The voting period for members of the Gloucestershire VCSE Strategic Partnership is now open until 30 June 2025.

Representatives from VCSE organisations delivering services in Gloucestershire can vote. You can find out more about this year's candidates and how to vote below.

How to vote

We are able to offer one vote per organisation. This means that one person in your organisation can vote, and it's up to your organisation to decide who votes on your behalf. We will count the first vote cast on behalf of an organisation.

Candidates have been divided into three categories:

• Grassroots organisations that are user or community led (two places available)
• Organisations with a turnover below £500,000 per year (three places available)
• Organisations with a turnover in excess of £500,000 per year (one place available)

You can vote in each category by using our Online Ballot Form.

Alternatively, paper copies of the candidate statements and ballot paper are available by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Please ensure that you read the following information before you cast your vote:

• Election Process for the VCSE Strategic Partnership April 2025
• Voters Privacy Notice for the Gloucestershire VCSE Strategic Partnership Election 2025

Candidates representing organisations that are user or community led

Candidate organisation: HHPDA (Horses Helping People with Depression and Anxiety)

Candidate role: Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Candidate's supporting statement: 

"I started an organisation as I never wanted anyone to struggle as I did. As someone who struggled with depression and anxiety, which I now know was emotional deregulation, as a late diagnosed Autistic/ ADHD person. The process has been a lot of learning personally and professionally in terms of the support available, and trying to be creative. One metaphorical size does not fit all, and having to think in different ways is key.

As someone who has gone through the public services as a user, but also as a provider, I can see things from both perspectives.  

What I bring is:

•    Person with lived experience of mental health and as a neurodivergent person
•    Used my experience to start an organisation supporting hundreds of clients over the last eight years
•    Professional experience of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy with over 1000 clinical hours of supporting clients over 10 years
•    Has seen the challenges and gains of working for a small organisation 

I believe working together is key. I hope by being a representative I can help support some shift in making sure no one suffers like I did, personally or professionally."

Candidate name: Lisa Wilson

Candidate organisation: GL11 Community Hub

Candidate role: Chief Executive Officer

Candidate's supporting statement: 

"As CEO of GL11 Community Hub - a charity run by the community, for the community - I am deeply committed to improving wellbeing through meaningful cross-sector collaboration.

I bring experience in grassroots delivery, a background in healthcare, and a passion for aligning strategic goals across sectors. I believe in community empowerment and have a proven track record of amplifying the voices of others while navigating the complexities of partnership working.

My approach reflects a population-based model: co-creating practical, place-based solutions that address health inequalities and improve access and outcomes for all.

Being based at GL11 gives me daily insight into the real issues our communities face. We support thousands of residents, offering a place to belong and services that tackle isolation, poverty, and health behaviours. Our work is rooted in trusted partnerships - voluntary and statutory - and our influence spans from grassroots delivery to strategic planning and implementation.

My experience and positioning make me well-placed to represent the sector with passion and integrity. I’m ready to contribute to shaping countywide infrastructure that values, trusts, and celebrates the VCSE as a vital strategic partner.

If you want someone who will champion collaboration, speak up for the sector, and bring both grassroots and strategic experience - I’d be honoured to have your vote."

Candidates are representing organisations with a turnover below £500,000 per year

Candidate name: Sarah Bourne

Candidate organisation: The Churn Project

Candidate role: Chief Executive Officer

Candidate's supporting statement: 

"I’d like to put myself forward because I believe strongly in the role of the VCSE sector in shaping a fairer, healthier Gloucestershire - especially in rural areas with often unrecognised deprivation where services can feel out of reach and community connection is vital.

I lead a small, but growing organisation based in a rural market town, supporting people across all life stages. In places like ours, VCSE groups often hold things together. We step in where services are stretched, offer safe spaces and respond quickly because we’re close to the people we support. I want to bring that perspective to the table.

We’ve built trusted relationships with communities and statutory partners. I’ve seen how much more effective we are when we listen, share learning and plan together.

I bring experience of strategic planning, partnership development and leading responsive, person-centred services. I understand the pressure many small organisations face and want to ensure their voices are heard and valued. I’m committed to building meaningful collaboration — not just attending meetings, but shaping direction.

I’d welcome the chance to help ensure the VCSE sector is understood, represented and embedded in the strategic direction of Gloucestershire’s public sector organisations."

