The Early Break Board of Trustees/Directors meets for full Business Meetings every 8-10 weeks and in between will hold Special Focus Meetings to concentrate on specific aspects of Company development or training. At each Business Meeting an operational manager will present updates and issues relating to their particular area of service. The Board is always keen to understand the work of the Company in practice and members will shadow workers to further their understanding of different aspects of service delivery. Board members are always invited to join the full-day training events for Company workers.
Board members will be involved in specific tasks according to their areas of expertise and interest and will lead on items, as appropriate.
There are five members of the Board (Trustees), with the appointment of two new Trustees pending. The profile of the current Board is as follows;
JUDITH LONGHILL: Chair
Judith is a self employed social care consultant having worked for local government for 34 years. Judith’s degree is in economic and social studies and she obtained her professional qualification as a social worker in 1980. Judith has always worked in services for children and young people and had substantial experience as a practitioner in the 1970s and 1980s before moving into a range of management roles in the 1990s. She has worked as a practitioner and manager in both large metropolitan authorities with high levels of deprivation and diverse populations to small authorities with the challenge of delivering services with fewer resources. As a manager she has been responsible for a range of services for very vulnerable children and young people including Youth Offending, Safeguarding, Looked After Children and Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Judith’s most recent role was as an Assistant Director of Children’s Services, where, for 8 years, she was responsible for managing an annual budget in excess of £15m. Throughout her career she has been strongly committed to partnership working. Judith currently chairs a number of Adoption Panels for a Metropolitan Authority and recently has undertaken analysis of safeguarding practice for a local Safeguarding Children Board. To the role as trustee of Early Break, she brings a range of knowledge, skills and experience that will be useful particularly in respect of service development and delivery, management practice as well as commissioning and financial planning.
Judith joined the Trustees in January 2011.
JENNY THORPE: Treasurer
Jenny left school at 15 and worked in various occupations including: Colour Consultant for Crown Wallpapers, Hotel Receptionist at the Grand Hotel in Manchester, eventually managing an employment agency for NCR in Manchester, Preston & Liverpool. During this period she also worked on a voluntary basis at youth clubs and eventually managed a Church Youth Club with her first husband. From 1975 to 1984 Jenny owned and managed her own employment agency for accounting machine operators in North West England and later for promotional staff working in various venues in England, Wales & Scotland. After the death of her first husband in1982, she refurbished and opened a health club which ran successfully for 2 years.Jenny re-trained on the Basic Youth Work course and was employed by the youth service in Bury as a deputy centre manager and then as part-time manager of a Youth Centre where she worked for 7 years. During this time she began work as a sessional worker for Early Break in 1996. Since then Jenny has been part-time Drugs Education Consultant for Bury and Rochdale MBCs, mentoring programme manager for Bolton Lads & Girls Club and a manager at Early Break for 2 years. She will be fully retired from April 2011.
Jenny has been a Trustee at Early Break since 2008.
DIANA ASHWORTH
Diana Ashworth, aged 65 years, has four sons and five grandchildren and lives within the Borough of Bury.
Diana began her working life in the Civil Service but soon moved to start a career in local authority social care. Achieving a Diploma in Domiciliary Care Management in 1986, Diana then took a sideways career change into nursing and then into Health and Social Care Development and Training coinciding with the introduction of NVQs in Care. Diana worked in Bury MBC as NVQ Co-ordinator and then to Wigan MBC as a Development and Training Manager.
This was followed by a year working with Skills for Care before retiring in 2006.
As a result of a lifetime interest in politics, Diana then stood for election as a Conservative Councillor in Bury MBC and was elected in May 2006.
For three of the four years as a Councillor she was a member of the Cabinet with a responsibility for Children’s Services. It was at this time that Diana became aware of the work of Early Break and was pleased to support the organisation in their work within the borough.
Diana continues to support Early Break in their work as a Trustee. Diana is also involved with other local community groups including School Governor and Friends of the Ramsbottom Civic Hall.