Faces behind the Foundation: The SYFAB team
Peter Foyle, Karen Walke, Lorna Lewis and Andy Kershaw make up our South Yorkshire Funding Advice Bureau team.
Best known locally as SYFAB, the quartet supports voluntary, community and charitable groups across the region with funding advice, information and training. They play a vital role helping these organisations to run the projects and activities which are important to their communities.
Since 2013, SYFAB has been a part of South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation.
You can find out more about the work of SYFAB here.
Karen Walke, Joint-head of SYFAB
Karen was born and brought up in Horsforth, near Leeds. She met her husband in Sheffield in the early 80s and made her home in the city and considers herself a ‘Sheffielder’.
She lives in the south of the City with her husband. She has two grandkids and a ‘granddog’!
Karen provides one-to-one support for Sheffield groups, funded by Sheffield City Council.
This involves helping organisations with funding criteria and reviewing draft applications, prioritising groups with no paid staff and who are led by the communities they support.
I started with the Community Foundation in 2001 as Grants Officer for the Local Network Fund. I moved to SYFAB in 2017 as its Barnsley Development worker.
I wanted to work in the voluntary sector for some years, but as an avid volunteer, I slowly built up my experience over time to apply for the Grant Officer role.
The most rewarding aspect of my job is seeing groups thrive. Equally, rewarding is working with a group, or person from a group, and knowing that I have helped them understand the grants processes to the point they feel confident to do it for themselves. I jokingly explain my job as ‘doing myself out of a job’ – the groups will just need our weekly information, access to our funding search and be able to pursue funding opportunities under their own steam.
Our team is something I'm very proud of – we complement each other’s skills so well, and are all equally passionate about our work and the groups we support.
I love South Yorkshire, especially the diversity of the region. What I mean by that is the fact the geography changes so quickly from urban to rural; the people across the region come from such a range of backgrounds; it’s needs and issues, which don’t always resemble what’s happening across the country – which can make for challenging work, but also offer a rich landscape; and finally cultural differences – so many communities to learn from.
I work three days a week and I’m Grandma one day, which invariably goes into more – so my spare time now is spent mostly with my wonderful two grandkids. We're fortunate to have a large social group, so most weekends include catching up with friends – walking, eating and drinking. Karen Walke
Lorna Lewis, SYFAB Barnsley Funding Development Worker
Lorna is originally from Doncaster but has worked in Barnsley for nearly 30 years. She lives in Barnsley with her dog, Jess.
Lorna provides support to community groups in Barnsley, working with local partners to host funding surgeries. She is on hand to answer queries from community groups in the area.
I have worked at SYFAB for more than three years and in the voluntary sector for over 30 years.
I joined because I liked the work that SYFAB does and the impact supporting small groups can have on a community. The team is great too.
The most rewarding aspect of my role is seeing groups grow in stature and confidence from very small acorns.
I love living and working in South Yorkshire and my favourite thing is the people. They are friendly and direct. In my spare time I like to walk my dog, play Pickle ball - mash-up of tennis, badminton and table tennis - take photographs and enjoy a glass of red wine! Lorna Lewis