate and implement the practical aspects of delivery of Big Local.

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 has become part of the Health Watch initiative. Prior to this she worked in public policy for the Australian Government.

Fiona Cowley
Area support manager

Fiona has a key role in supporting Big Local areas in delivering their plans

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Fiona Cowley
Area support manager

Fiona works alongside Helen in the Programmes team, coordinating aspects of Local Trust’s support offer to areas primarily through our network of Big Local Reps, and the programme of learning and networking events and activities.

Prior to joining Local Trust, Fiona worked at Groundwork in Cheshire, where she managed a range of community development, regeneration and heritage focused programmes. Before that Fiona worked for Arts Council England in the North East.

Helen Morton
Area support manager

Helen has a key role in supporting Big Local areas in delivering their plans

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Helen Morton
Area support manager

Helen works alongside Fiona coordinating aspects of Local Trust’s support offer to areas primarily through our network of Big Local Reps.

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 Cornwall
Senior programme coordinator

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

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Claire Cornwall
Senior programme coordinator

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 Vincent
Senior programme coordinator (funding)

David is Senior programmes coordinator

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David Vincent
Senior programme coordinator (funding)

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 Tilley
Senior programmes coordinator

Rachel supports the programmes team

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Rachel Tilley
Senior programmes coordinator

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.

Seema Patel
Senior programme coordinator (programme development)

Seema has a key role in developing and delivering programme improvement projects

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Seema Patel
Senior programme coordinator (programme development)

Seema is part of the Programmes team, managing programme improvement projects to shape our approach to supporting areas.

In previous roles, Seema has worked with communities to improve neighbourhoods, increase social connection, reduce isolation and to create urban food growing spaces. She has also managed large scale arts development programmes and set up a social enterprise.

Vicky Garfitt
Senior programme coordinator (seconded from The National Lottery Community Fund)

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

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Vicky Garfitt
Senior programme coordinator (seconded from The National Lottery Community Fund)

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.

 

Gabriel Davies
Senior area coordinator

Gabriel works in the programmes team and is responsible for supporting a portfolio of Big Local areas in London and the South East

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Gabriel Davies
Senior area coordinator

Gabriel’s role includes providing advice and tailored support to enable Big Local areas to deliver on their plan priorities and longer term ambitions, whilst ensuring residents take a lead in their decision-making.

Gabriel joined Local Trust in 2017 following his work on supporter and volunteer engagement for the Green Party during the 2017 General Election Campaign. Previously Gabriel worked with a local charity in Kerala India, exploring accessibility in climate finance.

Ezra Gill
Area coordinator

Ezra coordinates support for a range of London Big Local areas

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Ezra Gill
Area coordinator

Ezra works in the Programmes team and alongside Gabriel as Area Coordinator, coordinating support for London Big Locals.

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

Ayesha Ikram
Area coordinator

Ayesha coordinates support for a range of London Big Local areas

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Ayesha Ikram
Area coordinator

Ayesha supports multiple London, East of England and the South East Big Local areas as part of the Programmes team, collaborating with Gabriel in the role of Area Manager.

Prior to joining Local Trust, Ayesha worked as a Care Navigator with Age UK Camden and Camden CCG. Ayesha brings a wealth of experience in coaching, facilitation, and community project development across different London boroughs. Ayesha is passionate about empowering individuals to be the change they want to see in the world through building resilience and harnessing human potential.

Kate Lightstead
Area coordinator

Kate works in the programmes team supporting partnerships in the Yorkshire and Humber region

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Kate Lightstead
Area coordinator

Before joining Local Trust, Kate worked in various roles in neighbourhood management leading on partnership development and project management of initiatives covering community safety to environmental improvements. She most recently worked to advocate for children’s rights and is passionate about children and young people’s participation within communities and the significant role they can play in local regeneration.

Kelly Duke
Area coordinator

Kelly works in the programmes team supporting partnerships in the North West Region

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Kelly Duke
Area coordinator

Kelly’s background is in grant making and Higher Education. Prior to joining Local Trust, Kelly worked at the National Lottery Community Fund and The University of Manchester.

