Our Trustees

Meet our Board

Gill Cooper

Gill spent her working career in the Arts sector and latterly in Local Government leading Arts in Education work, creating York's cultural strategy and leading the successful bid to become a UNESCO City of Media Arts. 

She has worked on the Boards of the Federation of Music Services, Dance UK, Yorkshire Dance and Youth Music.  Since retirement she has joined the Earlston Community Development Trust, Abbey Quilters, the Borders Modern Quilt Guild and ReTweed.

Jim Little BA (Hons) Dunelm, MIHSCM, MIoR

Jim is an accomplished health and social care manager with a wide range of experience in operational management, strategic planning and policy development.

He has over fifteen years of experience in quality improvement, programme and project management in government, health and social care focussing on access to services, improving efficiency and effectiveness in regulation, acute, mental health, primary care and adult social care services.

Proven programme and project management skills including project design, budgeting, monitoring, benefits realisation and report writing. Strong strategic planning and co-ordination skills to enable the delivery of major transformation and improvement programmes. Effective networking skills with experience in establishing and co-ordinating health and social care networks on a local, regional and national basis. Excellent capacity building skills including mentoring, development of training materials, workshop design and facilitation. Jim has also been on the Board of three other charities over the last ten years.

Jim lives in Gateshead and has a caravan in Coldingham where he spends most weekends with his partner and two dogs exploring the local area and enjoying coastal walks. He is a keen gym enthusiast, enjoys cooking and reading.
 

Alice Guinan

Alice has an extensive project management and policy development track record, gained over 16 years of working in the fields of humanitarian assistance, climate change, livelihoods and export development.

Having worked with the Scottish Government, UN agencies, NGOs, research organisations, public sector agencies and consultancy firms, she has proven experience engaging with the government, private sector, civil society, research and multilateral stakeholders.

She has designed, coordinated and managed a broad range of international development programmes (including on climate smart agriculture, WASH, green economy and market systems development) and has authored publications on disaster risk reduction, climate change, social protection, agriculture and disability.