Pauline Steele CEO, Carers Trust Tyne and Wear Expand Pauline became our Chief Executive in January 2011. She has overall responsibility for the running of the charity and works closely with the Senior Management Team to achieve our objectives and maintain excellent service delivery to our carers. Pauline has been a carer herself and understands fully the impact this can have on daily life. She is passionate about the work of the organisation and making lives better for carers and their families.
Diane Sandford Operations Manager Expand Diane has worked at Carers Trust Tyne & Wear since 2008, when she joined as a Benefits Advisor. She then worked as the Short Breaks Co-ordinator before becoming Community Team Manager. She's been Operations Manager since 2017, responsible for all services that the organisation delivers. She ensures that services run smoothly on a day-to-day basis as well as working closely within the Senior Management Team to strategically grow and promote services. She is a Registered Manager for our Care Service and ensures the organisation remains Care Quality Commission compliant at all times.
Gillian Fake Central Administration Manager Expand Gillian has spent 25 years working in voluntary sector and is responsible for the delivery and management of the charity’s financial and human resource functions. Gillian leads the Finance Sub-committee and is Company Secretary, responsible for ensuring financial compliance with Companies House, the Charity Commission and HMRC.
Anthony Lea Business Development Manager Expand Ant is the Business Development Manager. His role is to develop new ways of bringing money and resources into the organisation. This can involve fundraising, grant applications and new contracts, as well as developing working partnerships that improve how we deliver services.
Angela Codling Care Coordinator Expand Angela is one of our two Care Co-ordinators and has many years of experience as a Carer Support Worker herself. Along with Ken, she’s responsible for ensuring that replacement care services are provided to around 150 Gateshead families. She co-ordinates our team of Carer Support Workers, matching their availability to service schedules and ensuring that appointments are covered during staff sickness or holiday.
Ken Routledge Care Coordinator Expand Ken is one of our two Care Co-ordinators and an experienced Carer Support Worker. Along with Angela, Ken organises replacement care services for around 150 Gateshead families and co-ordinates our team of Carer Support Workers, matching their availability to service schedules and ensuring that appointments are covered during staff sickness or holiday.
Our Team of Carer Support Workers Expand Our Carer Support Workers are based locally and many have experience of being a carer themselves. They step into the shoes of the carer for a while and take over their role. They provide a practical, personal and specialised service and can carry out any care task that enables the carer to have a break. This can happen in the home but you might see our team out in the community too.
Jill Stevens Young Carer Service Lead Expand Jill is the Young Carer Service Lead. She manages the Young Carers Team, monitors the budgets and writes grant reports and evaluations. She also plans all the activities and develops partnerships within the North East area.
Maureen Kew Young Carer Service Assessor Expand Maureen has been our Young Carers Assessor for over 13 years. She is the first point of contact when we receive a new referral to our service and is the person that will visit young carers at home to carry out an assessment and identify their caring responsibilities. Once young carers have completed their assessment, they will then become registered with our service. Maureen also carries out reassessments, to make sure we know of any changes in young carers' circumstances and caring responsibilities.
Karen Miller Young Carer Support Worker Expand Karen works in the Young Carers Team. Her main role is providing one-to-one emotional support to young carers of all ages. She also have responsibility for providing our youngest group of young carers with a welcome pack and regular updates until they reach 8 and are able to join the larger group activities.
Andrea Overton Young Carer Support Worker Expand Andrea works in the Young Carer team and her role involves liaising with schools. She co-ordinates and delivers lunchtime drop-ins at secondary schools, where young carers can pop along for a chat and a catch-up. She also provides young carers with 1:1 emotional support and enjoys getting involved in social activities with young carers of all ages.
Christine Tindale Young Carer Support Worker Expand Christine is a Young Carer Support Worker but does a bit of everything in the Young Carer Service. She helps out on school drop-ins, makes contact with new young carers, pulls together much of the admin that's needed to make an activity happen and is out most Saturdays on young carer social activities. If it's a sports or outdoor activity, you'll probably see Christine.
Sam Allport Young Carer Activity Worker Expand Sam is a Young Carer Activity Worker. He carries out different activities with children and young people and tries to bring some fun into their lives away from their busy schedules. He's there for advice on personal issues and helps to build positive relationships between young carers and the service.
Lynda Bilclough Young Carer Activity Worker Expand Lynda is one of our Young Carer Activity Workers and helps to deliver our weekend and holiday social activities for children and young people.
Karina Sikorska Central Service Administrator Expand Karina is a Central Service Administrator and provides support to the Care Service team. She maintains their internal database and archive system, ensuring that data and documents are stored in a logical manner and easily retrieved when required. Karina has many years of experience working in an office environment, where she developed skills in customer service, workload management and an ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines.
Janet Thompson Central Service Administrator Expand Janet is one of our Central Service Administrators. She can often be found sorting out our petty cash and supporting the Young Carer Service.
Daniel Rutherford Volunteer Expand Daniel began volunteering with us this year. He has a particular interest in IT and has been an incredible support in helping us to set up our website.
Glennis Young Volunteer Expand Glennis has volunteered with us for seven years, supporting our business functions by helping with bookkeeping, administration and reception duties. Her expertise and general good cheer has been absolutely indispensable!