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Member of staff running a joinery workshop at The Meadows
Resident recording music in the digital suite at The Meadows
Children at an event hosted by The Meadows
Resident playing walking football
Lady volunteering in the garden at The Meadows

Margie Burdis

Chair of Trustees

Margie is the Chair of our Board and uses her background in accounting to oversee our finances. She started her career as a CIPFA accountant with a number of local authorities in the region. Since then, Margie has gone on to take on a number of high-profile roles, including being the CEO of BT South Tyneside for three years.

David Slater

David Slater

Vice Chair of Trustees

David’s commitment to improving the lives and prospects of local people is unwavering. Once a Senior Civil Servant, he’s now a Trustee of a legal advice charity, Chair of a mental health charity and an arts company, and a volunteer at Bay Foodbank. In March 2023, we were lucky enough to have him rejoin our own board. 

Outside of his charity work, Dave is an obsessive vinyl collector, and writes poetry, prose and drama in his spare time.

Mark Thompson

Mark Thompson

Trustee

Mark joined the Board at the start of 2023. After working with our team to improve the building facilities, he wanted to support the charity as a Trustee. He hopes to use his knowledge and experience as a Chartered Surveyor to help the Charity navigate any property-related challenges.

To relax, Mark likes to be outdoors enjoying the North East countryside, walking with his wife and their pet dog.

Norma Tullock

Norma Tullock

Trustee

Norma has a wealth of experience to offer, as she is already a trustee of another charity and has over 32 years of experience working for a top 100 law firm.

Community-minded, Norma provides invaluable support around our building management processes.

You will often find Norma entertaining friends, cooking, or reading with children through Bookmark – an online charity.

Wendy Gill

Trustee

Wendy joined the board of trustees in 2024 and brings 30 plus years experience as a Community and Youth Work practitioner having worked in both public and voluntary youth work sectors, in management and face-to-face roles.

Wendy is currently a lecturer at the University of Sunderland teaching on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes including, youth and community, social work and childhood and youth studies. Her research areas include community and youth work professional values and youth-led subcultures.

Outside of her work, Wendy enjoys live music, theatre, walking the dog.