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I’ve worked in and for the voluntary & community sector for much of my working life – beginning back in Leicester in the mid-1980’s – including as a self-employed facilitator, various roles within local government, as a Programme Manager for a regeneration partnership and now in the role of Development Officer with the charity Hartlepower CIO. A second strand to working life has been as a counsellor/therapist and teacher.

With my fellow Hartlepower CIO Development Officer, Juli Simons, our roles are to champion & support Hartlepool’s voluntary & community sector. This includes convening networking forums (e.g. the twice monthly VCS Sector Connector meetings), sharing information & opportunities, assisting the formation & development of new charities and social enterprises (e.g. Play Out Hartlepool), facilitating training for the VCS (e.g. Funding Bid Writing and Governance) and encouraging collaboration.

My email is julianpenton@hartlepower.co.uk

When asked about my history with the voluntary sector in Hartlepool I start with saying I've been there wore the T-shirt.  My progression has been as project beneficiary, volunteer, trainee, project worker and co-ordinator for some great town based organisations before  moving into starting  my own community business.  I live in the town  and still volunteer as a primary school governor and charity trustee.    

Our role is helping to establish and support VCS groups, small businesses and social enterprises with development support, funding advice and  governance.

 During the last year we have worked hard to connect organisations in Hartlepool to each other and to the public sectors  to help improve relationships  -  explore more partnership working and understanding of each other and how we fit together with the complex picture of communities in our town. 

 My email is: julisimons@hartlepower.co.uk 

 Working in the Voluntary Sector is a new experience for me. I'm employed as coordinator for Hartlepool Food Council who are a group of semi-autonomous organisations who all offer some form of support around food provision.

My role involves identifying solutions to issues around food, such as reducing waste, improved partnership working particularly around the logistics of sharing food throughout the network and helping the member organisations to coordinate community-led projects.

During the last 6 months, Hartlepool Food Council have developed a close working relationship and together they share the joint mission to better help communities to remove barriers relating to nutrition for health, access to nutrient dense foods and social isolation

My email is:

juliecollin@hartlepower.co.uk

I'm employed as COVID Officer Engagement via the council but based at Hartlepower

I have a counterpart in the Support Hub, Julie French - Together our roles consist of communicating information passed down from Public Health, listening to communities and feeding back ideas and concerns around COVID via the same channels to inform change within services, information etc.

We will be looking to recruit COVID champions where information can be passed on to family, friends, communities and work colleagues.  

My email is hannahgoodman@hartlepower.co.uk
 

I am the Micro-Enterprise Development Worker with Hartlepower CIO. 

My role has been funded by Hartlepool Borough Council’s Adult Social Care commissioners, who are looking at finding new, creative ways to provide adult social care in ways that promote personal independence and lead to a thriving life. They believe that micro-enterprises are part of the solution to the challenge posed by an ageing population and ever-diminishing council budgets.

My overall goal is to build a network of small businesses/enterprises managed and run by people who are inspired by helping others and relish the opportunity to work for themselves whilst making a difference in their community.

My email is craiggreathead@hartlepower.co.uk

 I have recently been appointed as the Hartlepool Financial Inclusion Partnership Co-ordinator, this role has been funded by Hartlepool Borough Council.

Hartlepool Financial Inclusion Partnership brings together private, voluntary, community sector and Advice and Guidance agencies to enable collaborative working to support vulnerable residents of Hartlepool and help reduce financial burden.

My role is to provide full administration support, co-ordinate and drive forward the partnership by identifying potential funding sources to support their work and in due course explore all opportunities to develop a Credit Union.

My email is dawnwatson@hartlepower.co.uk

I'm Stephanie - together with Rachel my colleague, our aim is to listen to as many residents as possible from the Victoria Ward, to hear what they want from their community, make connections with key members of the ward and plan future activity that will strengthen the community there

communityengagement@hartlepower.co.uk

Info to come

 I am employed by Hartlepool Borough Council a VCS Officer where I am seconded to Hartlepower for 3 days per week working with my colleagues in supporting groups and charities.

I have been Involved in the VCS for 30 years, starting off as a Parish Councillor and volunteering for many years in the VCS, and still volunteer today. I have worked across County Durham and Gateshead and now Hartlepool, where I hope I can support groups and organisations.

My role involves me getting to know communities within Hartlepool and providing infrastructure support to the VCS. This includes offering governance & funding support, training, asset transfer and working with Hartlepool Council Learning & Skills service to actively promote the service offered.

My Email is: barbara.hind@hartlepool.gov.uk