Candidate name: Margaret Grady

Candidate organisation: Mindsong

Candidate role: Director of Music Therapy

Candidate's supporting statement: 

"I qualified as a Music Therapist in 2008 and have stayed with Mindsong ever since, working strategically alongside our CEO to not only develop our organisational model, but to build strong partnerships and relationships with dementia providers across Gloucestershire and beyond. We are deeply embedded in local communities and passionate about equity of provision.

We believe our model is unique and have taken care to build an organisation that is flexible, financially solid and sustainable. I work with a team that has a wealth of experience and knowledge, which it is my remit to share externally to enable change. Mindsong is a founding member of the Gloucestershire Creative Health Consortium.

I work closely with our commissioners and partners in the NHS and GCC. I sit on the ICS Dementia Steering Group and the Young Onset Sub-Group. I’m also a member of the Cheltenham Dementia Action Alliance as well as providing clinical supervision for the MA course in Music Therapy at UWE. 

At this point in my career I would be excited to become part of the VCSE Strategic Partnership, to help bridge gaps in understanding, to facilitate organisational change and hopefully make life better for people with long term health conditions."

Candidate name: Michelle Vaughan

Candidate organisation: The Spring Centre/GayGlos/Caring for Communities and People

Candidate role: Interim Care Manager

Candidate's supporting statement: 

"I work for two charities in Gloucestershire, Talent Engagement and Development Manager at CCP in Cheltenham, and Interim Care Manager for The Spring Centre, a small respite centre in Gloucester. I also volunteer as Co-Chair of GayGlos, a grassroots charity running a youth group for LGBTQIA+ teens.

In my work and as a parent of four disabled children, I have navigated complex systems to secure essential support. This has required persistence, strategic engagement and an understanding of how to work in an effective, person-centred way. I have worked with both boards, and management across our sector to ensure that our clients and staff are supported. I recognise that not everyone has the same confidence or access to knowledge and that is why I commit my voice, insight and leadership role to influence change.

I am passionate about making a level playing field for VCSE entities and believe we should be working together. I have been able to utilise skills, knowledge and behaviours that I have gained in CCP to support The Spring Centre in their mission. I believe in collaboration over competition, if we all worked together, more people could be supported and more good could be done."

Candidates are representing organisations with a turnover in excess of £500,000 per year

Candidate name: Vicky Davis

Candidate organisation: The Nelson Trust

Candidate role: Head of Women's Community Services

Candidate's supporting statement: 

"With 20 years’ experience of working within the health and Justice field, and the last decade in the voluntary sector, I bring a wealth of knowledge of how complex social issues intersect with health inequalities affecting some of our most vulnerable local communities.

I am passionate about being a catalyst for change and want to be a part of a system which helps to connect and strengthen the VCSE sector across Gloucestershire, reducing siloed working, promoting sharing learning and influencing the development of a better system which meets the needs of those we collectively serve.

My everyday work centres around partnership working and collaboration; I recognise the true power of working together to address challenges and driving systemic change. I am committed to ensuring that the voice of the sector is not just represented, but actively shapes delivery and system change across the Integrated Care System.

My skills in strategic thinking, cross-sector collaboration, and values-led leadership equip me to drive forward this vision. I naturally work from a relational standpoint and thrive in creating connections and bringing people together around shared values and mission.

It would be a privilege to meaningfully contribute and drive forward the goals and ambitions of the board."

Candidate name: Jason Dunsford

Candidate organisation: Gloucestershire Gateway Trust

Candidate role: Deputy Chief Executive 

Candidate's supporting statement: 

"I work for Gloucestershire Gateway Trust, the community development charity that co-created Gloucester Services. For 20 years I have worked with people and communities in Gloucestershire through projects that may have said “employment” and “skills” in their titles, but we understand that lives are complex, determinants of health, wealth and self are intertwined, and support is more impactful when we work with the whole person and our organisations work together.

The employment and social inclusion project GEM was a great example of the county’s exceptional voluntary sector working collaboratively to create impact greater than the sum of its parts. I am determined to continue to support bringing people, communities and organisations together to make sustainable and locally impactful change. 

This is why we were so motivated to bring a coalition together in our successful bids to deliver Youth Support Services and Children and Family Centres in Gloucester and The Forest of Dean. Contracts that could have easily been secured by national charities are now in the hands of Gloucestershire VCSEs and more importantly young people and families. I fully support the VCSE Strategic Partnership and its strategic priorities to bring even deeper collaboration within the VCSE and with the Integrated Care System."

