Les is the Chair of Middlesbrough Partnership. He has nearly 40 years of planning and regeneration experience in the Tees Valley Area. In previous roles he has been a Director of a local authority department, the Chief Executive of the Middlesbrough City Challenge Pacemaker Initiative and between 1997 and 2007 he was Chief Executive of the Middlesbrough Town Centre Regeneration Company. Les retired in 2007 and works on SMI issues three days a week.

Les is also Chair of Tees Valley Dance and Saltburn Artists' Projects and a Director of Tees Valley Housing, Natures World and Northern Architecture.

Wendy is Vice Chair of the Partnership and has over 20 years' Social Work experience in residential and field settings. She is a qualified counsellor and psychotherapist and has worked therapeutically with children and young people who have suffered sexual abuse including children displaying sexually harmful behaviours.

Wendy is currently the Children’s Service Manager of the Barnardos SECOS Project (Sexually Exploited Children Outreach Services), which seeks to exit and recover children and young people from sexually exploitative relationships. She is also Chair of the Safer Middlesbrough Partnership Theme group on issues related to prostitution, trafficking and sexual exploitation, which was set up following research in 1999. Wendy is the Chair of Middlesbrough Community Network for the VCS and the Vice Chair of Middlesbrough Local Strategic Partnership
Wendy was a trustee for ECPAT UK (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking) until Dec 07. She is also a trustee for a local charity the Col Cohen Charitable Trust that distributes annual funds to the Red Cross, St John’s Ambulance and British Legion within Tees Valley.

In 2007 Wendy received the Assistant Chief Constable Commendation from Cleveland Police for her work with the Safer Middlesbrough Partnership

The Barnardos SECOS project has been recognised nationally for its practice and has received several prestigious awards:

2001 Health & Social Care Award for ‘joint partnership’ working.
2004 The Queens Award for Voluntary Service
2006 The Children & Young People’s Award: Stay Safe Award

Dennis Burns is a resident from Beckfield who represents the Cluster Groups on the Middlesbrough Partnership Executive Board. He also sits on the Local Economy Action Group, representing the East Cluster.

Dennis has been involved in community work since 1971 and his background is in career guidance.

His interests include reading, walking, outdoor activities, community and current affairs in general.

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John Daniels has been Chief Executive of Middlesbrough Citizens Advice Bureau since 2003. Before that he worked in a variety of roles within the Citizens Advice Bureau service after joining it as a volunteer in Coventry in 1982. He is also the Chair of Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency. His main interests lie around developing a strong well resourced voluntary sector delivering quality services to local people.

Joanne has worked for the NECC for the last four years as part of the senior management team. Her role is to represent businesses across Tees Valley and County Durham area.

Joanne has been a conduit for business engagement, with key aims to raise business concerns and look at developing the local area to ensure that Tees Valley is a great place to do business.

Joanne has developed and been involved with many business networks and has raised the profile of the NECC and its members across the Tees Valley. Joanne is keen to ensure that the public, private and voluntary sector are fully represented and have a business voice within the North East.

Joanne is an advisory board member for the University of Teesside Business School and has recently taken up a post as advisory member for common purpose. Both roles ensure that she is at the forefront of business development across Tees Valley enhancing the offer to business regarding training and personnel development

The NECC champions, connects and develops member businesses, and their people, to win more business, become better business and enjoy better conditions for businesses within the North East England. Joanne is firmly at the heart of activities supporting businesses across the Tees Valley.

Joanne has worked within the Tees Valley for the last 17 years where she has worked for organisations such as Business Link Tees Valley and Teesside Tec. Were she has spent most of her working life supporting businesses within the Tees Valley area.

Hilton is the Government Office North East (GONE) Locality Manager for Tees Valley with specific responsibility for Middlesbrough and Stockton Local Strategic Partnerships (including the Stockton Middlesbrough Initiative (SMi), agreement of Local Area Agreements across Tees Valley and the Multi Area Agreement with Tees Valley Unlimited.

Hilton was formerly Head of Neighbourhood Renewal for County Durham and Tees Valley and has wide ranging experience of regeneration and renewal within the Government's 'place shaping' agenda.

Peter Heywood is joint Director of Public Health for Middlesbrough Primary Care Trust and Middlesbrough Council. He is also the Chair of the Health and Social Care Partnership, which is the partnership theme group focusing on improving adult health and well being, promoting equality and tackling exclusion across Middlesbrough.

The theme group has a strong and diverse membership from community, public and third sector organisations that all play an active role in the day-to-day work of the partnership. Some of the current priorities include important issues such as reducing the levels of smoking in Middlesbrough, helping people with long term conditions to remain independent for as long as possible, reducing deaths from cardio-vascular diseases (such as heart attacks and stroke), supporting adults with learning disabilities and mental health problems to remain in employment and reducing the levels of alcohol related harm.

Peter lives in Middlesbrough and is committed to working with partners and communities to improve the health, wellbeing and livelihoods of people living in the town. Middlesbrough has improved significantly in recent years but still faces some real challenges to improving health and well-being. Many people still suffer ill health or die too early in their lives or experience unnecessary barriers to living healthy lives.

