Chair of VSNW Since April 2023

Sally Yeoman MBE

Chief Executive at Halton and St Helens VCA

Sally is currently a Board member at the Saints Community Development Foundation, VOLA, the VCSE sector learning alliance for the Liverpool City Region, Vice-Chair of VS6 the Liverpool City Region VCSE sector partnership and is a Non-Executive Director at Bridgewater Community NHS Foundation Trust. She is an Institute of Directors (IOD) certified Company Director and a Local Government Improvement and Development Accredited Partnership Peer.

Halton and St Helens VCA is the local support and development organisation providing advice, information, support and practical services to charities, voluntary organisations, community groups and social enterprises in St Helens and Halton. It offers such support to help create a strong local civil society sector that makes a positive difference in the lives of local people and communities. Since the merger, VCA is now connected with more than 2500 groups, charities and organisation in the two boroughs.

Treasurer of VSNW since May 2023

Gill Bainbridge

Chief Executive at Merseyside Youth Association

Gill has been the Chief Executive of Merseyside Youth Association since 2004, working daily with a team of dynamic, committed, and passionate staff, who always put young people at the centre of everything they do. She is the custodian of this charity, which has now been creating positive and lasting change on the lives of young people for 130 years. A graduate of the University of Liverpool, Gill has a BA (Hons) in Psychology and Sociology and an MA in Women’s Studies, she has worked in the voluntary sector in Liverpool for 29 years with experience in youth and play work, disability issues, volunteering, young women’s work, advice, support and counselling.

Gill presently represents the sector on the Liverpool City Region Youth Task Force, the Liverpool Providers Alliance, Liverpool Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Partnership Board and Liverpool’s City-wide Fairness and Anti-Poverty Group. She is a member of VS6, the Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Social Care Leadership Group and Health Watch Community Engagement Group and Vice- Chair and Parent Governor of Valewood Primary School in Crosby, Sefton.

Circle Steele

CEO Wai Yin Society

Circle Steele is a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the Wai Yin Society, which provides support to, and has empowered and worked in partnership with, Chinese individuals and families for over 30 years (since 1988). She has extensive experience of working with community-based organisations and feels extremely proud to be a part of one of the largest BME community centres in the Greater Manchester.

She was the first Chinese Youth Leader to win the British Diversity Gold Award for involving Chinese young people in employment, in partnership with Halifax Bank. And she was the Chinese female leader to share that experience of diversity and integration at international conferences in countries such as Sweden and Germany. She was pleased to receive an invitation from Her Majesty to attend a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in 2008 to acknowledge the contribution she had made to society.

As an Executive Member of various other boards and organisations, she consistently champions cultural diversity on behalf of, and gives a voice to, Chinese and other ethnic minorities in Greater Manchester. She was nominated as one of the Strong Manchester Women campaigners in the 100th year anniversary of the suffragette movement in 2018.

She has spoken about Wai Yin innovative delivery model and approach to diversity and diversification of services at the House of Lords in 2019.

Margaret Cheshire

Chief Operations Officer, Cheshire Community Foundation

Margaret joined Cheshire Community Foundation (CCF) as Chief Operations Officer in 2019 following a career working for a range of North West businesses. Having lived and worked in Cheshire for over 30 years, Margaret has a good knowledge of communities in Cheshire and Warrington and her CCF role has significantly improved her understanding of VCSE activities.

Although Margaret has been a volunteer for a range of community groups, she recognises that she is committed but relative newcomer to the sector and has taken every opportunity to learn and develop relationships in the sector. For example, contributing to the development of the Cheshire & Warrington Infrastructure Partnerships, working as part of the Community Foundation network and representing the sector during the pandemic on the LEP’s economic resilience committee.

She sees the vital role the VCSE sector and the difference made when organisations within the sector work together and have productive relationships with external partners, including the public sector.

Garth Hodgkinson

CEO at Community CVS

Garth is a strong believer that communities should be at the heart of their own transformation. A proud Lancastrian. He is a keen advocate for inclusive sustainable growth and advocate for the public, commercial and social economies working together to enable their local communities to create their own futures. CEO at Community CVS since 2004. Chair of Lancashire Association of CVSs (LACVS).

Prior to working in the voluntary sector he was a regeneration practitioner that developed holistic approaches to making communities better. Garth believes volunteering and serving your community should be a part of everyone’s life. He has experience in setting up and growing new charities and social enterprises. Garth has more than 20 years’ voluntary experience at the board level in governing local charities, social enterprises and public institutions within his home town of Blackburn. As well as experience in representing the sector on partnership structures at the local, sub regional, regional and national levels. He is keen for VSNW to help the communities across the North West to be heard and have a voice in the conversations that matter to them and their future.

Yak Patel

Chief Executive at Lancaster District Community & Voluntary Solutions

Yak is a trained Community Youth worker with 25 years of working and managing within both statutory and voluntary sectors in the Lancaster District. Having lived in the district all his life, he has extensive experience managing projects with communities, children, young people, and he has a wealth of experience in managing community buildings & projects, contracts and funding.

He is the chair of the VCFSE Leadership forum, a chair of the Health & Well-being partnership board and a representative on the Integrated Care Partnership, Director for the Lancashire Association for CVS’, Coordinator of the Community Action Network project and Vice-Chair of the Children and Young People Multi-agency Forum. Yak is looking forward to bringing his knowledge and experience to support the work of VSNW.