Staff Team
When it comes to strengthening and supporting Gloucestershire’s communities, our staff have it covered.
With a wealth of experience, from housing, research and analysis, community planning and finance, to safeguarding, support for older people and digital inclusion, our staff have the skills and commitment to help our communities survive and thrive.
Click on the names of the people in our team to find out more about them and what they do.
Amanda has a background in social and environmental research and worked for many years at the Countryside and Community Research Unit in University of Gloucestershire. She researched rural issues such as agricultural policy; rural services; biodiversity planning; links between economy and environment; and, more recently her research has been related to flooding, small businesses and communities. She also completed a PhD on social theory and wildlife planning. Amanda has been responsible for researching and writing two health and wellbeing directories – for Charlton Kings Parish Council and Winchcombe Churches Together.
Within GRCC Amanda’s original role was as a Village Agent, then as a Navigator Developer for the Going the Extra Mile (GEM) employability scheme, and she is now Project Manager of the Cotswolds Community Wellbeing Service (CWS).
Amanda says, "The Community Wellbeing Service is a great scheme where agents or social prescribers are able to get alongside those who may not know where to go for help and support, so I was very pleased to be able to take on this role for GRCC".
Amanda enjoys music, countryside walks, and swimming in her spare time.
amandaw@grcc.org.uk
Annabelle joined GRCC as a N. Cotswolds Social Prescriber in September 2022, having had a successful career in education, then a career break to focus on raising her family.
Annabelle is looking forward to working with people in the community enabling them to lead a happy and fulfilling life.
"I am excited to start this new career path, working and communicating with people - this is one of my key skills. I am grateful to work for such a great organisation as GRCC working alongside such a supportive and caring team. I hope I can contribute to this team and play a small part in helping people of the north Cotswolds."
Outside of work, Annabelle is busy with family, friends and her dog Elsie. She enjoys exercising to keep healthy. When she has time, she also enjoys pursuing her hobby of antiques, and relearning to play the piano.
annabellef@grcc.org.uk
Cara joined GRCC in 2023 as our Affordable Housing Manager, with a background of working in housing associations - most recently as a Land and Planning Manager in the South West. She has a range of experience in feasibility, development, and delivery of affordable housing, with an interest in community-led housing solutions.
Cara is keen to deliver collaborative, progressive, and sustainable solutions to the housing crisis. She passionately believes that revitalising communities through encouraging a sense of place can transform society for the better. Cara seeks to improve the built environment and people's lives through a focus on the relationship between beauty and architecture.
Outside work, Cara is a keen walker and enjoys travelling off the beaten track.
CaraL@grcc.org.uk
Carmen joined our Cotswold Community Wellbeing Service team in January 2024 as a Social Prescribing Link Worker for the North Cotswolds. She was previously a Housing and Debt Support Worker with the P3 Charity.
Carmen is looking forward to working one-to-one with the Cotswold Community Wellbeing Service clients, focusing on ‘what matters to them’ to find ways to improve their health and well-being.
Contact: carmenw@grcc.org.uk
Clare first joined GRCC as maternity cover for the Village & Community Agents Manager in 2009, and again in 2013. Other roles have included Digital Outreach Ltd Lead Organisation Project Manager; secondment to Gloucestershire County Council as part of the Adult Social Care Customer Journey Project; and researching and writing 2014’s Cost/Benefit Analysis of the Gloucestershire Village & Community Agents Scheme.
Currently, Clare provides research and analysis support to various of GRCC’s projects, maintains our Quality Standards policies and processes, supports the Board of Trustees and GRHP meetings, and line manages the admin team.
When not at work, Clare can usually be found behind a book.
How to contact Clare:
Email: ClareH@grcc.org.uk
Daniel joined GRCC in June 2019 as GEM (Going the Extra Mile) Project Navigator Developer, and is now our Digital Inclusion Manager.
Working in the field of Employment and Skills for different organisations, Daniel has previous employment in the fields of Health and Social Care, Retail management, Digital Media and Local Government.
Having worked in different parts of the country, helping communities and individuals with the removal of barriers and to reach their full potential, Daniel developed an ABCD (Asset Based Community Development) approach to his work.
Daniel said about his role: “Working at GRCC has enabled me to engage with some of the hardest to reach communities in the country, due to the many unique barriers they face as individuals in a rural context.”
Contact: danielg@grcc.org.uk
Guy Dobson is our VCSE Advice Officer working county-wide offering organisational and developmental support to the voluntary sector.
