canvas
Chair of Trustees

Sue Hughes

Recently retired from Arts Council England, where she was  Relationship Manager for Luton, Sue previously worked in a similar capacity with Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire, promoting a wide range of arts and culture activities and supporting organisations throughout Bedfordshire, while gaining significant experience of assessing and monitoring grant applications. Prior to this Sue was East of England Regional Manager for the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, where the role included securing funding for and delivering major development projects, collaborating with other lottery funded organisations, and conducting peer reviews. A qualified information professional, Sue previously led Information and Inward Investment Services for Business Link Hertfordshire, managing a team of information advisors and event organisers, securing funding from the EU to set up a dedicated information centre and chairing the Information Managers’ Network.

Sue has recently served as a school governor and co-chair, and she is a founder member of Friends of Herts Young Homeless, scoping and taking part in fundraising activities to enhance life chances for service users.

[email protected]

image
image
canvas
Chair of the Executive Finance Committee

Chris Collett

Chris has spent his entire career in finance, opting to take a route of on-the-job learning as opposed to university. Chris trained as a Chartered Accountant, passing his ICAEW exams in 2010 before embarking on a variety of roles before settling the into investment appraisal and corporate finance side of finance. Chris’ broad experience of roles has seen him involved in auditing financial statements, establishing a finance function in a start-up, financial forecasting and investment appraisal; more recently taking a role to Head the Financial Planning and Analysis team at London Luton Airport, allowing him to leverage his previous experience in a broad management role.

Originally from Surrey, Chris moved to London with work and recently relocated to Sandy to raise his young family. When time allows, Chris enjoys fishing and cycling.

Chair of the Executive Finance Committee

image
image
canvas
Chair of the Executive Governance Committee

Judith Barker

Judith joined Bedfordshire and Luton Community Foundation in March 2021.  She is the Director of Programmes and Governance at SEMLEP – the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership.  Judith leads the delivery of the £265M Local Growth Fund programme as well as the Getting Building Fund.  She oversees the development of and compliance with SEMLEP Assurance Framework and wider governance.

She previously worked for the East of England Development Agency as lead on community regeneration, rural and sustainable development issues.  From 2008-2017 she was self-employed and undertook economic development project management roles.

Judith has worked in economic development and programme management for nearly 20 years and previously in housing and community development.  Previously she has been on the Board of 2 housing associations as well as being on pre-school and after school committees and a school Governor.

She lives in Bedfordshire with her husband and three sons.

Vice Chair

Chair of Governance Committee

image
image
Chair of the Executive Fund Development Committee

James Western

James is a finance and investment professional, having worked at Barclays Bank for five years before joining Harwood Private Capital. During this time, he has provided public and private companies with debt and equity finance to drive growth. James has also spent time in restructuring – supporting distressed companies across the UK, Europe and Asia. His current role is investing in small and fast-growing companies.

James is an advocate of using professional experience to support charities. In the past, he has assisted a non-profit organisation establish a social enterprise and worked with The Prince’s Trust to teach young people enterprise skills, to prepare them for starting their own business. James grew up in Bedfordshire, where he met his wife, with family members living across the County.

Chair of the Executive Fund Development Committee

image
image
canvas
Trustee

Rory Herbert

Rory is an aspiring governance professional, having recently completed a master’s degree in Corporate Governance and Law. He is currently a Governance Trainee, assisting international businesses wishing to enter the UK market with their company secretarial and governance requirements.

Prior to this, he was awarded an internship sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators and worked within the company secretarial team of an international conglomerate in Hong Kong.

Though he was born in London, Rory has lived in Dunstable for the majority of his life. During this time he has been an active member of the local community, having worked previously in various libraries across Central Bedfordshire.

Member of the Governance Committee
Young Trustees Ambassador

image
image
canvas
image
image
Trustee

Lorraine Hughes

Lorraine grew up in Luton and now lives in Bedfordshire with her husband and 2 sons. Whilst Lorraine completed her Human Sciences degree in London, she returned to Luton to teach, training with Chiltern Training Group, a teacher training organisation she now oversees.

