Mike Allott
Mike has delivered frontline community projects for the last 13 years.  Professionally he works for the Plus You Ltd regeneration charity in Southampton as a community development worker.

Plus You Ltd is the succession body of Thornhill Plus You, his local NDC programme.  Having previously working for Groundwork Solent, prior to his appointment with Plus You Ltd, Mike was a non- executive director and, as an agency board representative, had already served as a resident board member.

Mike is a qualified youth worker and has previously delivered the Say No and Phone (SNAP) project in Southampton.

He also acts as vice-chair of his local British Legion Charity.  Along with two other Legion members, Mike recently set up a Community Interest Company for the British Legion.  The new company started trading in June 2011; it employs ten local residents in part and full-time positions.  Mike handed over the CIC to the non-executive directors before it started trading and is now looking for an opportunity to set up another CIC for the British Legion.

Nicky Cambridge (Vice-Chair)
Nicky grew up on a council estate in London and became a young activist and volunteer there: returning to education several years later for a Social Policy Degree.  Nicky worked in both voluntary and paid community development roles for a variety of organisation until she took a full-time post in Brighton and Hove City Council's Community Development Team, where she progressed to managing a large Neighbourhood Renewal and Sure Start programme and a neighbourhood management pathfinder project.  Nicky has also undertaken consultancy work with the third sector and taught on the new local community development Foundation Degree.  She now works within the Communities and Equalities Team of the Council undertaking a strategic role in relation to third sector support, community engagement and regeneration.  This includes commissioning pieces of work with the third sector and developing policy in relation to engagement and neighbourhood working.  Nicky has also held several voluntary roles including trustee of a local youth organisation and a neighbourhood trust in one of the most deprived parts of the City.

Chris Coffey
Chris was born in 1948 and retired early on health grounds. He has lived in the St Helens area for all of his life.  He is a wheelchair user, having Cerebellar Ataxia, and retirement gave him time to get involved in weekday community activities.

Being interested in local and regional history and cultural activities has improved his knowledge of the North West.  He is the current Chair of the St Helens Community Empowerment Network and an active member of several local networks, including the St Helens Disability Network and the St Helens Social Inclusion (Mental Health) Network.

David Floyd
David is Managing Director of Social Spider CIC, a social enterprise based in Walthamstow, east London, that publishes the mental health magazine, One in Four.  He is a non-executive director of Inpress, the sales and marketing agency for independent publishers in the UK and Ireland, a trustee of Voluntary Action Waltham Forest, and a fellow of the RSA and the School for Social Entrepreneurs.  He writes the popular social enterprise blog, Beanbags and Bullsh!t.

Garry Haywood

Sal Hampson (Co-Chair)
Sal was elected to the Board in 2006 and served as Vice-Chair before being elected as Co-Chair in 2010. She is also on the Board of her local AgeUK organisation and is a co-ordinator of the Shropshire LGBT Film Festival. Sal has a particular interest in Criminal Justice - from a community-based perspective - and in public transport. For her ‘day job', she is a Director of ChangesUK Ltd, a consultancy and training organisation specialising in community development and active citizenship. Having spent over 10 years in both Bristol and Bradford, Sal now lives in Shrewsbury, in the West Midlands.
SAL HAMPSON ON THE CHANGES WEBSITE

Dave Hannay
Dave is regional director of Community North West which provides independent help and support as well as giving a voice to the smaller community groups in the NW of England. He has managed a number of voluntary sector and statutory CD Teams, a London CVS and Rochdale Racial Equality Council as well having run an African Aid Charity.

Dave is interested in the impact that wider global political and economic changes has on local communities in this country and in the developing world and is committed to supporting local people come together, in solidarity, to speak truth to power.  

Jeanette Harold
Jeanette is a Director of CONTINUUM Community Support and Cohesion Services. With over 30 years' community development experience in the VCS and public sector, Jeanette is an experienced project manager leading and working on various projects and programmes in Nottinghamshire, Cumbria and the North East. Passionate about people's voices being heard she works with them to develop their voice. She is a seasoned campaigner both as a Trade Unionist and community activist. She holds an honours degree, a Post Graduate Diploma, an Adult Teaching Qualification and is a member of the Chartered Management Institute and Institute for Learning.

