Meet The Team - Essex Respite

ESSEX RESPITE & CARE ASSOCIATION

MEET THE TEAM

team members

Sandra Barsley

Support Worker

Judy Bill

Support Worker

Neil Blake

Senior Support Worker

Louise Carlier

Support Worker

Lena Dey

Co-Manager

Chloe Green

Support Worker

Kenny Knowles

Support Worker

Emma McTurk

Admin

Crystal Pannell

Client Liasion Coordinator

Jemma Pollack

Co-Manager

Susan Strathern

Support Worker

Robin Taylor

Senior Support Worker

Hayley Williamson

Support Worker

Members of the board

Essex Respite and Care Association’s Board of Trustees is responsible for making sure the charity is run in the interests of the people it is there to support. They set out strategic direction and oversee the management team of the organisation. We have six Board Members and we are hoping to recruit more trustees over the next year.

Hazel Ruane

Chairman

For a period of almost 25 years, Hazel was coordinator of the Rethink Mid-Essex Carers’ Support Group. The group offered advice and support to carers of persons affected by mental illness.

Hazel has been a voluntary member of the Board of Trustees of Essex Respite Care Association since it was formed in 1995. She has also spent five years as a governor on the North Essex Mental Health Partnership Trust and in this capacity she was able to ensure that the difficulties experienced by carers and people with mental health problems were represented. In addition to this, Hazel is a carer for her son.

Dr Sourangshu Acharyya

Trustee

Dr Sourangshu Acharyya MBBS MPhil MRCPsych, is a retired Consultant Psychiatrist, who spent over 40 years as a psychiatrist, becoming a consultant in 1988. He served the NHS in both South & North Essex & from 2001 was the Consultant Psychiatrist for the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (Christopher Unit) in Chelmsford.

Dr Acharyya joined Essex Respite Care Association being most aware of how over the years, the support for people suffering from mental disorders were progressively being reduced due to progressive under-funding of NHS mental health services across England, affecting NHS mental health services in Essex most severely.

Apart from his main interest in mental health & mental disorders, his interests include art, music and poetry. He would state, as currently people’s “ biodata” are important, that he is a black man, his country is the world, his religion: to do good.

Lewis Conquer

Trustee

Lewis is a retired business consultant who joined the Board of Trustees in 2010 following the death of a close relative who suffered from dementia.

Geoff Page

Trustee/Treasurer

Geoff is a retired Local Government Finance employee. He originally came to ERCA in the year 2000 through Community Service Volunteers as his past financial background could be of use to the charity.

Geoff is committed to supporting the community and he is also a Trustee of Chelmsford Citizens Advice Bureau. Geoff thoroughly enjoys cricket and is a life member of Essex County Cricket Club.

Eric Smart

Trustee

Eric joined the board in January 2012. He has been a trustee for many charities over the years and is currently involved in that capacity with charities involved with…

drama, a local charity promoting Scotland and its way of life and a local radio station as well as Essex Respite Care Association.

Eric is also the chairman of a Limited company which is a wholly owned subsidiary of a national charity and he is a director of a local children’s nursery. Eric’s working life was in the financial services sector, first in branch banking, moving into merchant banking and ultimately into Pension Fund investments where he was an investment manager and latterly an executive director in charge of client services and client audit. Eric has a passion for travel and theatre and as well as having served time onstage, he now regularly directs shows for local amateur societies.

Karl Davies

Trustee

Karl joined ERCA as a Trustee in July 2021. He worked for NatWest for 35 years undertaking a wide range of roles including risk assessment, loan approval and monitoring, strategic planning and policy development / implementation.

Since taking early retirement, Karl has been volunteering with Maldon Citizens Advice Bureau. He is also a trustee of Home-Start Essex.

In his spare time, he plays golf and squash, has a keen interest in history and enjoys travelling.

Justine Fisher

Trustee

Justine is a lawyer currently working in private practice and advising commercial clients. She joined the Board of Trustees in 2021 to lend a hand on matters relating to charity law.

Justine also holds a number of other voluntary roles with other charities: frontline support worker with Refuge (the domestic abuse charity), providing policy advice to other domestic abuse charities, providing pro bono legal support to callers to the National Bereavement Partnership who have lost loved ones to Covid, and acting as a mentor to aspiring young female students looking to start a career in law.

Nicola Jones

Trustee

Ian King

Trustee

Why become a Trustee?

Being a trustee can be very rewarding. As a trustee you have the chance to support and shape the work and strategic direction of an organisation, and you can make a significant difference to a cause that matters to you. As a trustee, you are part of a team and will have the opportunity to apply your unique skills and experience while learning from others. Working closely with a passionate team of people who have different perspectives is often one of the most enjoyable aspects of the role.

If you are interested, please call us on 01245 353855 or email us at: e.respite@btconnect.com