Meet the Team | Swindon Carers

I joined Swindon Carers Centre as a trustee in 2016 and became Chair of Trustees shortly after.  I live in Swindon with my two young daughters, and partner Paul.

In my day-to-day work I am an Occupational Psychologist with a specialism in recruitment, development and selection.  In previous roles, I’ve worked as a Teacher in an independent school in for children who experience Educational and Behavioural Difficulties.  In this role I had the opportunity to work with children and young people, many of whom presented caring challenges to their parents and others who were carers themselves of family members.  I am passionate about supporting carers in the challenging role that they do and supporting the work of Swindon Carers Centre in engaging with young and adult carers to expand the reach of those we support locally and make a meaningful difference to their caring role.

As a trustee, I provide my advice and assistance as needed, particularly towards managing risk and GDPR. I have over the years supported other voluntary organisations and charities. In addition, my past experience at various organisations allows me to utilise those skills to advise and support. I work with Swindon Carers Centre as I have previously been a carer and understand the challenges of a carer. I also wanted to support a local charity that could utilise my skills and experience. Values that drive me are honesty, integrity and doing the right thing in the right way. I enjoy reading, watching documentaries and mentoring young people with their challenges in life.

I have been volunteering with Swindon Carers Centre since 2016 and joined the Board in 2017, with a specialism in IT and systems.  I’m mostly retired now, although still consulting regularly.  I’m also an Independent Director of the Brunel SEN MAT.

I’m a Mathematics teacher with over 14 years of experience educating secondary school level students in England as well as Poland. I am a Young Carers Lead in one of the secondary schools in Swindon and I provide pastoral support for those students and their families. I am extremely passionate about young people’s wellbeing and development. I enjoy utilising analytical and multi-tasking skills.

I joined Swindon Carers Centre’s Trustee board in 2019.

Outside of work, I love spending time with my wonderful family. I also have a keen interest in reading, especially English literature classics and I am passionate about music, Chopin in particular.

I’ve been a trustee with Swindon Carers Centre since 2017.

My background is in negotiating commercial contracts, so I’m used to reading legal documents which helps in my role as Company Secretary.

Away from SCC I’m a keen sports fan, particularly football.

I’ve lived in Swindon since 1988 when I moved here to join Allied Dunbar that later became Zurich Financial Services and while working there, I qualified as a certified accountant. I worked in the Finance and Corporate Pensions teams for a number of years but am now retired so I wanted to volunteer my skills to help others.

Joining Swindon Carers Centre as a Trustee and taking on the Treasurer role seemed like a brilliant opportunity to be involved in a charity that is doing great work in an area that I feel is very important. When I’m not involved in Swindon Carers Centre, I enjoy painting, crafts, reading and gardening.

I’ve been with Swindon Carers Centre since 2009, overseeing Communications and PR and working with the trustee board on effective governance before becoming CEO in 2016.

Before joining SCC, I worked for a large commercial radio group as a News Editor and presenter and managed the training and development needs of more than 100 journalists across the country.

It’s a real privilege to work with wonderful carers who do so much for our community; and such a talented, dedicated, passionate team of staff, trustees and volunteers.

I am one of three in the Senior Leadership Team, deputising for the CEO where necessary, and I hold responsibility for leading the Service Delivery and Development activities of the organisation to maximise provision for carers, carer awareness and unrestricted and restricted income.

Before working at SCC, I was a Headteacher for a charity called CFBT Education Trust, running 3 independent schools and a vocational centre for children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs across Thames Valley.

I work at SCC because I am passionate about social inclusion, fairness and equality for all and so many carers need our support and help.

The values that drive me are compassion, integrity and accountability.

When I’m not working, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, baking and creative writing.

