Youth Homeless North East: Creating Homes and Futures
Speaker Biography
Emma Lewell-Buck – Member of Parliament for South Shields
Emma Lewell-Buck was elected as the Member of Parliament for South Shields in a by-election in May 2013. Emma became the first person born in South Shields to represent the constituency in Parliament, and is also the town’s first female MP. She is a descendant of one of the town’s heroes – the inventor of the lifeboat William Wouldhave.
A former social worker, Emma’s political interests include health and social care, child protection, and youth unemployment. Her parliamentary work so far has focused on these issues alongside food banks and the Bedroom Tax. Before entering the House of Commons she was a councillor for Primrose Ward in South Tyneside, and was the lead member for adult social care.
Emma is the Chair of the APPG on Social Work and Co-Chair of the APPG on Child Protection. She read politics and media studies at Northumbria University, and holds an MA in social work from Durham University.
DAVID ORR - National Housing Federation
David Orr is Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation and a former President of CECODHAS-Housing Europe, the European Liaison Committee for Social Housing. He has recently been appointed as the Chair of the board of Homeless International. He has recently retired from the board of The Housing Finance Corporation (THFC) but chairs the credit committee its subsidiary, the Affordable Housing Fund. He was a member of the Social Investment Task Force which supports the development of social investment in the UK and is one of the founding directors of My Home Finance, a social enterprise set up by the Federation to provide a new high street service offering affordable loans, money advice, bank accounts and linked savings accounts. He is also the Chair of the board of Jobs at Home.
Previously, David has been Chief Executive of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and of Newlon Housing Trust, having also worked with Centrepoint.
David was awarded in 2010 an honorary membership of the CIH.
Mike Clark, Chair of Youth Homeless North East and the Thirteen Group
Mike has over 30 years experience as a housing professional, including working with ANEC as Housing Adviser, work at all levels of management in Local Government and currently as Chair of Thirteen Group. Mike took up the role of Chair for YHNE in 2013.
Maurice Condie – Tyne Group
Maurice Condie is Chief Executive of the Tyne Group, which includes Tyne Housing Association Ltd., Byker Bridge Housing and Support Ltd., Under the Bridge (charity) and The Ouseburn Farm (charity). He has held his current post since 1988.
Julie McNaughton - Thirteen Group
Julie McNaughton is the Accommodation Manager at Thirteen Group and has responsibility for allocations, leaseholders and homelessness provision. Julie was involved in setting up and managing the shared tenancy scheme at Erimus and Tees Valley Housing after identifying a gap in provision for young homeless people.
Neil Burke - Youth Focus: NorthEast
Neil Burke is the Regional Development Officer at Youth Focus: North East. He joined the Youth Focus: North East team in March 2008 where his role focussed on ensuring that the Regional 14 – 19 Educational Commission incorporated young people’s views and opinions in their decision making on the 14 – 19 educational agenda. Neil currently manages Youth Focus: North East's programmes which aim to address issues related to youth unemployment. This includes acting as the Youth Involvement Officer of BIG Lottery Fund's Talent Match North East programme and further developing Youth Focus: North East's young person led pre-employability programme Reducing the Skills Gap. Since 2012 Neil has been part of the national advisory group to Youth Employment UK.
Peter Harrison – Gentoo
Peter Harrison, Deputy Director of Gentoo Operations with Gentoo Group
Peter has worked in housing for 23 years and during this time he has worked in housing management, housing policy and housing regeneration. He is now Deputy Director of Gentoo Operations with Gentoo Group and has responsibility for Gentoo’s financial wellbeing services and measuring social impact. He is also Gentoo’s lead for their work and learning programmes and is here to talk us through Gentoo’s approach.
Richard Mitchell - Isos
Richard Mitchell Community Investment Manager , currently head up 3 services Community Involvement , Financial inclusion and Safer Neighbourhoods. These services play a huge party in delivering Isos Housings 1 Million pound Community Investment strategy , an innovative strategy looking at tackling 7 key themes in 6 key areas. Those themes are Digital Exclusion , Worklessness, Youth provision, Rural Transport, Health and wellbeing , Social Enterprise and Fuel Poverty.
Mike Burgess - Phoenix Detached Youth Project
Mike Burgess worked in the building industry as a joiner for 8 years before becoming a youth worker in 1989. He has been a face to face detached youth worker for the past 25 years and has always believed one of the best things you can achieve as a youth worker is to create real opportunities for employment for young people
Emma Surtees , Sara Jackson - Youth Focus NE
Emma Surtees is a 24 year old Peer Co-ordinator with Youth Focus NE. She joined the team full time in July to work on the Talent Match Champions programme, after volunteering on the Talent Match programme for 2 years throughout it's development. Before this she was part of creating the North East Young Peoples Charter for Arts and Culture and is active with many creative projects throughout the North East. Her inspiration for changing the lives of young people comes from being a young lone parent for many years and seeing other young people in her community also face different barriers to education, employment and training.
Sara Jackson is a 20 year old student studying Neuroscience at the University of Glasgow. She has volunteered with Youth Focus: North East for nearly 6 years and was one of two young people to write and deliver the Reducing the Skills Gap employability training programme. This led to her joining the team as a full time member of staff for 6 months before heading to university last year.