Five join big lottery funding team

Area:

Wales

Release date:

1 3 2007

Five individuals from across the country have joined the all-new Big Lottery Fund Wales Committee. The new appointments follow that of Huw Vaughan Thomas as Chair of the Wales Committee at the end of last year. The members will support the Chair in overseeing how millions of pounds of lottery good cause money will be invested in the voluntary, community, public and private sector throughout Wales between now and 2009.

The committee members bring with them a wealth of experience. They are, Graham Benfield, Chief Executive WCVA, Tom Davies, Independent Police Complaints Commissioner for Wales and former Big Lottery Fund Board Member, Janet Reed, former Director of Centrica and National Manager in Wales for British Gas, Mike Theodoulou, Executive Chair of Foothold Regeneration Agency and Barbara Wilding, Chief Constable, South Wales Police (for further information, see biographies below).

The Wales Committee will be responsible for strategy, policy, planning, and management of programmes in Wales, within an overall strategic and financial framework determined by the Big Lottery Fund’s UK Board.

The Big Lottery Fund is the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors and to date has awarded over £750 million in Wales to projects that bring real improvements to communities and the lives of people in need across the country.

Outlining the importance of establishing a Big Lottery Fund Wales Committee, Alun Pugh, Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport, said: "I would like to welcome the appointment of the new Big Lottery Fund Committee for Wales. This means that decisions on lottery funding will be taken in Wales by people with an understanding of the needs of Wales".

Looking forward to working with the new members, Wales Country Chair, Huw Vaughan Thomas, said: “This is the first ever Wales Committee to be appointed that will have a strategic overview and we are all part of an historic occasion where distributing Lottery funding for good causes in Wales is concerned. The new members have a golden opportunity to reach out and support people of various ages and abilities in Wales, people from ethnic or minority backgrounds and to also help those facing particular issues or disadvantages in society.”

He added: “I’m looking forward to working with the new committee and utilising their expertise in various fields to make important decisions on projects that will have a positive impact on communities throughout Wales and leave a lasting legacy. On behalf of the UK Board, I would like to welcome them to the committee and hope they enjoy and benefit greatly from the experience.”

Further Information

For further information about the committee members, please contact Oswyn Hughes at the Big Lottery Fund press office on 02920 678 207. (Pictures of the committee members are on request by contacting the Big Lottery Fund press office).
Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 02920 678 207
Out of hours contact: 07760171431
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030
Textphone:  845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Notes to Editors:

• The Big Lottery Fund rolls out close to £2 million in Lottery good cause money every 24 hours which together with other Lottery distributors means that across the UK most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.
• The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004.
• On 1 December 2006 the Big Lottery Fund was officially established by Parliament and at the same time assumed the residual responsibilities of the dissolved National Lottery Charities Board (Community Fund) the New Opportunities Fund, and the Millennium Commission. The Fund is building on the experience and best practice of the merged bodies to simplify funding in those areas where they overlap and to ensure Lottery funding provides the best possible value for money.

Wales Committee Biographies and Quotes for the Media

Huw Vaughan Thomas, Chair (Conwy, North Wales)

Huw Vaughan Thomas has been Director of Taro Consultancy Ltd, a North Wales based company specialising in organisational, governance and economic policy work in the public sector, since June 2001. He is currently a consumer representative on the Hearing Aid Council and an independent member of the Parole Board. He recently served as a Member of the Commission on Powers and Electoral Arrangements of the National Assembly for Wales. His earlier career was spent in the civil service and local government. He was formerly Chief Executive of Denbighshire County Council, Chief Executive of Gwynedd County Council, and Director for Wales for the Manpower Services Commission and Department of Employment. In his previous voluntary and public appointments he has been, amongst other things, a member of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, a Council Member of the Prince’s Trust, Cymru, member of the National Trust’s Committee for Wales, a trustee of the RNID and a lay member of the Law Society’s Governing Council.

Graham Benfield OBE, Chief Executive, Wales Council for Voluntary Action (Cowbridge, Cardiff)

WCVA has 2000 members, and 115 staff based throughout Wales, and manages a budget of £30m.  It is the national independent agency, which provides research, training, information, policy and funding for volunteering and the voluntary sector.

Since 1989 Mr Benfield has been Chief Executive.

His previous posts include:

Director of Virginia House Settlement, Plymouth; Senior Lecturer in Social Policy & Community Work, Plymouth; Social Development Officer in Skelmersdale New Town; Director of Youth Volunteer Agency, London; Director of West Glamorgan Council for Voluntary Service.

He has an MA (Oxon) in Politics, Philosophy & Economics and an MSc in Social Policy from the University of Wales

He is currently:
A Trustee of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations
Member of:  Objective 1 monitoring committee and policy group
Member of:  CIVICUS  - World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Member of:  Communities First Support Network Board
Member of:  Voluntary Sector Partnership Council
Member:  Carnegie Commission on Rural Community Development
Fellow:  Royal Society of Arts
Chair:  Unlimited

As a volunteer he Chairs the Board of Trustees of St. Donats Arts Centre.

In 2003, he was awarded an OBE for services to the voluntary sector in Wales.

Quote:

“I’m delighted to be appointed and I’m looking forward to shaping the way that lottery funding is distributed in Wales. The biggest challenge we face is to make sure the money is spent in an effective way that is able to support the needs of people and their communities.”

Tom Davies (originally from Wrexham North Wales, now lives in Penarth, South Wales)

Tom Davies, a native of North Wales, has been a UK Commissioner for the Independent Police Complaints Commission since 2003, with responsibilities for Wales and the British Transport Police.

From 2000 Tom was a UK Board member of the New Opportunities Fund with responsibilities for Wales, and in 2004 Tom took on the role of Board Member for Wales of the Big Lottery Fund.