Kelly has a joint BA honours degree in English Literature and Cultural History and Imaginative Writing and trained to be a journalist. In her spare time, Kelly volunteers as a Foundation Grants Virtual Committee Member assessing funding applications for a housing association, and as an Independent Visitor mentoring and advocating for a looked after child.

Lucy Thurley
Area coordinator

Lucy works in the programme team supporting partnerships in London and the South East

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Lucy Thurley
Area coordinator

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. She 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 Ricketts
Area coordinator

Maxine works in the programmes team supporting partnerships in the West Midlands region

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Maxine Ricketts
Area coordinator

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.

Ruth Jones
Area coordinator

Ruth works in the programmes team supporting partnerships in the South West Region

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Ruth Jones
Area coordinator

Ruth has over 20 years’ experience in strategic and operational management specifically fundraising, communications, HR, and programme development. Initially she worked in international development and humanitarian work in West and Central Africa, and then settled in the Southwest to work on homelessness, refugee support and city farms.

She has an MA in Social Anthropology and Development from Edinburgh University and an MSc in Rural Resource Management from the University of Wales.  More recently her interests in local food production and community have been enriched by studying Permaculture Design.

Natasha Almond
Area Coordinator

Natasha supports the Northeast and parts of Yorkshire’s Big Local areas and is part of the Area Support team.

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Natasha Almond
Area Coordinator

Natasha 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.

Vickie Yavuz
Area coordinator

As a part of the delivery team, Vickie supports partnerships within the North-West region

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Vickie Yavuz
Area coordinator

Vickie has worked within the community sector for over 25 years, managing various programmes locally, regionally and nationally. She has been involved in designing, developing and delivering services through which people can access opportunities to thrive, and that empower and enable the most isolated and marginalised communities.

Vickie has an MA in Disability Studies and is a Trustee for a local sight loss charity. She is also a member of the High Sheriff and Merseyside Police Charitable Fund panel, alongside supporting individuals and community groups to maximise their capacity and sustainability. She is passionate about challenging anomalous practice and is a huge advocate for creating an equitable society for all.

Ruth Parsons
Programme coordinator (funding)

Ruth assesses proposals and plans from Big Local areas and supports delivery

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Ruth Parsons
Programme coordinator (funding)

Before joining Local Trust, Ruth worked as Grants Coordinator at the Rank Foundation and oversaw the distribution of funding to hundreds of charitable organisations. She graduated from the University of Birmingham with a degree in Political Science with History and has previous experience working in the public, private and voluntary sectors.

Carola Signori
Programme assistant

Carola supports the delivery team in the Big Local programme

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Carola Signori
Programme assistant

Before joining 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.

In previous years, she has travelled, worked, and collaborated with several volunteer associations, both around Europe and Latin America.

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

 

Keeton Hill
Programme assistant – area support

Keeton works with the Area Support team as Programme assistant

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Keeton Hill
Programme assistant – area support

Keeton has previous charity experience working at the British Red Cross as a Key Account Executive, working at Dogs Trust as a Contact Centre Agent, and has previous face-to-face retail experience. Keeton has further voluntary experience at Dogs Trust, Campaign Against Canned Hunting (UK), and elsewhere.

Keeton is particularly passionate about mental wellbeing, equality, diversity, inclusion, and representation, as well as accessibility and creativity.

Oscar Leung
Programme assistant (funding)

Oscar assists in assessing proposals and plans from Big Local areas and supporting delivery

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Oscar Leung
Programme assistant (funding)

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.

Alice Calder
Senior Coordinator

Alice leads on and supports the development and delivery of our support offer for Big Local areas

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Alice Calder
Senior Coordinator

Alice works primarily on the thematic and regional learning clusters and Big Local Connects, as well as coordinating our training and role-based networking offers.