Candidate name: Jon Harris

Candidate organisation: Salvation Army, Forest of Dean

Candidate role: Pioneer Leader

Candidate's supporting statement: 

"I am passionate about inclusion and community voice and have extensive skills and work experience regarding wellbeing. I have worked extensively on community engagement and consultation, urban planning and creation of healthy places, active travel and social prescribing. I have a career history in travel behaviour change and encouraging people to be more active.

I am currently developing a programme of Wellbeing Walks in Lydney to support community connections and mental health and am working with Coleford Town Council on their Neighbourhood Plan.

I have been Chair of Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership for five years which has just come to an end and am looking for opportunities to have a real strategic impact in the health and wellbeing arena. For the Salvation Army I am a trained youth mentor and apply my coaching skills in supporting 18 to 25-year-olds especially around mental health and employability support. I would be delighted to support this venture."

Candidate name: Hazel Howe

Candidate organisation: Swindon and Gloucestershire Mind

Candidate role: Chief Executive Officer

Candidate's supporting statement: 

 "With over 20 years’ experience in the charity and mental health sectors, I am passionate about building a future where mental health is treated equally to physical health and where early intervention and prevention are at the heart of community support. I believe the VCSE sector plays a vital role in addressing health inequalities and reaching people before crisis point — often in ways that statutory services cannot.
 
As CEO of Swindon and Gloucestershire Mind since 2018, I have led the organisation through significant growth and transformation, expanding services, increasing income, and strengthening partnerships locally and regionally. My background in finance, coupled with a strong values-led approach, allows me to balance strategic vision with operational delivery. I’m particularly proud of our work alongside NHS and VCSE partners to improve access, inclusion, and co-designed mental health services.
 
I want to join the VCSE Strategic Partnership to help shape a system that listens to, and works, with communities. I bring a collaborative mindset, strong understanding of system challenges, and a commitment to ensuring the voices of smaller organisations are represented. I am motivated by driving cultural change, building trust across sectors, and creating lasting, meaningful transformation in how we support people across Gloucestershire."

Candidate name: Sado Jirde

Candidate organisation: Black South West Network

Candidate role: Director

Candidate's supporting statement: 

"Black South West Network is a racial justice charity, and has worked with Gloucestershire VCSE Alliance as a strong committed ally. We strongly support intercounty co-operation on social enterprise and bring a long standing history of research and evidence based support of social enterprise with Black and Racially Minoritised social enterprises, and asset leadership to our work in Glos. Our CEO is a Glos resident.

We established South West Race Equality Action Group in 2021, with committed activists from Gloucestershire - in the context of the Race Equality Commission we found Gloucester-based organisations ready to join the struggle. Since 2022/23, our detailed research of needs amongst community groups, backed by community listening events and organising meet the funder and providing actual funding related support demonstrates our commitment to developing this relationship on a deeper level. We hope our nomination can be considered in light of the above as a sign of our keenness to go deeper and strengthen this relationship further."

Candidate name: Victoria Robson

Candidate organisation: The Door Youth Project

Candidate role: Chief Executive Officer

Candidate's supporting statement: 

"As a passionate ambassador for collaborative working I would consider it an honour to serve as part of the VCSE Strategic Partnership and I am keen to make a meaningful contribution to its success for the sake of all VCSE organisations in our county. 

My personal priority is always to place standards and service above all else, both in life and work; doing all I can to serve my community and to do this to the best of my ability. While recognising that in order to achieve the highest standards, this can only be achieved within a culture of learning and risk taking.  

I have served in the charity sector for the past 14 years. Previously working as a Leadership Development Consultant for many years in the UK and overseas; supporting senior leaders in organisations to promote healthy productive and high-performing teams/cultures. I currently have the privilege to work as CEO for The Door, a well established and reputed youth and family support charity based in Stroud.

My strengths are bringing people together, being a strong team player, building robust relationships with senior stakeholders, working at a strategic level and understanding the bigger picture to set a direction."

Vote Now

You can vote in each category by using our Online Ballot Form.

We have included the candidate statements on our Online Ballot Form to support you with this process.

Alternatively, paper copies of the candidate statements and ballot paper are available by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Please ensure that you read the following information before you cast your vote:

• Election Process for the VCSE Strategic Partnership April 2025
• Voters Privacy Notice for the Gloucestershire VCSE Strategic Partnership Election 2025

What happens next?

Once the voting period ends, we will share information about who has been elected to the Partnership. We expect this to be on 9 July 2025.

Get in touch

If you have any questions about the election or the voting process, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..