He recently served as a member of the UWIC Board.

A graduate of Liverpool University with post graduate degrees from the Universities of Wales and Sheffield, he is also a Fellow of the British Institute of Management.  After a long career in education as a Head teacher in North Wales, a Chief Inspector of schools in Bradford and Director of Education for Cardiff, Tom also spent four years as an inaugural Director of the Princes Trust in Wales.

Quote:

“This is a very committed group of people with vast experience in various fields. Having been part of the Big Lottery Fund from the offset and helping to set up some of the mechanisms, I look forward to working on the new programmes in new areas of social provision, hitherto untouched by lottery funding.”

He adds: “This is an exciting and historic development for me and in Lottery terms, it’s the first Wales committee, delivering specific programmes for Wales. It’s good to see the organisation develop from its initial planning stages to where we are today.”

Janet Reed OBE (Bridgend, South Wales)

Janet Reed retired from the post of National Manager for Wales for British Gas in 2005. Janet’s career with British Gas spanned 31 years and involved roles in sales, marketing and general management in both the commercial and domestic markets.

She was instrumental in setting up the National Sales Office in Cardiff, which employed in excess of 2000 staff. She was awarded the OBE in 2004 for services to economic development in Wales.

Janet was a board member of Business in the Community for 12 years and has a particular interest in encouraging business leaders to involve themselves in the communities in which they are based. She is now using this experience in her role as Trustee of the Welsh Scout Council.

Janet was previously a Council member and Chair of CBI Wales.  She was a board member of the WDA and was part of the Leadership Group for the Princes Trust in Wales.  

Quote:

“When I retired, I decided that I wanted to dedicate my time to doing a lot of work with the Scouts movement. It struck me how difficult it was for groups like this to obtain funding to survive. When I saw the advertisement for the post, I decided I would like to be a part of something that would genuinely make a difference to the lives of people in Wales.

We, as a committee, have a real chance to make a difference and it’s important we stay focused on what outcomes need to be achieved. I’m delighted to be part of a small, select group, with such a broad range of experience in various fields. We will bring these experiences together for the good of Wales.”

Mike Theodoulou (Llanelli, South West Wales)

As Executive Chairman, Mike Theodoulou joined Foothold in 1998, at a time when the organisation existed as a small, Local Enterprise Agency. With a career, which has been equally divided between the commercial and the not-for-profit sectors, Mike’s career began successfully on the London Stock Exchange, before moving to working in Local Government.  Over a number of years he developed his career with several Housing Associations in London and subsequently became Chief Executive of one of the largest Housing Associations in the U.K.

In the private sector, he has been Managing Director of a Development and Construction Company and Executive Director of Quality Street Ltd. (properties), where he had responsibility for the overall investment of £1/4 billion for the organisation.

Since his move to Wales, Mike has provided the vision and leadership, which has taken The Foothold Group through a period of growth and diversification, establishing it as one of the leading regeneration companies in the Principality.

Mike had and currently has close involvement with a number of other organisations:

• Founder Chair of the Partnership Board which set-up Finance Wales, the Welsh Development Bank
• Founder Chair and current Director of Chamber Wales.
• Chairman of Carmarthenshire Chamber of Commerce (the second largest Chamber in Wales)
• President of Burry Port and Pembrey Chamber of Commerce
• Member of the Committee that oversees Objective One in Wales, being one of the original negotiating team with the Commission.
• Chair of the E.U. Objective One, Monitoring Sub-Committee.
• Committee member on the Board preparing Wales for the next round of E.U. funding, as well as the Wales Rural Development Plan Group.
• Locally, Chair of School Governors.

Quote:

“The Big Lottery Fund has a huge role to play in Wales and I hope I can share my experiences and give something back to the communities of Wales. There is a conflicting demand for lottery funding in this country and I’m looking forward to ensuring that each community gets value for their Lottery pound. It’s an honour to serve on the committee and we will work together and do what we can for Wales.”

Barbara Wilding, CBE, QPM, CCMI, (Bridgend, South Wales)
Chief Constable, South Wales Police

Miss Wilding joined the States Police in Jersey as a cadet in 1967 and was attested as a constable in 1970.  In 1971 she transferred to the Metropolitan Police where she predominantly served as an operational detective throughout London and on specialist units in New Scotland Yard.  She became an Assistant Chief Constable in Kent Constabulary in 1994, with responsibility for Personnel, and in 1997 took command of Crime Operations, Intelligence, and European Liaison.

In 1998 she transferred to the Metropolitan Police as Deputy Assistant Commissioner and served in personnel and Specialist Operations where she commanded the Security and Protection Directorate which included protection of ministers, Royal family, Special Branch, Heathrow Airport, covert intelligence and the specialist firearms unit. Miss Wilding was appointed Chief Constable of South Wales Police on 1st January 2004.

Miss Wilding is a Co-Director for the Police National Assessment Centre.  She also oversees a National Mentoring scheme for women Superintendents.

Miss Wilding read criminology at London University, and is a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute.  She is also a Member of the Royal Institute for International Affairs and Royal College for Defence Studies.  She was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in the Millennium Awards 2000 for distinguished service to policing.  Miss Wilding was honoured in the Queen’s 80th Birthday Awards when was awarded Commander of the British Empire medal for her services to policing.

Miss Wilding is married to a globetrotter with International Cricket and has two daughters at University.

Quote:

“I recognise the excellent work that has been done by the lottery across Wales already, and I look forward to working with the committee to support people in communities throughout the country who are in desperate need of funding for various reasons.

Through my role as Chief Constable, it is my privileged experience to be exposed to Welsh communities and I understand the social and economic problems that many of these areas face. I am now looking forward to utilising my knowledge of these communities to make a difference in Wales.”

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