Prior to working at Local Trust, Alice travelled and taught abroad after earning a degree in Political Science and Geography with a focus on communities, urbanism and planning.

Leila Nicholas
Partnerships Senior Coordinator

Leila leads on developing and managing support for Big Local partnerships

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Leila Nicholas
Partnerships Senior Coordinator

Leila focuses on community engagement and climate support. She also manages the partnership with Koreo on the flagship Community Leadership Academy.

Leila’s background is in community development, programme management and partnership building. Most recently, Leila worked for a museum in Bristol, where she designed and managed their first-ever communities programme.

Michael Ball
Partnerships and learning assistant

Michael provides support to the Partnerships and learning team

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Michael Ball
Partnerships and learning assistant

Michael supports the Partnership and Learning team with administration and tech support for the schedule of learning and networking events. His work covers supporting Big Local areas on climate change, assets and legal bodies, community engagement and volunteer management, and regeneration. He also covers logistics for Connects and Creative Civic Change.

An MA graduate from the University of Leeds in Culture, Creativity and Entrepreneurship, he is interested in the role and conflicts of cultural policy and institutions within regeneration strategies. Prior to working at Local Trust, Michael volunteered and worked within the cultural and creative industries, beginning with tech support at his school performances at the age of 12. Fifteen years later and he most recently worked with a researcher and consultant improving British Council’s impact on disability arts at the 2022 Tokyo Olympics.

Research

Jayne Humm
Head of research and learning

Jayne manages our research, evaluation and learning

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Jayne Humm
Head of research and learning

Jayne develops, manages and monitors the strategic and day-to-day aspects of the Big Local programme with peers and the chief executive.

Jayne has over 20 years’ experience of working with communities and the voluntary and community sector. Previous to her role at Local Trust she worked for Haringey Association of Voluntary and Community Organisations (HAVCO) – the council of voluntary service for the London borough of Haringey. At HAVCO Jayne managed a volunteer centre.

Prior to this, Jayne led on research and evaluation at the Community Development Foundation.

Lindsay Street
Compendium project manager

Lindsay leads on Measuring Change – our training and support to Big Local areas in self evaluation

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Lindsay Street
Compendium project manager

Lindsay works in the research team and leads on projects supporting Big Local areas to better measure the change they are making. She also works on drawing learning from the Big Local programme to better demonstrate the impact it’s had.

Prior to joining Local Trust, Lindsay completed her BA at McGill University in environment and development.

Lucy Terry
Senior researcher

Lucy leads on the evaluation of the Community Leadership Academy and supports our external evaluation

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Lucy Terry
Senior researcher

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.

Jack Loughnane
Senior quantitative researcher

Jack works in the research team and leads on a range of projects

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Jack Loughnane
Senior quantitative researcher

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.

Jocasta Davis
Researcher

Jocasta works with the research team on the Compendium project

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Jocasta Davis
Researcher

Jocasta is supporting the development of the Compendium 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.

Laura Fisher
Researcher

Laura leads on contracts to support impact measurement in Big Local areas and research to support programme delivery

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Laura Fisher
Researcher

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.

Lisa-Marie Giquel
Researcher

Lisa-Marie works with the research and evaluation team

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Lisa-Marie Giquel
Researcher

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.

Steven Barclay
Policy researcher

Steven works on a range of research projects, focusing on economic outcomes

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Steven Barclay
Policy researcher

Steven is a social researcher with a PhD in the history of media and education policy from the University of Westminster. He has worked in the academic, charity and media sectors. He has published research on policy and history of journalism, media regulation, education and literacy.

Hazel Tecklenberg
Compendium project assistant

Hazel is part of the research team, providing support to deliver the Compendium project

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Hazel Tecklenberg
Compendium project assistant

Hazel supports delivery of the Compendium 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 Ansarie
Research assistant

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

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Sue Ansarie
Research assistant

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.

