Board of Trustees - Pen Portraits

The following pieces were written by the Board members themselves and are listed in alphabetical order.

Ahmed Al-aagam
Ahmed is an enthusiastic young social entrepreneur, he was born in Aden Yemen and moved with parents and brother to Sheffield in 2000. To develop his language he immersed himself in the voluntary sector for the last 7 years in various roles, to mention a few, leading youth projects and assisting at a community event. He is very passionate about helping others in creating community impact, volunteering and believes that being on the VAS board is fitting with his passions.

Les Baker
Qualified accountant who has worked in local engineering businesses (James Neill, Stanley Tools) and took early retirement in 2000. Since then he has been involved in the following charities with local connections: Sheffield Crossroads Ltd (carer agency) director; CBA Projects Ltd (homeless charity) director (until June 2007); Johnnie Johnson Housing Ltd (housing association) director.

Patricia Bint
Patricia Bint is Practice Manager at Watson Esam Solicitors in Sheffield, specialising in marketing and people management. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and a graduate of the Institute of Export. Patricia has more than 25 years experience within private industry and not for profit organisations in the UK and abroad, working in France, Germany, Holland and Belgium as well as UK . She has worked with SRB and ERDF funds on behalf of South Yorkshire businesses and implemented same and has experience of income generation and marketing and managing projects which benefit the members of multi faceted, local, national and international organisations such as Chambers of Commerce and Business Links. Patricia has extensive experience of event organisation in UK and Europe and speaks French.

Wendy Bussey
Wendy works for Groundwork Sheffield, where she is the Green Space & Business Manager- responsible for developing programmes that integrate the economy with the environment. This includes facilitating links between academic institutes and the private sector, promoting sustainable construction and developing initiatives which improve green spaces. Wendy manages a small team who deliver projects ranging from green roofs to ethical investment. Prior to joining Groundwork, Wendy worked for SCEDU (Sheffield Community Enterprise Development Unit) where she supported social enterprises and small start-up businesses.

Luke Kenny
Luke began working in the sector as a Training Consultant specialising in Social Housing Tenants issues, giving him a solid understanding of the sector and the problems facing small groups as the majority of his work was with newly founded Tenants and Residents Associations. Through this work, he became involved with Voluntary Action Sheffield. He is currently employed as a Support Worker for Sheffield Housing Support Services.

Jane Leathley (vice-Chair)
Jane has been involved in the local voluntary and community sector since the early 1980s, as a volunteer, a committee member and a paid worker. She has worked for various organisations over the years including a welfare rights advice centre, a housing co-op, a regional tenant's organisation, and an environmental education charity. She has also been involved in campaigning, and was Branch Secretary for a voluntary sector union branch for six years. She joined the South Yorkshire Funding Advice Bureau in 1995 and was Bureau Director 1999 - 2005. In this role she was involved in local, sub regional, regional and national policy work on funding issues for the community and voluntary sector. She completed a MSc in Information Management at the University of Sheffield in 2006 and is currently working freelance in the fields of project management, information management and voluntary sector funding. She also volunteers as a farm guide at Whirlow Hall Farm Trust.

Roy Love
Roy Love came to Sheffield in 1978 to work as an economics lecturer in Sheffield City Polytechnic. Between then and 1993 when he left what had then become Sheffield Hallam University he had also lived and worked as an economist in Kiribati and Botswana. In the mid-1990s he and his wife co-managed a small charity conference centre/guest house in the English Lake District. This was followed by an academic year in Lesotho then several years back in Sheffield in part-time lecturing, and subsequently a further spell in Botswana which ended in March 2003. During these overseas contracts he became involved with local voluntary organisations, both on a hands-on role and as committee member. For a number of years he was also a volunteer advice worker at Pitsmoor Citizen's Advice Bureau in Sheffield and is familiar with the range of social problems faced in a city like Sheffield. Through this work he also has a certain lay knowledge of employment, consumer rights, immigration and social security issues. He has previous experience of being a trustee /director and has acted as treasurer. He continues to lecture part-time, engage in consultancy and to write and research.

Zahira Naz
Zahira Naz is currently the Education and Training Service Manager for SWT (Sheffield Wildlife Trust.) The Education team works with local Schools, Colleges and Early Years Settings to Enhance the Physical Structure, Management and Use of their Grounds, as a Resource for both People and Wildlife. They also run an Outdoor Learning programme aimed at school-aged children delivering national curriculum-linked educational activities with schools and an Environmental skills Training Programme delivering accredited vocational qualifications at Levels 1, 2 and 3. She has worked in the third sector for 9 years. Zahira is also a free lance tutor and has delivered the PPTLS (Preparing to Teach in the Life Long Sector) course and the ICDH (Introduction to Community Development and Health) course. She is a Mentor for Hallam University's Initial Teacher Training students and working on the Approved Internal Verification Status with Open College Network. Zahira is also doing her Level 3 NVQ in Information Advice and Guidance.

Tim Plant
Tim is Chief Executive of The Cavendish Centre who provide personal and supportive care to people with cancer. He has been involved in voluntary and community life in Sheffield for more than 20 years as a charity trustee, school governor, in health pressure groups and previously in local politics. He has recently been involved in working with VAS on the Health Compact and has more than 30 years experience working as a senior manager and planner in the NHS and Social Services. In recent years Tim has been Chief Executive of Sheffield South West PCG and Project Director for NHS LIFT in Barnsley , delivering much needed new primary care facilities to ex mining communities.

Maggie Rowlands (Chair, since December 2009)
Maggie is an export from the Welsh Valleys and moved to Sheffield in 1978 with a young family. Her first career was in teaching but she has worked in the voluntary sector since 1982. She worked for Home-Start, a family support charity, at a local, regional, national and international level. Maggie has been involved in the governance of VAS since the early 1980s as a Board member, Vice Chair of the Board, and also Chair and then member of the Personnel sub-committee. As Training Director for Home-Start UK she worked on various national committees involved in fostering the development of skills of employees and volunteers, including trustees, working in the voluntary community. She is committed to promoting the third sector and to ensuring a quality experience for all involved. She is currently working as a freelance trainer and consultant.