Guy joined GRCC in November 2022 having recently moved to Gloucestershire from Bristol, where he was Co-founder and Co-CEO of A.P.E. Project CIC.
Guy has been working in the VCSE sector for 25 years, mainly in the world of Playwork, Adventure Playgrounds and Community Arts, both in London and Bristol. Between 2017 and 2022 Guy was CEO at St Pauls Adventure Playground Bristol where he navigated a Community Asset Transfer of the facility from Bristol City Council to A.P.E. Project CIC, and held the reins through the challenges offered by Covid and a devastating arson attack.
Guy is passionate about supporting children and young people, working with diverse communities, and campaigning for social justice. Outside of work, Guy likes to spend time with his family, has a reggae sound system, and is a massive fan of all things related to reggae and speaker box building. He also enjoys signwriting.
Contact: guyd@grcc.org.uk
Izzie is GRCC's receptionist, and also works in the marketing team, creating social media posts - she's an ace with the graphics program Canva.
Previously, Izzie has mainly worked in hospitality and as a professional actor.
Outside of work, Izzie has become inspired to learn more practical skills, beginning with taking a sewing course. She also loves anything plant-related, and likes to stay active by walking, kayaking, and climbing.
Contact: izzier@grcc.org.uk
Jason Spinney is our Community Capacity Builder for the Forest of Dean and Stroud Districts. He offers support to community groups and Parish Councils in areas such as fund-raising, community engagement, and governance.
Jason has a varied background, including working backstage for theatre, film, and TV, and around 20 years in charity management, including managing projects and teams. He has a passion for the charitable sector and especially the imagination and variety of solutions that charity teams use to solve problems.
Jason is completing a degree with the Open University in Environmental Studies and lists music as his passion - drumming and DJing. He also enjoys walking in the mountains and tinkering with tech of any kind – especially Linux computers and Android phones.
You can reach Jason via email: jasons@grcc.org.uk
Jo Main is GRCC's Social Prescriber for the North Cotswolds area, which includes the towns of Bourton on the Water, Stow on the Wold, and Northleach. Her role as a social prescriber is to help people reconnect socially in order to improve their general health and quality of life.
Jo has come into this area of work after a career in hairdressing and many years of caring for her parents through physical and mental illnesses. This experience made her very aware of many of the difficulties faced by people, and passionate about helping people to improve their quality of life.
In her spare time, Jo likes to spend time with her family and their dog, meet friends for walks, or just have quiet time at home.
Contact: JoM@grcc.org.uk
Karen started at GRCC as a Social Prescriber in 2019. Prior to this, she worked as a Primary School Teacher in the Cotswolds. The Community Wellbeing Service offered her a better work-life balance, and in 2021 she took on the role of Social Prescribing Link Worker for Young People in the North Cotswolds which goes back to her vocational roots.
She has a fun-loving personality and a wicked sense of humour. She enjoys sunny holidays, photography, cooking, and creativity, which are all great for her own good health and wellbeing.
Contact the Community Wellbeing Service:
Email: cws.grcc@nhs.net
Phone: 07738 106384
Karen Wyatt oversees the day-to-day running of GRCC's finances, making sure everything runs smoothly and efficiently, from expenses and salaries to month-end journals.
She joined GRCC in 2013 and has over 19 years' experience in accounts management.
She is also AAT Intermediate and Technician level Qualified.
With 13 years' experience of the finance function in the manufacturing industry, and four years with a youth charity in Gloucester, Karen keeps GRCC's finances firmly on track, no mean feat in today's economic climate.
How to contact Karen:
Email: KarenW@grcc.org.uk
Contact laurab@grcc.org.uk
Laura's role as a Social Prescriber covers Cirencester, Lechlade, Fairford, and the surrounding villages.
Previously, Laura studied Health Psychology at undergraduate and MSc level, and is hoping to start a doctorate in Health Psychology in Autumn 2024. She has volunteered with MacMillan Cancer Support as a Community Buddy, and with the charity Future Quest working on data evaluation.
Laura says that she is excited to start her role as a Social Prescriber where she hopes to make good use of the skills that she has developed through higher education and her volunteering. She feels that her previous experience has given her an understanding of the importance of empathy, patience, and compassionate care, which she will be able to bring to her work as a Social Prescriber.
Outside of work, Laura enjoys walking her labradors in the countryside and on the beach, spending time with family and friends, and doing arts and crafts.
Email laurah@grcc.org.uk
Lauren is our Digital & Technology Navigator for Tewkesbury Borough.