Policy

Margaret Bolton
Director of policy and communications

Margaret delivers Local Trust's policy programme

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Margaret Bolton
Director of policy and communications

Margaret has a background in policy, research, public affairs and communications. Previous posts include Lottery Communications Director at Arts Council England and Policy and Research Director at NCVO. Before her current role at Local Trust, Margaret combined interim and change management contracts with consultancy work. Immediately prior to Local Trust she worked at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (CGF) leading on evaluation and learning and communications.

Madeleine Jennings
Head of external affairs

Madeleine leads on policy and communications for Local Trust

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Madeleine Jennings
Head of external affairs

Madeleine’s background is in public affairs and strategic communications, she worked previously 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.

Daniel Crowe
New projects lead

Daniel leads on the All-Party Parliamentary Group for ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods

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Daniel Crowe
New projects lead

Daniel leads on Local Trust’s work on the All-Party Parliamentary Group for ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods. This includes managing the APPG’s work programme, the relationships with parliamentary members and non-parliamentary external members, research and policy development, and the production of APPG reports, briefings and communication materials.

With a background in the UK co-operative movement, policy and communications for local and city regional government, research for thinktanks working on public services and community empowerment, the move to Local Trust to lead on policy around ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods draws on Daniel’s professional experience, personal interests and history of community activism.

Nick Beall
Senior policy advisor

Nick leads our policy development work on levelling up and other issues bought to the fore by the work of Big Locals across the country

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Nick Beall
Senior policy advisor

Nick leads on the Policy team’s engagement with volunteers and workers from Big Locals to ensure their voices are heard in Local Trust’s policy work.

Previously Nick worked in Parliament developing innovative policy solutions for a member of the Shadow Cabinet.

Tilly Steward
Policy and parliamentary manager

Tilly leads on parliamentary engagement and developing Local Trust’s policy programme

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Tilly Steward
Policy and parliamentary manager

Tilly  is responsible for managing the APPG for ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods, 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.

 

Millie Dessent
Policy officer

Millie works on research, writing and publications work as part of the policy programme

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Millie Dessent
Policy officer

Millie previously worked at Welsh Government, and before that, as part of the Community Wealth Fund team at Local Trust. She is a member on a co-operative 6.5 acre farm, supplying veg boxes to communities in her local area.

Sarah Stearne
Policy officer

Sarah is developing Local Trust's work to foster and support local authorities to further their practice in strengthening communities

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Sarah Stearne
Policy officer

Sarah previously provided policy and research support to the APPG for ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods, and Local Trust’s work around levelling up.

Prior to joining Local Trust, Sarah completed an undergraduate degree in Politics and International Relations at LSE and the Graduate Diploma in Law at City, University of London, during which Sarah volunteered for Citizens Advice, advising clients on issues ranging from domestic abuse to debt. She is passionate about addressing inequalities and pursuing a more peaceful and prosperous future.

Kyle Vanelli
Policy officer

Kyle works on research and parliamentary monitoring with the policy team

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Kyle Vanelli
Policy officer

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.

Ella Smith
Policy assistant

Ella assists the policy team with communications on the community wealth fund campaign

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Ella Smith
Policy assistant

Before joining local trust, Ella graduated from the University of Exeter with a degree in English literature, writing her dissertation on sex work and public health. Ella then worked in interior design and tech sales before deciding to move to the charity sector.

Natasha Meldrum
Policy and parliamentary assistant

Natasha assists the policy team’s work on the All-Party Parliamentary Group for 'left behind' neighbourhoods

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Natasha Meldrum
Policy and parliamentary assistant

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 to thrive

Communications

Rachel Crews
Communications manager

Rachel manages the communications team and supports our digital, editorial and programme content production

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Rachel Crews
Communications manager

Before joining Local Trust, Rachel worked at a number of UK-based and international NGOs as a writer, editor and content manager, with a focus on digital. Inspired by her MA in journalism, she loves sharing compelling stories to create change.

Kirsten Peter
Senior digital officer

Kirsten is part of the communications team at Local Trust, working across the organisation’s digital platforms

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Kirsten Peter
Senior digital officer

Kirsten has primarily worked in non-profits and the arts sectors. Her experience spans frontline project support, marketing communications and digital development, content delivery and measurement.

