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Voluntary Sector North West
St. Thomas Centre

Ardwick Green North
Manchester
M12 6FZ
Tel: 0161 276 9300
Fax: 0161 276 9301
Email: info@vsnw.org.uk

Listen Value Invest: our speakers

Morning Key Note Speaker: The Right Hon John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons
John Bercow was elected as Speaker of the House of Commons in 2009 in the first such contest to involve hustings, manifestos and a secret ballot and was re-elected by the House in 2010. He became Member of Parliament for Buckingham in 1997 and served in a variety of frontbench and Shadow Cabinet positions including Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Shadow Work and Pensions and Shadow International Development Secretary. After the 2005 election he served on the Speaker’s Panel and the International Development Select Committee and led an inquiry for the then Government into the treatment of children with speech and language difficulties. He continues to be actively involved in issues relating to special educational needs and human rights globally. He is also a patron of a host of charitable and voluntary organisations in his constituency. He is married with three children.

Afternoon Key Note Speaker: Neil McInroy
Neil is the Chief Executive of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES), an independent charitable organisation engaged in policy research and consultancy around creating effective places. Prior to becoming Chief Executive of CLES in 2003, Neil was an academic geographer in Glasgow, London and Oxford. He remains involved in the academic community and is an Honorary Senior Fellow in the School of Environment and Development and Centre for Urban Policy Studies at the University of Manchester. Neil is presently involved in a range of research projects including work on procurement, new local economic strategies and making local economies strong and resilient to adverse change, and has recently been commissioned by the Royal Society of Arts to write a pamphlet on the future of place making in the 21st century.

Dr Ruth Hussey, OBE
Ruth is the Regional Director of Public Health/Medical Director at NHS North West and leads the Department of Health North West, which is co-located with other Government Departments in Government Office North West. Her remit includes: health improvement and health inequalities, clinical leadership, health protection, Local Area Agreements, supporting the development of social care in the region and lead RDPH on links with Home Office, Ministry of Justice and violence prevention. Previously, Ruth was Director of Health Strategy/Medical Director at Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority (April 2002 – July 2006) and between November 2005 and June 2006, was also the Acting Director of Public Health/Medical Director at Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority. Prior to this Ruth was Director of Public Health for Liverpool (1991 - 2002). Ruth is Visiting Professor at the University of Liverpool, and Honorary Fellow at the Liverpool John Moores University.

Richard Caulfield
Richard is the Chief Executive of Voluntary Sector North West. Born and raised in York, he worked in the insurance industry before studying Psychology and Sociology at what is now Liverpool Hope University. After graduating Richard served two years as an elected sabbatical before moving to London to work for Community Service Volunteers. Richard moved to Manchester in 1997 working initially for Trafford CVS and then the National Union of Students where he was Manager of the Regions and Development. Richard then returned to the CVS movement as Chief Officer at Salford CVS before moving to UniServity, a software company, as Director of Not-for-Profit. Richard became Chief Executive at Voluntary Sector North West (VSNW) in 2008. He is currently Vice-Chair of Governors at Old Trafford Community School a Board member of Manchester Community Information Network and a Trustee of Manchester Met Students’ union.

Paul Martin
Paul is the Chief Executive of the Lesbian & Gay Foundation, one of the largest organisations of its kind in the UK, working for the benefit of lesbian, gay and bisexual people. He has nearly 20 years’ experience of leading and founding numerous LGBT community organisations and has been a pivotal and significant catalyst for change within the North West’s voluntary and community sector. He has worked extensively with local, regional and national government departments as an independent advisor and consultant on sexual orientation matters. Paul is a Non-Executive Director of a PCT in the North West and a member of the Equality & Human Rights Commission’s national LGB stakeholder group; Chair of the Rainbow Partnership; was Chair of the LGBT Health Summit in 2007; Chair of Gaydio Social Enterprise; and is a member of the Steering Group for the development of ACEVO North.