Lauren's post is a new initiative to support digital inclusion, improve health outcomes, and build digital literacy across Tewkesbury Borough. This role aims to tackle the digital divide, ensuring that all community members, particularly the vulnerable, isolated and most disconnected, can access and benefit from the digital world.
This is a new role at GRCC in partnership with Tewkesbury Borough Council and Tewkesbury Integrated Locality Partnership (ILP), working alongside the Borough's community partners.
Lauren was previously working for Independence Trust, where she was an Autism Peer Support Worker for the Community Autism Support & Advice team. In that role she developed the skill set to engage effectively with local communities and maintain peer support groups.
Lauren has a degree in photography and a master’s degree in psychology, and enjoys reading and spending time with her family.
laurenw@grcc.org.uk
Louise's main role at GRCC is to look after the UKSPF grants programme, which we are administering for Tewkesbury Borough, Forest of Dean District, and Cotswold District Councils. Louise gives advice about the grant schemes to potential applicants, and deals with eligibility checks, liaising with the councils, and arranging the grant panel meetings.
Louise also provides support to our Affordable Housing work and the RUSTIK Project.
Louise previously worked for us from 2018 to 2021 as our Community Wellbeing Service Project Manager.
When not at GRCC, Louise enjoys singing, learning French, and spending time with her labrador.
Email: louisef@grcc.org.uk
Peter Richardson is GRCC's Digital Content Officer.
Peter's job includes writing, photography and video-making for the GRCC and Independence Trust websites and social media accounts.
After university, Peter trained as a print journalist and worked for a while as a reporter on a weekly newspaper. This was back in the 1980s, in the days of typewriters, carbon-paper, and copy-and-pasting with actual paste!
By the time the 'world wide web' started to get popular in the late 1990s, Peter was somehow working as an educational software designer at the Open University, where he was involved in setting up some of the OU's first properly interactive web-based courses.
From the year 2000, Peter was mainly self-employed running a small business helping charities and small green organisations to set up and run their websites. He has been at GRCC since January 2023 - and one of his first projects was to help with publicity for GRCC's Centenary.
Outside of work, Peter's passions are for growing fruit and veg, cooking, DIY, reading, and photography - and much of his life revolves around permaculture and co-housing in Stroud.
Contact - peterr@grcc.org.uk
Rachel previously studied Human Geography at undergraduate level and worked as an ambassador for a small climate education charity which aimed to provide young children with the knowledge and resources to make pro-active behavioural changes to help combat climate change.
Rachel is looking forward to working throughout Gloucestershire in her role as Flood and Community Resilience Officer at GRCC, and developing our Flood Warden and Emergency Planning projects.
"My aim for this role is to work directly with our communities to ensure projects meet their specific needs, build on their existing knowledge and capacities, and provide them with the resources to deal with events happening as a result of our ever-changing climate," said Rachel.
Outside of work, Rachel's hobbies include walking, netball, rounders, and reading.
Contact - rachels@grcc.org.uk
Richard joined GRCC in 2022 as a Social Prescriber in the Cotswolds. As part of the Community Wellbeing Service team, he works with clients to find holistic ways to improve their health and wellbeing. Richard mainly covers the South Cotswolds, including Cirencester, Tetbury, and surrounding areas.
Richard says: "It can be a really empowering experience for people when they feel they are being heard and respected, and that’s a good starting point to help them make the positive changes that matter to them."
Outside of work, Richard enjoys reading, walking in the countryside, and writing the occasional poem, all of which support his own health and sense of wellbeing.
richardB@grcc.org.uk
Sabrina Dixon is our Community Capacity Builder for the Cotswold District and Tewkesbury Borough. She offers support to voluntary and community sector organisations (including community buildings) on fundraising, community engagement, and governance.
Sabrina can also provide parish and town councils with an introduction to community-led planning options, and training on community consultation methods.
You can contact Sabrina via sabrinad@grcc.org.uk
Tim has worked in social housing for over 20 years, and has managed a number of supported housing schemes for older people and individual properties for young people with mental health issues.
He is currently a District Councillor on Forest of Dean District Council, where he was Leader from 2017 to 2023.
Tim's role covers the Cotswolds, Stroud, and Tewkesbury areas, where he works with parish councils and local communities to deliver much needed affordable housing.
His aim is to help GRCC deliver “the right homes, in the right place, with the right tenure, for the right people”.
Tim enjoys gardening, writing, and walking his dog in the Forest, and hopes to soon return to playing village cricket.
Contact timg@grcc.org.uk