Kirsten Sinclair
Senior press and media officer

Kirsten works on developing and implementing Local Trust's press and media engagement strategy

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Kirsten Sinclair
Senior press and media officer

Prior to joining Local Trust, Kirsten worked in the media and communications team for the Royal College of Psychiatrists, raising awareness on issues including mental health staff shortages, the NHS backlog, CAMHS, and addiction. She also led on communications for the Uyghur Tribunal, securing national and international media coverage on its investigation into China’s genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang. She holds a Masters in Public Policy and Management from King’s College London.

In her free time Kirsten enjoys reading, scuba diving and powerlifting.

Lucy Skoulding
Senior editorial and content officer

Lucy is part of the Communications team at Local Trust, focusing on editorial, content and telling people’s stories in meaningful and engaging ways

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Lucy Skoulding
Senior editorial and content officer

Before Local Trust, Lucy worked as a journalist for national and local publications and enjoyed freelancing as a fiction book editor. Having volunteered for a number of charities over the years, Lucy is passionate about social justice, which led her to study for an MA in Human Rights. She believes strongly in using storytelling and content to create positive change.

Lily Wakeley
Content assistant

Lily is part of the Communications team at Local Trust, working across written and multimedia content

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Lily Wakeley
Content assistant

Lily has previously worked at a digital news organisation that used journalism to strengthen local communities and as a freelance journalist and filmmaker. She also worked for not-for-profit organisations supporting foreign national women and women in the criminal justice system. With a MA in anthropology, she believes in the power of people-led, multimedia storytelling to drive social change.

Melissa Davis
Digital officer

Melissa is part of the communications team, working across the organisation’s digital platforms

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Melissa Davis
Digital officer

Before Local Trust, Melissa worked for non-profit organisations in the education, public health and legal sectors. She has experience in editorial and publishing, digital content, and marketing communications.

Finance and Resources

Michelle Brissett
Head of finance and resources

Michelle has overall strategic responsibility for the organisations' finance and operation functions

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Michelle Brissett
Head of finance and resources

Previous to this role, Michelle was Director of Finance and Resources at the Church Urban Fund, a charity committed to help catalyse social action and bring about positive change in lives and communities across England.

Michelle is a qualified Chartered Management Accounts with over 20 years’ experience working in the not-for-profit sector. She also volunteers as Trustee for Surgeons and sits on the National Society Finance Committee.

Outside of work Michelle enjoys reading, entertaining and travelling.

Kamille Jennings
Finance manager

Kamille helps to manage the day-to-day finances of Local Trust

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Kamille Jennings
Finance manager

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.

Verity Soons
Governance and systems manager

Verity supports the board of trustees and other committees

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Verity Soons
Governance and systems manager

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.

Stefan Kistnah-Jeffries
Finance officer

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

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Stefan Kistnah-Jeffries
Finance officer

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.

Catherine Starkey
Office co-ordinator

Catherine manages the Local Trust office and facilities, and coordinates with trustees and senior management

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Catherine Starkey
Office co-ordinator

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.

Mary Porcu
Senior finance administrator

Mary provides support to the finance team

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Mary Porcu
Senior finance administrator

Mary provides support to the Finance team ensuring the routine financial administration talks 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 different roles in the Finance Department. She is also an Alternative Therapy practitioner/teacher and has an interest in Alternative Medicine and Psychology.

 

Nikesh Mistry
Finance business partner

Nikesh works as a finance business partner to provide various aspects of dynamic financial management

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Nikesh Mistry
Finance business partner

Nikesh’s role covers various aspects of dynamic financial management, including business partnering, financial reporting, analysis, reconciliation and monitoring.

Nikesh has worked in the social housing charity sector for the past 10 years as a group reporting management accountant. Previous roles were in the commercial sector as a Finance Manager for logistics and planned maintenance companies.