Our Trustees
Nicola Bradford
Chair of Trustees
Nicola became a Trustee in 2022, bringing experience of the Health and Social Care sector to the Board.
Her career has included a variety of carer roles in hospital, residential and community settings including management of home care services. Having moved into training with SCC in 2011 she founded a social enterprise, LimeSkills CIC to provide training to employed care staff and family carers alike, recognising the huge importance that informal carers contribute to the wider care system. As a leader in the voluntary sector in Suffolk, Nicola spent 3 years as Chair of the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Network, giving representation to the Suffolk Health and Wellbeing Board.
She has lived experience of family caring, end of life care of her mother with cancer and more recently caring for her father in law living with dementia. Dementia care is a particular passion of Nicola’s and she founded and now is currently serving her second period of Chair for Ipswich Dementia Action Alliance.
She has always lived in Suffolk and has brought up four children, recently becoming a Nanny to her first grandchild. She enjoys golf and gardening in fair weather, preferring crafts and baking in the winter!
Sue Jay
Vice Chair
Awaiting profile…
Darryl Chapman
Trustee
Awaiting Profile…
Lizzie Mapplebeck
Trustee
Lizzie is a change and strategy specialist with 15 years’ experience in the public sector, working with directors and management teams on issues including strategic management, strategy development, performance, service development, transformation and corporate governance.
She is experienced in setting strategic objectives and managing large scale change and transformation programmes in both health and local government and has advised boards on strategic opportunities and risks.
Lizzie is born and bred in Suffolk where she lives with her family, she also volunteers as a magistrate in local adult crime courts.
Hilary Horton
Trustee
Awaiting Profile…
Our Management Team
Jo Reeder
Chief Executive Officer
Jo is Suffolk born and bred and is passionate about community inclusion – enabling and supporting people to benefit from their local community.
With a work history crossing the telecommunications industry, local media and the charity sector, Jo joined Communities Together East Anglia in late 2020 after six years at Age UK Suffolk. In her spare time Jo has a passion for the theatre, family, friends and her collection of animals!
Colin Baldwin
Operations Manager
Colin was born and raised in Suffolk then spent some time living and working in North West England before returning to Suffolk. Colin’s philosophy is that work should be a place where you can have fun whilst still working hard. He enjoys being part of a team and encouraging and supporting his colleagues to work together in achieving goals.
Colin has a broad range of experience working within the not for profit and voluntary sector including; social care, education, NHS, criminal justice system, public health and various community development roles. Colin is a passionate believer and advocate of ABCD (Asset Based Community Development) and in the power and strength of communities. Colin worked in partnership with Communities Together East Anglia whilst managing a Community Development service within Suffolk County Council. He was impressed with both the values and the quality of the services that CTEA delivered and was very pleased to join the organisation in January 2023 as Operations Manager where he has overall responsibility for the teams delivering our Community Engagement, Later Life Community Connect, Suffolk Carers Matter, Volunteering and Befriending services.
Outside of work Colin is involved in a number of local community activities including the annual street festival. He enjoys playing golf and watching most sports, particularly football and rugby. He has been a season ticket holder at Ipswich Town for many, many years and looks forward to their return to the higher leagues soon! He also enjoys theatre, concerts, socialising and travelling.
Colin likes to spend time with friends and family which often involves travelling as his three sons live in very different parts of the UK.
Jenny Day
Business Support Manager
Jenny is a passionate people person and loves to help however and wherever she can.
Jenny supports all the services that Communities Together East Anglia have to offer across Suffolk. Jenny also co-ordinates volunteer recruitment for the charity and helps to keep the office running smoothly. In Jenny’s words – “I love my job!”
Jenny is a busy mum of twins who keep her on her toes daily! Hobbies include keeping fit, reading, music, movies, & socialising with friends and family.
Andrea Lewis
Officer and Accounts Manager
Andrea is based in the Transport Office and is responsible for the Accounts and Admin Team. Andrea is a friendly person, who always tries to make people feel welcome and valued. Her role in Transport is to support the team and ensure the smooth running of the booking system, through to the delivery of the service to our passengers, including the payments.
Andrea is a keen gardener and also likes to get out and about with her family and dog, exploring and socialising.
Daniel Davis
Transport Manager
Daniels role is to oversee the Community Transport service, making sure all vehicles are maintained and inspected, delivering driver training and development to a team of drivers.
Daniel has been involved with the transport sector since leaving school. Firstly qualifying as a Vehicle Mechanic and then moving across onto servicing and repairing of buses and coaches. Daniel is also a qualified MiDAS Trainer.
In his spare time, Daniel enjoys spending time with his two children and long term partner.
Lorraine Smith
Finance Manager
Awaiting Profile…
Terri-Ann Perkins
Volunteer Manager
Awaiting Profile…
Read the latest news from our blog:
2023: A Right Royal Help Out
Everywhere we turn at the moment is red white and blue with a plethora of Coronation memorabilia and decorations donning the streets as well as in our shops.
We don’t want to get left behind, but rather than focusing specifically on Coronation Day and the national Big Help Out campaign to encourage volunteering, we’ve decided in true CTEA form to “do our own thing”! So thanks to King Charles, we are launching 2023 for 2023, an opportunity for you to pledge your time throughout 2023, with the aim of reaching the grand total of 2023 volunteering hours donated from our incredible volunteer army.
Meet our new Operations Manager
Hello! I am delighted to have joined CTEA as Operations Manager in January 2023. It means a great deal to me to be going to work in an organisation that truly believes in the power and strength of local community and in empowering people within their own communities.
Just a little about myself…. I would like to be thought of as a kind and compassionate person who tries to always be helpful to others. I always try to put my team first and shepherd people together, showing positive leadership to create a team not a collection of individuals.
The Start of a New Year…
How the time flies!
With Christmas and New Year festivities now behind us, it’s time for the Communities Together East Anglia team to forge ahead with some exciting plans, developments and most importantly continuing to support people at a community level across Suffolk to reduce loneliness and social isolation.
We also have some anniversaries – two of our amazing team are celebrating their two year anniversary with the charity in January, and we also welcome Colin Baldwin to our merry band – Colin has joined us from Suffolk County Council and is our new Operations Manager – so you can expect to hear and see Colin when we are out and about in communities over the next few months!