Over the last 25 years Lorraine has held several school leadership roles and is now Deputy CEO of a Multi Academy Trust with schools across Luton, Bedford and Central Bedfordshire. Lorraine has worked here since 2016, gaining experience in school improvement, organisational growth and regional teacher development. She sits on the Trustee Board, reporting as an Officer and attends a number of local governing bodies for schools across Bedfordshire.

Lorraine is extremely passionate about Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and much of her work is about ensuring that underrepresented groups access the highest quality education. She is committed to increasing diversity in school leadership teams and to improving schools, where she contributes at a national level regarding school improvement.

Member of the Governance Committee

EDI Champion

 

canvas
Trustee

Aimee Gomez

Aimee Gomez is a Creative Producer and Educator in the fashion industry working on a variety of international events including runway shows photo shoots and brand development. She is the founder of The Fashion Breakdown and STEM X FASHION.

The Fashion Breakdown has been running since 2018 delivering a careers advisory service and educational platform that offers advice and guidance alongside tangible hands on work experience workshops and work experience opportunities to help young people make informed decisions and clear pathways for their future.

STEM X FASHION promotes and informs on the benefits and career routes into the fashion industry through the study of STEM subjects. Linking the study of STEM to an aspirational industry, such as the fashion industry, captures the imagination and raises aspirations of young people working with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics focused careers. Aimee recently received funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to create and pilot new innovative educational resources and re imagine a new framework for teaching that inspires students and teaching staff to engage with Luton’s hat making heritage with the use of innovative technologies including VR, AR and gamification app development.

Member of the Executive Fund Development Committee

image
image
canvas
image
image
Trustee

Ian Taylor

Ian is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and a Chartered Engineer.

Starting his career at a Local Authority in the West Midlands, Ian moved to his current employer, Arup, in 1993.

Ian has lived and worked in Hong Kong, Singapore, Ireland and the USA as well as the UK during his career with Arup, and has also delivered projects in Philippines, Vietnam, China and other nations, helping to deliver connectivity and economic opportunity to emerging regions of the world. He is a Director with the firm, and is currently its Global Aviation Business Leader, with responsibility for business strategy, business investments and project delivery. He is particularly proud of his work with Arup, as it is an employee trust-owned organisation with strong ethical values that he shares.

Since 2019, Ian has been working on London Luton Airport development plans and its Development Consent Order application. Luton Borough Council works for the community benefit, not private shareholders and is supporting a movement to create a town built on fairness, where people can thrive, and no-one has to live in poverty.

Ian enjoys time with his two teenage daughters has a passion for classic cars.

Member of the Executive Fund Development Committee

canvas
image
Advisor to the Board

Alastair Hay

Born in Luton but currently living in Ampthill, for the past 39 years, I started my surveying career in 1972 with Rumball & Edwards in St Albans, and moved to Edward Symmons in London. I subsequently moved to Manchester in 1983 and joined Bradshaws, becoming partner in 1984 and was instrumental in the growth of the business from one office to 6, expanding the professional side of the practice to encompass Beds, Herts and Bucks, specialising in both residential and commercial property.

In 2008 I sold off the estate agency offices and merged the surveying practice with Pinnacle Surveyors based in Derby in October 2014 where I continue to work part time.

My interests are varied and I like travel, history, historic buildings, rugby, wine, nature and wildlife, walking, photography and remain an active member of The Rotary Club of Luton North, Worshipful Company of Feltmakers, Freeman of City of London Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Trustee of Rotary Youth Trust for Luton.

canvas
Join Us

Become a BLCF Trustee

BLCF is an independent, non-profit organisation established since 2001. Our aim is to improve the quality of life for local residents through encouraging local giving. Our Trustees play a vital role in the organisation and are the final decision-makers. The Board’s main job is to set direction and have oversight of what’s going on, offer the executive strategy, scrutiny, and support, to the employees.

To apply to join us, please download the following 3 documents:

1. Trustee Recruitment Advert
2. Trustee Recruitment Policy
3. Trustee Application Pack

We welcome enquiries from prospective Trustees throughout the year. The role encompasses a wide varity of skills, and we are particularly interested in hearing from (but not exclusively to) those with a background in Banking, Business Development, Law, Digital Marketing, Arts and Press Relations.

Closing Date for Applications:
This is a rolling application opportunity, candidates may apply throughout the year

To find out more and request an informal chat with our Chair of Trustees please send an email to our administrator here.

image
image