Volunteer Cornwall is a charity (Registered Number 1069957) and a company limited by guarantee (Company number 3562830) which develops individuals and communities through voluntary action.
Objectives and Activities of the Charity
Volunteer Cornwall is a charity supporting volunteering and promoting healthy, connected communities. Our mission is to enable meaningful action to improve individual and community wellbeing. We recruit and deploy volunteers, build capacity and resilience, and test social innovation, working with a wide range of organisations.
From our head office in Truro and our outreach teams across Cornwall, we provide services and expertise such as volunteer management, community hub development, climate resilience and emergency preparedness, community transport, training, early prevention and health inequalities programmes.
Values
Our values below describe the way we behave towards each other, our partners, our communities and within the environment. The focus of these values directly relates to achieving lasting outcomes for people and having a positive impact on communities.
Creative
Being creative and always exploring the ‘art of the possible’ to find solutions to the challenges Cornwall faces. Thinking ahead about potential issues that could impact on the resilience and wellbeing of people and the sustainability of communities. We want to be ‘doing’ not just ‘talking’.
Caring
Being kind and having compassion for people we work with, both inside and outside our organisation. Seek to understand the issues that may cause people to worry. Having respect and empathy for all people, living creatures and the world in which we live.
Collaborative
Look for every opportunity to improve outcomes and impacts by cooperating with people and organisations. Understand the connections within the system and the positive impact collaboration can have on people and communities. Act with honesty and integrity when working with local people and partner organisations. Build trusted relationships with people and organisations.
Challenging
Be passionate and bold about the work that we undertake and open to new possibilities. Challenge ourselves and others to do better and work positively with the people and partners to identify ways to improve services. Focus on the mission of the organisation challenging established practices in order to achieve sustained outcomes.
Our Climate Emergency Pledge
In 2019 Volunteer Cornwall declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency, as a response to the UN stating in its 2018 “1.5” report (which said what we have to do to stay below a 1.5 increase in global temperatures).
Read our Climate Emergency Pledge Below:
Chief Executive and Board Members
Our strategy and direction is set by our Chief Executive and Board of Directors / Trustees (they are one and the same) who are:
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Chief Executive:
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Rae has worked in the NHS in Cornwall & Isles of Scilly since 2000, mostly in the West of the county, working with general practices, community health providers and the voluntary sector. Her experience is around developing services that promote wellbeing, based on what matters to the individual, and connecting the dots with their community. Rae recently took up a new role as Business Manager for Penwith PCN. Among other services, Rae and the clinical lead have recently established a mental health & wellbeing service, which offers coaching and promotes a nonmedical, holistic approach for people who may have otherwise fallen through the gaps between traditional services. This is something Rae can relate to as a neurodivergent mum of neurodivergent teens! Creative by nature, Rae is also a self-published author and is planning her next venture. She is proud of her Cornish roots and lives with her family in mid Cornwall. Rae enjoys being outdoors, particularly kayaking, swimming and walking her two dogs. |
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Chair:
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Jon is an experienced Director of Adult Social Care having spent the last 25 years supporting Council’s from Harrow to Cornwall. He has a broad range of experience across the public and private sector with a specialism for developing new approaches to commissioning care and support. A business graduate and qualified HR professional with keen interest in people development and strengths-based approaches. In 2017 along with his family, he relocated to Cornwall to take up the role of Service Director for Adult Services Transformation & Commissioning. During his time in Cornwall Jon helped develop joint health and care commissioning and was appointed as Joint Director of Commissioning for NHS Kernow & Cornwall Council, this time also saw the pandemic where Jon took a lead role in the systems response which started to shape greater partnerships with the Voluntary and Community Sector. A big fan of the work of Volunteer Cornwall, he is delighted to join the team as a Trustee. Jon lives in Falmouth with his wife, two young daughters, a dog and cat. |
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Treasurer:
