Meet The Team
This is our wonderful and highly trained team responsible for the development and implementation of the projects and programmes Creating Positive Opportunity provide. Our team members work very closely with the community and support the progress of individuals throughout their journey. We are here to make a positive difference in the community and give people the means they need to achieve their ambitions and improve their lives.
Stephen has a background in both education and journalism and became the Managing Director of Creating Positive Opportunity in April 2006. Stephen’s daily responsibilities include managing the organisation and business development. His passion for education as a way of reducing disadvantage and poverty to our local communities runs through everything that he and his team at Creating Positive Opportunity do, ensuring every child and family is supported in the whole.
Stephen’s additional responsibilities include Chairing the Mental Health Alliance. VCSE Lead on the Children, Young People & Families Strategic Board, including Chairing the Developing Well and Living Well Board; VCSE Lead on the Mental Health Sector Network (HCP) and the Children’s, Staying Well Board; VCSE lead on the Youth Partnership Board, and the Youth Justice Steering Group, NEL Skills Board. Trustee of Lincolnshire Community Foundation, Vice Chair of the NEL VCSE Alliance & the NEL VCSE Forum, and being a Governor at John Whitgift Academy.
Stephen Ryder
Managing Director
Director of projects and organisational governac/ DSL
Claire is the newest member to our team, starting in September 2023. Claire has worked for over 2 decades on the Social Emotional Mental Health/ safeguarding agenda within schools and other organisations. Claire has worked with all age ranges from early years up to post 16 education. She has extensive professional and academic qualifications, focusing on therapeutic approaches and leadership in working with children and young people. Claire is also a school governor for a local primary school with a key focus on safeguarding and SEMH.
Claire Wong
Director of projects and organisational governac/ DSL
Our most recently-appointed tutor, Tracey, is also fully-qualified and has over ten years’ experience of teaching Functional Skills maths and English and Employability subjects to a diverse range of learners. Her nurturing, composed delivery style enables many of our learners to gain confidence, and enjoy their learning experience with us.
Tracey Rodgers-Gibbs
Tutor
Stevie Evardson
Director of projects & Human resources
Stevie’s key role is to plan, organise and deliver a full programme for the Children in Need project. She supports and empowers local children with positive experiences, influences, activities and encourages resilience and confidence building. She also delivers other Creating Positive Opportunity projects and ensures smooth monitoring and production processes.
Stevie Evardson
Director of projects & Human resources
Sharon Mountain
Tutor
Sharon comes with a wealth of experience in education and training, and the learner is at the heart of all of her delivery. She is responsible for the Traineeship programme and our accredited maths and English courses, and has a particular
affinity with our young people, inspiring them through humour and a friendly delivery style to motivate them to achieve their potential.
Emma Jackson
Young Person's Practitioner
Emma joined the team in 2024 as a dedicated Young Person’s Practitioner, bringing a wealth of experience in youth justice, housing, and supporting individuals with learning difficulties, mental health challenges, and educational needs. She holds extensive professional and academic qualifications in the health and social care sector, including a PGCE in Lifelong Learning. Emma is passionate about engaging and empowering people, offering her expertise to build meaningful connections to help create positive change. She is actively involved in the Full Families Project and Child in Need programs, where her work demonstrates a deep commitment to helping young people grow, build resilience, and feel supported as they navigate their journey toward a brighter future.
Having previously been a project participant, Katie works as a delivery officer and project co-ordinator on our BBO project. Her role includes assisting and supporting our
clients with ‘soft skills’ such as confidence building, computer skills, and job search
support, and has responsibility for the B.B.O. budget and reports.
Katie Fytche
B.B.O. Project Co-ordinator
Young Person's Practitioner
Emma Jackson
Sam joined the team in April 2023 and has many years’ experience of working with young people and adults. She offers one-to-one learning to our clients with SEND and Educational, Health and Care Plans. Sam has been passionate about working to support our local community since she left school, and has since gone on to gain her PGCE to enable herself to teach others. Sam has an array of knowledge of the Health and Social Care Sector and experience of working within housing and homelessness.
Samantha Chester
Project Delivery Officer and Volunteer Co-ordinator
Nicki Fulton
In-House Counsellor and Psychotherapist
Nicki is a counsellor and psychotherapist, whose approach tends to be relational, humanistic, and trauma-informed. She has worked in specialist therapeutic settings that include sexual violence and domestic abuse services, occupational health, and bereavement support. Her earlier career was in education, supporting autistic learners in a residential college provision. Nicki is passionate about progressive approaches to mental health and wellbeing, and believes that empathy and relationship is key in helping people to empower themselves.