Peter wants to see this change, which is what his job is all about. If you have any comments or would like to get in touch with Peter, then you can contact him on peter.heywood@middlesbroughpct.nhs.uk

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Ian Parker, Chief Executive, Middlesbrough Council was born and grew up in Middlesbrough. On graduating with a Civil Engineering degree in Bradford in 1979 he went on to work in various Lancashire Local Authorities where his roles primarily spanned drainage, highways and technical services.

Ian went on to become Head of Engineering at Burnley Council between 1996 and 1998. During this time he was responsible for the introduction of a public CCTV system of 90 cameras and promoting a social lighting programme to combat crime and anti-social behaviour. He successfully introduced the first alley gate schemes into the town.

In 1998 he returned to the North East to work for Hartlepool Borough Council as Head of Highways and Transport and became Director of Neighbourhood Services in May 2004. Two years later, in May 2006 he returned to Middlesbrough to take up the post of Director of Environment, undertaking responsibilities for Streetscene Services, Transport and Design and Community Protection.

In early 2007 he became Chair of the Safer Middlesbrough Partnership, Responsible Authorities Group and worked with partner agencies to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour, improve community safety and ensure that local communities were reassured and confident that their concerns and fears were being addressed.

Ian is now the Chief Executive of Middlesbrough Council.

John is Managing Director of Recycling IT Limited. He is married and has two children and two grandchildren.

John started the business Recycling IT Limited in his garage in 2002 after a redundancy. The organisation was focused on rebuilding computers bought from a company in the South of England. Within 4 weeks he had to find a small unit to handle the volume of sales.

The organisation now has expanded to 12 000sq feet premises and has major corporate clients including The Royal Mint and the National Health Service (NHS)

John is also Chairman of ResNet North East Ltd, Vice Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) North East Area Policy Unit Committee and is a member of the FSB National Energy and Environmental Committee.

Mike Robinson, Director of Environment, Middlesbrough Council has lived all his life in Middlesbrough. After attending local Middlesbrough Schools, Mike embarked upon a sponsored Civil Engineering degree with Cleveland County Council in 1979. On graduating from, the then, Teesside Polytechnic in 1983 he went on to work in various Tees Valley Local Authorities where his roles primarily spanned engineering, property, climate change and highways.

Mike was Head of Technical Services at Stockton Council between 2000 and 2009. During this time he was responsible for complex regeneration projects, delivering multi million pound highways and bridge schemes, buildings projects from schools and leisure centres to extra care schemes for the elderly and introducing the carbon management strategy.

In 2009 he returned to Middlesbrough to take up the post of Director of Environment, undertaking responsibilities for Streetscene Services, Transport and Design and Community Protection.

As a part of his role at Middlesbrough he is Chair of the Safer Middlesbrough Partnership, Responsible Authorities Group and works with partner agencies to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour, improve community safety and ensure that local communities are reassured and confident that their concerns and fears are being addressed. Mike is passionate about his home town and values “true partnership working” as a key way to achieving effective outcomes for our customers.

Gill is Executive Director for Children, Families and Learning with Middlesbrough Council. She Chairs two multi-agency partnerships, which are focused on improving outcomes for children and young people. The focus is on staying safe, being healthy, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution and achieving economic well being.

The Children and Young People's Trust has agreed a range of priorities and actions in the Middlesbrough Children and Young People's Plan. A number of themed groups, including the Learning Partnership, will be taking these actions forward through active partnership between statutory and non-statutory organisations.

Chris is Managing Director of Erimus Housing, which is now part of Fabrick Housing Group. Erimus owns and manages 10,500 properties in Middlesbrough and Stockton-on-Tees, making it the largest social landlord in the area.

Chris has an extensive background in housing, predominantly in development and regeneration. Erimus is currently delivering a £150m programme of works to improve its homes and has a major redevelopment and new build programme, providing new homes for local people.

Chris is a representative of the Housing Forum, which is the main group discussing major housing issues in Middlesbrough and the sub-region.

Colin Stratton is the North East Regional Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). The FSB is the UK's largest campaigning pressure group promoting and protecting the interests of the self-employed and owners of small firms. Formed in 1974, it now has over 215,000 members across 33 regions and 230 branches.

As Chair of the Local Economy Action Group, Colin represents Middlesbrough's private sector and has a strong interest and commitment to the development of small businesses in the town. Colin ensures that this community plays an active role in delivering the groups priorities.

Karen joined West Yorkshire Police in 1982 having graduated from Leeds University with a LLB Honours in Law. She spent 16years as a PC before applying for what was then the Accelerated Promotion Scheme in 1998. Her application was successful and she was promoted to uniform sergeant in May 1999. Further promotions followed within West Yorkshire and then in October 2007 she was promoted to Detective Superintendent, Director of Intelligence, upon transfer to Cleveland. Immediately prior to joining Cleveland Police, she spent 18months on secondment to the Police and Crime Standards Directorate at the Home Office. A significant part of her role during this time was working on the national Tackling Violent Crime Programme where she had specific responsibility for tackling alcohol fuelled violence associated with the night time economy and anti- social behaviour associated with access to alcohol by young people. Karen is delighted to have been appointed District Commander for Middlesbrough and looks forward to being able to work with partners and the local community in tackling those issues that often have the biggest impact on people’s quality of life and fear of crime.