Tony Harrison
Tony has had 40 years of working as a volunteer and recently became a local councillor.  He is a member of the management committee of Burnley Community Network, a trustee of an estate management board, a member of an over-50 theatre group, a member of Lancahire Probation Trust, and a director of Community North West plus other activities such as volunteering for an HIV Charity where he as a trustee and former chair until recently.

John Houghton
John has been a community activist in a number of roles. He was until recently the co-chair of his Local Area Partnership in Tower Hamlets, East London, and sat as a community rep on the borough LSP. John has been a member of local neighburhood renewal bodies, and also previously worked within central government on community engagement and third sector policy and programmes.


Maxine Moar
Maxine is a former National Delivery Manager for the Home Office working with clients ranging from Ministers and senior officers to residents and young people in diverse communities. She has been a key figure in building local and national Community Cohesion polices and rose to prominence during the riots in Oldham and other northern cities and towns. She is a community practitioner and national policy maker. with extensive frontline experience at the hardest and sharpest cutting edge of deprived communities and ethnic, racial and cultural segregation. She combines this with extensive policy knowledge and is an accomplished and regularly sought after trainer and enabler.
 
Abu Nasir (Treasurer)
Abu Nasir has been a trustee of Urban Forum since 2006 and is also the Treasurer of the organisation.

He is currently employed by Luton Borough Council as Regeneration Programmes Manager. He has substantial experience in Project Management, Regeneration, Public Policy, Neighbourhood Renewal, Community Development and the Professional Football Industry and has managed multi million pound budgets in the private and public sectors and successfully delivered large scale projects and programmes.

He is involved with a number of organisations and has served as a Board member, Trustee and Non-Executive Director. His current roles include Chair of Luton Sporting Club, Chair of Governors at a Luton School, Chair of the BME Football Forum, Chair of County FA Race Equality Committee, Ambassador for Kick it Out, and a member of Liverpool Football Club's Supporters Committee and acts as a link between the fans and the club's owners

Barry Navarro
Barry's background is in community development, community regeneration and anti-poverty work. Barry has worked in the public and voluntary sectors including local authorities and for a housing association. Barry currently works for the Community Development Foundation as Local Authority Programme Manager and previously he was a freelance consultant.  

Sally Polanski (Co-Chair)
Sally is Chief Executive of Brighton and Hove Community and Voluntary Sector Forum, the umbrella group and representative body for the local community and voluntary sector. Sally's passion is to help raise awareness and understanding of the sector's role and to develop partnerships and policy which maximise its potential.

Sally has over twelve years' experience providing support services to the community and voluntary sector and enjoys working in both strategic leadership roles and on projects which involve working with community groups to bring about local change.

Sally is currently nurturing a new veggie patch aided by her 2 small children.

Lauren Seager-Smith
Lauren was elected to the board in 2010. She has devoted her working life to children and young people, specialising in education and behaviour. In her current day job Lauren co-ordinates the Anti-bullying Alliance (part of the National Children's Bureau). Lauren has previously worked in community-based education advocacy in North London with Save the Children, as a Connexions Intensive Personal Adviser for young people in Reading, as a coordinator with an international youth volunteering charity where she got to see a fair bit of the world, and as a full time volunteer with a homeless charity in Edinburgh. In her spare time (when she's not commuting on a packed train with a good book) Lauren loves all things arts related, baking cakes, new experiences and getting out and having fun.

Mohammed Suleman
Suleman has an abiding commitment to the development of voluntary and community sector as a whole.  He serves as a board member with various charitable and statuary organisation, including TRC, VAR, Vctrain and on an open college executive committee.

Suleman's involvement with both local and regional development programmes has provided him an insight into current policy and the value placed on targeting, and active involvement and participation with the regeneration process that predominates current thinking.   He is equally conscious however of the emphasis placed on private sector participation and the leadership role envisaged for them in the process.

Suleman has worked alongside people with lives that begin and often end without much hope or fulfilment, but with considerable talents and capacity.  The failure of past programmes to respond adequately provides a personal incentive to make a difference by recognising potential.  He encourages growth through sustainable innovation, and by building on successful initiatives rather than by encouraging the proliferation of yet more new schemes for the sake of calling them new believe.

Joe Taylor
Joe is secretary of the North West Community Activists Network and an administrator for the National Community Activists Network.
 
 

Gethyn Williams