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Jennifer Booth
Teaching Assistant
Nicola joined us in May 2023 after 37 years working in the public sector, supporting working-age customers with barriers to employment. During this time she coached, encouraged & supported people into work, or closer to being work-ready. Her skill lies in being able to engage with people from all walks of life, becoming a trusted source of information and support to all of her customers. Her primary role will be to administrate our adult maths programme, 'Multiply', ensuring that our tutors can get on with the business of teaching, but her experience will enable her to deliver great quality employability skills, and coaching to many of our clients too.
Multiply Support Officer
Nicola Robinson
Emma Camm
In-House Personal Trainer
Emma's 6 years experience as a personal trainer taught her that the motivation for many people to exercise was often more about the need to improve their feelings of self-worth and overall confidence, than the need to 'get fit'. This, combined with Emma's love of personal training, motivated her to complete a Level 5 mental health qualification earlier this year for personal trainers and she now offers PT sessions for many of our clients, empowering and motivating them to not only improve their physical fitness, but their emotional and mental wellbeing too.
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Having worked in Primary Schools for 12 years, Bev now works supporting learners who may find it difficult coping in mainstream education. Bev supports our young people in both one to one and in small groups working on English and Maths qualifications, enabling young people to once again enjoy their learning experience.
Beverley Blendell
Teaching assistant/ Learning Support
Paul Hardy
Business Administrator
Paul’s duties include administrating the Grimsby Full Families project, preparing publication orders, maintaining and updating company documents, and assisting with media and IT training. Paul started at Creating Positive Opportunity as a regular volunteer, and much of his time is spent supporting our delivery staff and Operations Manager in their day-to-day tasks.
Board of Directors
Janette Russon -Chair of Board
As a consultant Janette specialises in helping organisations to develop effective systems and processes to support their achievement of industry relevant accreditations and standards, and win business. Utilising her extensive knowledge in Supply Chain Management and Performance Strategies she helps organisations to work effectively together.
Jenifer Vincent - Director
Jen has over 25 years of experience in Employment and Skills, for central government and local authority. Jen is a member of the CDI, is a Mission Mentor, a Careers Ready mentor, co-leads the Northern Lincolnshire Adviser Gathering business support group, sits within several groups within the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership as part of the Employment and Skills Board and governs at two academies in Northern Lincolnshire.
Sally Riley - Director
Sally has 16 years of experience in Employment and Skills, for central government. The organisation provides a public service existing primarily for the benefit of the community and provides a range of working age, disability and ill health benefits to their customers. Sally’s work involves developing support, training and employment opportunities for benefit claimants through engagement with local colleges, training providers and employers across North East Lincolnshire.
Millie Carr - Director
Millie is a Participation and Engagement Worker on the Resilience Project at Compass Go, which aims to explore resilience in relation to mental health and well-being from a holistic approach. This will help give young people the knowledge they need to feel confident in managing life’s challenges as they arise, and the skills to do so.
Stephen Ryder - Director
Stephen Ryder joined Community Press Office in September 2004 and became Managing Director in 2006. In 2011/12 he made the strategic changes which saw Creating Positive Opportunity become primarily an organisation that focused on education, training and employability.
Fiona Wilkinson - Director
Fiona has worked in central government for over 25 years and joined Creating Positive Opportunity as Operations Manager in 2022. She has a wide range of experience including supporting local people towards employment, overcoming personal barriers to work, and the benefits system.
Josie Taylor - Director
Josie joined us as a client, but has a wealth of experience in the advice and guidance sector. Her valuable perspective means that our client voice is heard at board meetings and Annual General Meetings.
Ginene Anderton - Director
Ginene is a Practitioner Supervisor for Young People’s Support Services in North East Lincolnshire.
She has over 20 years’ experience of working with young people, ranging from administration roles to her current role as a practitioner supervisor, working with young people aged 16-19 not in education, employment or training. Her responsibilities include strategic work for the local authority, directly supporting young people, and signposting to support services. Ginene has worked closely with us to support young people, and to build strong, supportive working relationships
with like-minded organisations for the benefit of our local families.