Meet the Team

Chris Trustee and Company Secretary

I was born and raised in South Shields and have been a solicitor in private practice in South Tyneside for upwards of 40 years dealing with a wide variety of legal problems. I am a partner in the largest practice in South Tyneside and as such take an active role in managing the business and acting as a local employer.

I agreed to act as a board member of TEN because I want to see the local population gain regular employment and improve their qualifications and experience.

I see TEN at the heart of providing guidance and advice to members of the public in achieving these vital goals.

Paula MakepeaceTrustee

I am a mum of two teenage children and live in the South Tyneside area. I currently work as a lettings manager for a housing provider, supporting homeless individuals and applicants with complex needs into accommodation. I have worked in the sector for 15 years collectively and have an awareness of the barriers individuals face in accessing employment.
I am a carer to my son who has a learning disability and hearing loss and have a personal interest in supporting young carers to achieve their potential.

Jeremy CrippsTrustee

I have lived in South Shields for 30 years and try to give back to the community. I worked for South Tyneside Council in Children's Services for 10 years and was chair of governors at Mortimer Primary School for 8 years. I am now retired but most recently worked as Chief Executive of the regional charity Children North East. I am very pleased to be a trustee for TEN and hope my experience is a useful contribution to the organisation's continued success.

Natalie Finance Manager

10 years with TEN - I started as a Trainee Finance Assistant on a 1 year contract. Luckily my post was extended and I was made Finance Assistant in 2011. Since then I have progressed to Finance Manager and Compliance Lead for TEN and our Group.
I will forever be grateful for the opportunities TEN has given me.

RachelOperations Manager

I have over 30 years experience of working in Education, Employment, Regeneration, Economic Development and Community Engagement within the Public, Private and Third Sector. I have worked for the organisation for 4 years and my role as Operations Manager for Learning and Skills is an extremely varied and challenging one!!
I manage R2W College, Employability and Young Carers Teams as well as being the Designated Safeguarding Lead Officer for the organisation.
I work with fantastic teams and I get enormous job satisfaction out of knowing that the work they carry out and deliver has a positive effect on some of the most vulnerable people within our communities.

JayneActivities Project Officer - South Tyneside Young Carers

At the age of 7 my life changed overnight and I became a young carer for my mum who has a genetic condition which meant I had to become an adult without being able to become a child first. I was very isolated, no social life and had little confidence in myself.

However in September 2009, South Tyneside Young Carers changed my life for the better. I felt like I wasn’t the only one and I became more confident in myself and I made friends who were able to relate to me. At the age of 16 I wanted to give back to the organisation that literally became my second family and helped me over the years so I volunteered and built relationships with the children as I knew what they were all going through.

In March 2019, I am now a Young Carers Activities Project Officer where my job consists of different aspects. It will involve the respite program, working with schools and families. I am so happy and grateful that now my job is to change and help other young carers and families, and to be able to know that I’ve made a difference.

Levi CoskerProgram Lead - South Tyneside Young Carers

I first started working with Young Carers Project in 2011 when I began volunteering for the organisation. In August 2015 a position became available within the team and was successful in securing the role of The Young Carers Project Support Worker. In October 2016 I undertook the role of Young Carers Activity Officer and have since progressed to the Young Carers Program Lead.

My job involves a lot of different aspects. I manage a team of fantastic workers that help to provide a robust respite activity program as well as school and family support to the Young Carers and families we work with.

The respite opportunities we provide enable the Young Carers the chance to be a child, have some time out away from their caring responsibilities and to have fun. The aim of the respite programme is to allow the children the opportunity to forget, even if just for a moment, about the caring responsibilities they have at home and to make new friends.

I am so unbelievably proud to be part of such an amazing team and often cannot believe that this is my job. I work with such inspirational Young Carers that deserve the upmost recognition for the amazing work they do.

Rachel LumleyActivities Project Officer - South Tyneside Young Carers

Hi everyone I’m Rachel, I first joined the STYC team back in September 2019 as the homework club leader. I loved it so much that they can’t get rid of me and I’ve since joined the team permanently to help plan some amazing activities programmes, events and lots more!

I began my teaching career in 2009 in America teaching disadvantaged students and summer school groups, before heading home and commencing my 7 year teaching career here in the North East. I was very lucky to move quickly from a classroom teacher to year group leader, head of department and then assistant head of faculty. I put this down to my leadership skills or as my husband would say ‘being bossy.’ I loved my time teaching but something was missing! I left teaching to establish my first business Katie’s Garden where I got to do all the best bits of teaching minus all the bad parts! Katie’s garden has since franchised and grown into a creative family events and programme provider spanning across the North East. On a visit to our Sunderland store I was introduced to the STYC team and children and the rest is history.

Tracey ArthurAdmin and Project Support Worker - South Tyneside Young Carers

Hello, I'm Tracey. My role within the service is admin and support, so as well as working hard behind the scenes, I attend school drop ins from and love helping out at the after school clubs. I enjoy catching up with all of our young carers and helping them out with whatever they need.

I absolutely love working with the team, we are like one little family. Young Carers is a truly fantastic charity that I am very proud to be a part of and my role gives me a lot of job satisfaction. I look forward to all of our future plans, and I am totally committed to making this service the best for the families we support.

About TEN

Meet our Trustees

Meet our Staff