As of January 2024, Colin is Locala's Chair of the Members’ Council. Prior to this, Colin has also been a Director of Locala since January 2020, and has also been our Senior Independent Director and Vice Chair. Colin has had more than 30 years of experience being on or advising Boards in the UK healthcare sector. Since 2021, Colin has been a Non-Executive Director of North East London NHS Foundation Trust, a major provider of NHS mental health and community services in South Essex, Kent and North East London, and in October 2023 Colin was appointed as their Senior Independent Director. From 1996 to 2017 he worked as a legal advisor with healthcare specialist law firm Capsticks and was their national lead on all commercial, corporate, and major project work. For the last 10 years, Colin has worked in consultancy. He led legal teams on many of the UK’s largest and most complex healthcare transactions, many of them being firsts of their kind. Between 2018 and 2022 Colin has been running his own healthcare projects advisory consultancy. His clients include NHS providers, private sector healthcare businesses and national healthcare charities.
Preeya is a Clinical Specialist for Learning Disabilities and Autism with a background in Children’s Speech and Language Therapy. Preeya is a member of regional networks in relation to learning disabilities and autism. She is passionate about planning Locala’s future strategy and being part of the social impact within the community, whilst ensuring colleague voices are heard.
Colleague Board Member Tracy joined Members' Council in 2016. She is a Tissue Visibility Nurse Specialist and sees patients throughout Kirklees. She is also a Queens Nurse! Tracy is passionate about influencing and shaping the values of Locala, as well as providing a voice for colleagues to express ideas, opportunities and concerns. Tracy can often be found out and about at community events, promoting Locala membership and the importance of looking after skin as part of her Tissue Viability nursing role.
Debbie is a Team Leader for the Children’s Community Nursing team. Debbie is passionate about making sure Locala is a great place to work for all and is keen to raise awareness of the important part children’s services play in Locala, showcasing the great work of her colleagues and the things they strive for with children and families at the forefront of service provision.
Helen is currently the Team Leader for the Self-Management Service, she has previously worked alongside Kirklees Council as a Clinical Lead for a Health Checks Pilot which was aimed at reducing health inequalities, and prior to that was a Team Manager in CNNs. Helen feels very passionate about her current role and about the potential for patients to self-care. ‘I am excited to lead a team that works in such a new way and provides patients with a real opportunity for personalised care and independence.’ Helen was keen to be a colleague board member and hopes her understanding of community nursing coupled with the potential for self-care helps drive the organisation forward in a way that leads to greater patient autonomy and a more sustainable service.
Karen Ashmeade is a Learning and Development Educator at Locala with over 15 years of experience in healthcare and mental health. Her personal healthcare experiences fuel her commitment to addressing health inequalities, advancing social justice, and uplifting marginalised communities through education. As Chair of our Race Equality Network and a newly appointed Members' Council colleague, she champions equity, diversity, and inclusion with a focus on data-driven, sustainable impact informed by research that amplifies voices with lived experience. Dedicated to innovation, Karen also advocates for the use of unbiased technology to support equitable access and outcomes. In her role as Green and Sustainability Champion, she addresses environmental inequalities and promotes sustainability, striving to build an inclusive, culturally competent workforce that promotes growth and empowerment for both colleagues and communities to thrive.
Kathryn Ewart is a Physiotherapist and Team Leader for the Bed Based Intermediate Care Service, She is also the Freedom To Speak Up Guardian for Locala. Kathryn is passionate about ensuring Locala has a positive speak up culture which is Psychologically safe for colleagues and champions Equality Diversity and Inclusivity.
Laura is Child Development Practitioner in Locala’s South Kirklees 0-19 Team. Laura is also one of only two certified Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructors within Locala, and regularly delivers this 2day training course to both Locala colleagues & external partners. As a member of Locala's Members Council, Laura hopes to be a voice for colleagues and communities alike.
Rob is a Resolution Lead for the Locala Corporate Governance Team and joined Locala as part of a graduate scheme after leaving University. Rob has extensive knowledge of Locala’s journey since its inception and has seen how the structure has changed over time. Rob is keen to be further involved in the Locala journey and to represent the viewpoints of colleagues, making sure they are involved at grassroots level of making change happen.
Sam is a Head of Quality and Patient Safety, Patient Safety Specialist and Professional Nurse Advocate, and has over 18 years experience in community nursing as a Specialist Practitioner District Nurse, Palliative Care Lead later in quality governance. Sam is passionate about hearing the voice of our patients and communities with a focus on learning and improvement, also supporting our colleagues health and well -being and involvement in shaping Locala's future.
I'm Elikya Bongo, newly appointed or voted Community members council, there is nothing much to say. I received this mandate and I would like to thank you all at Locala and the community I represent. I came from a refugee background and I know what people say or feel on our streets and what is it like on our hospital wards. I believe this position will be a great opportunity for me to bring people's voices in the council and make the required adjustments to satisfy everyone. I joined first as a member being a patient after a stroke and the team at Locala really looked after me for almost 6 months I received care, rehabilitation and training. I believe we can do more for our community. In my mandate I will stand for a reduced inequality treatment to a zero level while improving services to the maximum.
Geraldine joined Locala for community effort after retiring as a Tissue Viability Nurse for Mid Yorkshire Hospital. Geraldine enjoys volunteering for her Local Food Bank and at her local church. Geraldine would like to bring her experience of working with local community groups to the Members Council.
John joined Locala as a community member after sadly losing his wife. He wanted to make a difference to healthcare to people that were looking after their loved ones, so they didn’t come upon some of the same problems he had faced. John is a regular at the Locala Reader’s Panel meetings.
Patrick joined Locala as a community member after receiving support from our health services following a stroke. He is passionate about assisting service users with their personal targets and general wellbeing and is keen to offer his own personal experience as a service user. He has been involved in many community initiatives and is a Church Minister.
Rachel is a Locala breastfeeding peer supporter in north Kirklees and ran NCT antenatal courses for 20 years. She now works with several universities on patient and public involvement in maternity research, including the Policy Research Unit in Maternal and Neonatal Health and Care at Oxford. She joined the Members Council so she could share the perspective of new parents on community-based services, and also learn more about how organisations such as Locala contribute to health data research.
Catherine is the Chief Executive Officer at Mencap In Kirklees. She has a range of experience and knowledge having supported people with learning disabilities for over 30 years across a varied career. Catherine has a special interest in supporting people with learning disabilities as they age and has led award-winning projects promoting good practice. She has a place on the British Institute for Learning Disabilities (BILD) Growing Older with Learning Disabilities (GOLD) steering group and also the Palliative Care for People with Learning Disabilities (PCPLD) Special Advisory Panel. Catherine hopes to represent people with learning disabilities and their carers on Locala's Members Council to ensure services are inclusive and accessible information is provided when Locala interacts with people with a learning disability.
Clare works for Healthwatch Kirklees and is regularly out and about talking to local people about their experience of using health and social care services. She has a good insight into what works well for people and what the barriers and issues can be when people access health services. She feels it’s important that these issues are heard at a strategic level to help senior managers keep in touch with the first-hand experience of people using services.
