Changes to our Board and Staff team

12th December 2021 Ruth E Willis

As the year draws to an end, South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation (SYCF) are saying farewell to some of our wonderful Trustees, amidst other changes in the composition of our Board.

Board of Trustees

Professor Dame Hilary Chapman is SYCF’s new President, replacing Andrew Coombe (CVO, CStJ) who will become one of our Emeritus Vice President’s.
After joining the Board in 2017, John Pickering is stepping down as a Trustee and his role as vice-chair. Congratulations to Nick Kitchen, replacing John as a vice-chair of the Foundation.
Shahida Siddique, a Trustee since 2017, is also stepping down from her role.

From everyone at South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation, we thank Andrew, John and Shahida for their commitment and dedication during their time as a Trustee. We wish them well and they will always be a friend of the Foundation.

Peter Wilton Lee CBE DL

South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation sends our condolences to the family and friends of our former vice-chair Peter Wilton Lee CBE DL, who passed away recently.

Peter was vice-chair until 2017 before he retired from the role.

Staff team

After 19 years of developing an encyclopedic knowledge of all things grants related at South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation, our Fund Manager Sue Wragg (pictured, above) is preparing to call it a day and head off into a life of retirement.

Sue has been a long standing member of the team, giving so much to the organisation working alongside our staff team, Trustees and volunteers. Her lovely personality will be missed by all and we wish her the best for the future.

Thank you to Angharad, our Social Enterprise Exchange (SEE) Fund Manager, who has moved for pastures new after completing her short stay with us. We wish her success in her next role.

Grant panellists and volunteers

We welcome the following, newly recruited grant panellists and volunteers: Akeela Mohammed, Carole O’Neill, Jennifer Hall, Martin Greenshields, and Judy Dalton.

The following have retired from the Grant Panels this year: Derek Bailey, Sue Barratt, Michael Chance, John Housley. We thank them for their time and contribution to the Foundation over many years of service.

Student Placements

Earlier in the year, Joe Douglas completed a six-month Kickstart placement, contributing greatly to our work on Vital Signs and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Thank you to Bismah Zubair and Laura Semedo Morais from Sheffield Hallam University’s Psychology course, working with South Yorkshire Funding Advice Bureau (SYFAB) and the Philanthropy team across various projects though with this being entirely from home it was a huge challenge that they rose to wonderfully. Bismah also re-joined the Foundation for a month in the summer of 2021 to provide invaluable support with the data of Vital Signs. Chloe Smith, a student from the University of Sheffield, worked with SYFAB on their remote working strategy between January 2021 and June 2021.