Rachel Talbot (Chair)

Cambridge and District Citizen’s’ Advice Bureau

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Rachel has worked in the not-for-profit sector for most of her life although she has worked in the commercial sector too including running her own business in Marketing and Fundraising before joining the CAB 20 years ago.  Cambridge and District CAB helps over 20,000 clients a year. Until Covid struck the majority of clients were helped via a range of channels including face to face at the main office. Now, all help is delivered by phone, email and webchat. Face to face help is gradually starting but only at outreach venues to start with. 

 

Rachel has been part of the GET Board for longer than she cares to recall but believes that it is an organization that brings a huge amount to likeminded organizations in sharing all that they do to -keeping people informed about all the excellent work happening in the community that otherwise we would not know about.

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Rachel also manages the membership renewal/subscriptions process at GET.

Stevie Roach

Read Easy Cambridge

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Stevie has been involved in Education, for over 40 years.  Although Trained in Economics, Literacy has been her overriding concern since adopting a family of 3 who had lacked early years education as well as having 2 other severely dyslexic children.  Along with a neighbour she set up Read Easy, Cambridge 5 years ago and has Co-ordinated the FREE one to one Coaching of over 100 Adults in Cambridge, who somehow missed out on this vital skill.  She was invited to present to GET in 2016 and was so impressed by the ability for all voluntary and Council Groups to share what they had to offer and co-refer, that she has been a committed member ever since.

John Evans (Company Secretary)

New Meaning Foundation

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John comes from a background in agri-science followed by several years in mergers & acquisitions (people & process).  Since co-founding New Meaning in 2006 he has focused on social enterprise charities, providing positive life-changing education, training and employment for the hardest to reach in society, those living in poverty or disadvantage. In Cambridgeshire, New Meaning has a factory workshop at Waterbeach Barracks, building, modern and sustainable homes for people who have experienced homelessness. It also runs Construction Skills and Functional Skills training (English, IT, Maths, Employability) at this centre and across East Anglia for those young adults who prefer a smaller, informal and supportive environment.

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"Tim from GET group made New Meaning feel valued, relevant and important from our first meeting, helping us with hugely useful and totally practical advice when we were trying to be noticed. GET’s fair and unbiased approach to supporting genuine VCSE set-ups in providing fully informed guidance, wouldotherwise,  take years to accumulate.  Being asked to be Company Secretary and a Board member has been a huge boost to me”

Jude Tustian

Phoenix Trust Milton

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Jude has spent the majority of her career in the not-for-profit and charitable sector, and is a director of GET for the second time. She initially provided a mental health perspective, in her capacity as a Contracts Manager at Richmond Fellowship’s Employment Service, and now, brings her knowledge of the learning disability (LD) sector to the Board, as Manager of Phoenix Trust, a small charity, based in Milton, providing a meaningful experience of work and the development of social and life skills for those with autism, LDs, and complex or additional needs.

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Jude says “From the beginning I was and still am a huge fan of GET, I discovered an enabling and inclusive community, prepared to share information and knowledge for the common good. I am honoured to be a board member and to play a small part in GET’s ongoing success.”

James Martin (Finance)

Cambridge Cyrenians

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James’ background is predominantly in housing and homelessness and has spent the last 20 years focussing on support service for homeless people in Cambridgeshire predominantly in the voluntary sector.  James originally joined the board while managing Wintercomfort for the Homeless daycentre providing welfare support and employment and training opportunities to people impacted by homelessness.  Now working as Director of Cambridge Cyrenians, a local charity providing over 100 supported housing bed spaces and supporting over 200 people a year through its services, he provides GET with an overview of homelessness and housing support services in Cambridge.

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James says “Way back as project worker supporting people in hostels I can remember GET as being a great resource for accessing enriching activities for peoples lives.  Then after attending GET meetings I realised the real value of GET in linking organisations with funding sources, knowledge and each other.  I am pleased to sit on the board of GET and proud to be part of this valuable resource.”

Tim Cracknell

GET Manager

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Tim is Cambridgeshire born and bred, going to school I first Duxford and then Sawston, before training as a teacher in Loughborough. Tim’s teaching career started in a Cambridge SEN school and he subsequently moved into local government, becoming Principal Economic Officer at Cambridge City Council, and tangentially involved with grants to voluntary sector organisations providing adult learning and support. This was in fact, just six organisations, working in silos, a far cry from the networking landscape we have now. GET Group was founded in 1989, and after a period as a consultant, Tim became the GET Manager, and the rest, as they say, is history! Tim’s career in the voluntary sector has also included setting up and running a SEN Youth Club and voluntary work for The Prince’s Trust where he became National Director of Residential Activities.