The Trustees

Paddy Chapman

Chairman

Paddy has spent most of her career within the voluntary sector, a short spell with the NSPCC followed by fourteen years in the British Red Cross latterly as Operations Director for Durham, Teesside and Northumbria. She then moved to North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Council as Head of the Major Incident Response Team. Paddy was one of the original Olive and Norman Field trustees when the charity was formed in 1998.

Eileen Brereton

Deputy Chairman

Eileen originally worked as a children's nurse and health visitor. After having three sons, she worked in the voluntary sector with carers and the British Red Cross First Aid and Home from Hospital services. Now retired, she is enjoying volunteering with Guide Dogs, as well as the research and promotion of the story of the Red Cross Hospitals in the North Riding during the First World War.

Jo Benn

Administrator

Jo is the Administrator for the Olive & Norman Field Charity. Prior to this, she was with the British Red Cross for 5 years, and for 17 years she was the Finance Director of an international engineering company based in North Yorkshire, followed by 4 years as Financial Controller for an insurance firm in Oxfordshire.

Janet Crampton

Janet joined the Board of Trustees when she retired from her work for Central Government at the Department of Health and of running her own health and social care consultancy. Janet has a long experience of commissioning services for vulnerable adults and has a particular interest in older people’s and dementia care, and appreciates how sometimes small interventions or sums of money can make a huge difference to the quality of people’s lives, particularly if they are struggling with the effects of a long term medical condition.

Ian Temple

Ian left the RAF after 25 years in 1997 and spent the next 16 years working for the British Red Cross Society. He was Operations Director for Yorkshire from 2002 to 2013 and was responsible for all operational matters including service delivery over that period.

Karl Podmore

Karl worked for NYCC for 38 years in Children's Services, including roles in residential care and field social work. He worked as a Senior Manager in the Council from 2000 and from 2012 to 2021 he managed the County's Disabled Children's Service.

Angela Craggs

Angela currently is employed within Adult & Health Service for Durham County Council. Angela has been actively involved with the Trust for a number of years and has had the opportunity to see first-hand the benefits of grant applications.

Sarah Runnacles

Sarah qualified as an Occupational Therapist at the St. Loyes School of Occupational Therapy in Exeter. Her early career experience included working London, Ipswich and Macclesfield. Following a career break to live in the USA for four years and starting a family, Sarah now works in Stockton as a Senior Occupational Therapist in the Children, Education and Social Care Services multidisciplinary team.

Pauline Park

Pauline is an Independent Reviewing Officer at Hartlepool Borough Council. She qualified in 2001 and has spent most of her career working with children and their families.

Garry Blythe

Garry worked for Local Authority Social Services for 37 years as a Social Worker and Social Work Manager within Adult Social Care, before retiring in early 2022. He has also previously been a Team Leader in the Major Incident Support Team covering North Yorkshire and York. He currently works part time as a Project Manager for a Learning Disability charity in North Yorkshire.

Alex Sutcliffe

Trustee

Alex has spent most of her working career in the public sector, firstly spending 16 years in the NHS and now 20 years in Local Government, currently employed with North Yorkshire Council. For the last ten years she has managed the Major Incident Response Team (MIRT); offering emotional support and practical advice as part of the humanitarian response. She has a particular interest in emotional resilience, and has personal experience of the complexities of traumatic grief. Introducing the postvention service for residents of North Yorkshire and York, she works closely with the Police and Chief Coroner to ensure those affected can be looked after. As a trained instructor, Alex also delivers Mental Health First Aid training throughout the county. In her spare time she enjoys travelling with her faithful Cockerpoo, Lola.