My name is Suzanne and I have worked for Swindon Carers Centre since 2010. I started as a volunteer working on the reception and admin team, I then moved to the position of Finance Assistant, then Finance Manager and then I became Finance and Resources Director in 2017. I manage the Finance and Data Officer and the Resources Manager, so I oversee all everyday office functions including HR, Health and Safety, Data Protection and the Financial Accounts. In my spare time I enjoy going to the gym, generally keeping fit and looking after 2 teenagers.

I manage the Young Carer, Young Adult Carer and Parent Carers teams, who deliver support to carers in Swindon. I have worked with children and families in Swindon for 15 years, within various roles including Family Support and Project Worker, working with children aged 0-18 years old. I have been working at Swindon Carers Centre since February 2014, starting as a Family Carer Support Practitioner then as a Senior Support Practitioner until December 2017 when I became Service Delivery Manager.  I thoroughly enjoy my job as I am passionate about supporting Carers and each day is different and varied. I feel everyone deserves support when they are facing challenges, often in isolation and with limited support. The role carers play often goes unnoticed and can be a thankless task for many, so being able to support, even if it only makes a little difference, is really important to me. Family is extremely important to me, so I spend the majority of my free time with my husband and 7-year-old daughter, as well as with our immediate family. I also enjoy Pilates, reading real-life crime and visit theme parks!

My name is Stuart Ilbury and I am the Service Delivery Manager for the Adult & Older Carers support team.

I have worked for Swindon Carers Centre since May 2015 when I joined as a 1:1 support practitioner carrying out statutory carers assessments under the Care Act 2014.

I think being one of the practitioners really helped me to be a better manager of my team. I have a good understanding of what pressures, not only the practitioner’s face, but most importantly the issues and struggles that Adult Carers report to us. This enables me to support & manage the team & to tailor the support they and we offer as every carers story is individual.

I enjoy doing outreach work and going to visit other organisations both statutory and voluntary to promote Swindon Carers Centre. I also, along with a colleague, support the Male carers group. I really enjoy this as it is really good fun and gives me the opportunity to talk to face to face to the carers as well. A couple of my values included fairness & politeness, and I will always go above and beyond for anything I am passionate about. Out of work I enjoy nothing more than being with my wife, I have 4 amazing grown up children and enjoy, watching movies, walking and love both Dartmoor in Devon and Corfu. I am also fascinated by WW2 and so read a lot of books and watch documentaries on this subject.

I’m very passionate about my role at Swindon Carers Centre as Schools Development Manager. I’m on a mission to get every school in Swindon on board with the Young Carers Award. The reason: Having the support from schools for these young carers is priceless as they all deserve to be recognised valued and supported.

I’m also very honoured to be part of our fabulous fundraising team as the more funds we raise the more carers we can support. I think I would be described as having a very outgoing personality and being a “can do” person with the motivation to not give up! Out of the office I spend time with my energetic fluffy Sproodle, ‘Muttley’, walking the fields and parks. In the kitchen I love to learn new dishes and will one day conquer how to make fabulous fudge! What’s important: Being Honest and Open!

Hi, I’m Judy and I’m the Partnerships Manager. There are 2 key parts to my role.  I am working closely with local employers to help them become more aware and supportive of carers within their workforce and encouraging employers to work towards the Employers Care Award.

I also lead a team of Groups & Activities Co-ordinators to ensure we provide a full programme of events and activities for adult and parent carers to give them a break from their caring role.   In the past I have been a project manager for an educational charity and a lead employer engagement officer at New College in Swindon where I also qualified as an assessor.

I am a carer myself for my father and really empathise with carers’ needs and the importance of carers having a break from their caring role and receiving the support that carers need.

I’m Bronte Hague and I am the Resources Manager.

I have worked for Swindon Carers Centre since 2016 where I started as a temporary administrator working on the Emergency Card Scheme.

As the Resources Manager, I oversee Health and Safety and ensure that the teams have the relevant services, equipment and consumables to ensure the efficient running of our office. I also support with HR and recruitment and am the designated Data Protection Officer.

I love to be busy and in my spare time I enjoy spending time with my friends and family, crafting and playing the guitar.