Gillian joined as a non-executive director on 1 July 2019. She has over 30 years’ experience working in the charity, health and local authority sectors specialising in children’s social care, criminal justice and community development.
The ‘thread’ that runs through her career, is that of reducing inequalities and in improving outcomes for people and communities.
In the course of her career she has worked in a women’s refuge, in a number of community projects in the west end of Newcastle and in Scotland, as well as leading on a range of regional and national strategies for young offenders. She has also successfully set up and run a local charity.
Gillian is now director of communities at Lloyds Bank Foundation – an independent charitable trust which supports small charities across England and Wales through grant funding, capacity building and working to influence and shape their future. This involves working across all sectors, to ensure those small community based organisations remain at the forefront of dealing with a range of difficult issues, such as homelessness or drug and alcohol dependency.
Gillian has a masters in social research, is a Churchill Fellow and a trustee of the Community Foundation in Tyne and Wear. She has previously served as a non-executive director with North East Ambulance Service, as well as being a school governor.