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Natercia was born in Mozambique and moved to Cornwall in 1998 with her husband. They live in St Austell with their 2 children. Natercia qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant in 2005, whilst working for Bishop Fleming Accountants, where she worked for 21 years until 2020. She predominantly worked with third sector clients, supporting them with their accounts and regulatory requirements, and holds the ICAEW Diploma in Charity Accounting in recognition of her experience in this sector. Natercia now works for St Austell Healthcare as finance manager. Natercia is the Charity’s treasurer as well as sitting on a number of other charity board of trustees. In her free time Natercia enjoys walking and all that the Cornish outdoors offers. Twitter @Nat_mHughes |
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Dr. Mike Leyshon
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Michael Leyshon is a Senior Lecturer in Social Geography at the University of Exeter. He has published widely in the area of young people’s geographies and has a particular interest in theories of embodiment and identity formation. His research explores, and seeks solutions to, the ways in which young people become socially, politically and economically excluded from society. |
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Prof. Kate Leyshon
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Catherine was born in Coventry and grew up in rural Warwickshire. She has worked for the University of Exeter since 1996 and has been based for the last 14 years at the Penryn campus. Her career as an academic geographer has seen her research subjects as diverse as religion, film, and literature as well as social care, climate change and social innovation. Catherine did no exercise of any kind for 39 years before taking up running, sea swimming and biking. She has since completed four marathons, several triathlons and numerous road and multi-terrain races, most of which she came almost last in. Catherine enjoys cooking and frequently tries out new and sometimes experimental recipes on unsuspecting friends and colleagues. Catherine is married to fellow trustee, Michael Leyshon, and they have a daughter, two guinea pigs and a dog. |
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Kele Price
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Kele is a CIMA qualified accountant and has over 20 years’ experience of working in senior finance roles within a diverse range of companies After relocating to Cornwall with her Husband (Jon Price) and 2 daughters in 2017, Kele has worked as the Finance Director and Head of HR in the local design, retail and manufacturing company, Tom Raffield Limited. Kele works closely with Tom and the Leadership Team to create growth in the company and in turn creating employment and learning opportunities in the local community. Kele and the team incorporate sustainability at the heart of every process from manufacturing to supply chain to people management and sustainable design. Kele has always been extremely interested in environmental preservation and works with local government bodies, taking part in rewilding projects with the TR team and the Nature Recovery Hub. Kele spends her weekends with her family and 2 dogs, enjoying walks around the Cornish countryside and water sports with her children. Kele also loves to travel and explore the world and has a great love of understanding, observing and learning from other cultures. Kele finds volunteering a vital part of the community and until now has mainly done this within the school and church environments. Kele is keen to bring business, brand and environmental knowledge to Volunteer Cornwall as a Volunteer Trustee. |
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Janet Popham
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Janet worked in Local Government for 20+ years in a variety of leadership roles covering corporate and community strategies, community safety and community transport projects, a community regeneration programme, a Surestart initiative, and a Local Area Agreement programme delivering a range of improvements for Cornwall. After leaving Local Government, Janet established a social enterprise to support work in the health sector before joining the NHS in Cornwall ten years ago, still developing strategy and managing programmes. Janet buried herself in the British Library for two fascinating years for a Masters in Elizabethan History. Her highlight was holding a letter from the Shah of Persia to Queen Elizabeth 1. Janet also has an MBA. After leaving school Janet was a volunteer at a local charity in Redruth for 32 years, until it closed. For 17 of those years she volunteered as its business manager. Janet’s hobbies include gardening – she finds hacking through brambles a great reliever of frustrations. She also enjoys Nordic walking and has completed 4 ultra-marathons Nordic walking up and down and up and up the Cotswold and Southdown hills. |
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Dr Rebecca Magill (Beks)
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Beks lives with her son, dog, chickens and partner in rural Cornwall and loves the outdoors life. She’s passionate about social equity and has a growing interest in climate change. Beks works as a GP Clinical Psychologist in Launceston Medical Centre and volunteers as an Advisory Committee Member for developing primary care psychology provision with the ACP UK. She has an interest in research particularly around Community Psychology and improving general practice, holding an honorary post at Plymouth University too. Her values are around integrity, openness, justice, reliability and humour. |
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