Registered charity: 1067888
Meet our Board of Trustees
As a charity, PCP has a Board of Trustees to ensure we are carry out our duties and have overview our resources. Each of our Trustees is a volunteer that brings a wealth of knowledge and skills to shape the support they provide. Meet our Board of Trustees below and discover more about their individual roles and experience.
Heather is a Chartered Accountant and spent 32 years working in NHS Finance, the last five years commissioning mental health and learning disabilities services across the North East.
As the accountant for her husband’s business (AK Brewster), Heather has a specific interest in building links between businesses and education providers.
For several years Heather was Vice Chair and then Chair of Governors at Vane Road Primary School and Vice Chair of Governors at Woodham Academy.
Heather is also an ASA Qualified Swimming Teacher and for several years taught swimming to Primary School pupils and Woodham Swimming Academy students at Woodham Academy. She is also Chair of Neville Residents Association, with the aim of building a stronger community.
Heather Brewster, Chair
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Lynn Mohan, Treasurer
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Lynn worked for the civil service as a clerical assistant and Tax Officer until leaving work to move to Newton Aycliffe in 1980 to get married. She has three grown up children who attended Sugar Hill School and Woodham. Lynn became involved with Sugar Hill as part of the Parent Teacher Association helping children with their reading, painting furniture and organising discos after school.
She returned to work part time in 1990 as a production operator, working her way up to becoming a Regional Health & Safety Manager and spending the last 10 years as a consultant.
Lynn was associated with Sedgefield 75 Swimming Club for approximately 8 years as a committee member and looking after the swimwear shop to create funds for the Club. Her interests are involvement in Neville Residents Association, Trustee for Neville Community Centre and spending time with family and friends, holidays, knitting, reading, going to the theatre, meeting people and walking her dog.
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David Cockburn
David first became involved in the Pioneering Care Partnership as a health trainer client, accessing many of the services in the Pioneering Care Centre and enrolling as a garden volunteer in 2014.
David received the Learning and Work Institute’s Festival of Learning’s Social Impact Award Highly Commended individual in July 2018, recognising his achievements in adult learning.
Having spent over 20 years in rehabilitation and now a wheelchair user, David has an awareness of the challenges those with physical disabilities can face and aims to inspire others to reach their potential.
Carol originally trained as an State Registered Nurse and as a wheelchair user has been involved with local disability groups since 1979 including founding and organising a Disabled Ladies Group which, won the Sedgefield Borough Disabled Persons Games in 1981.
Carol was appointed as a member of the South Durham and Weardale Community Health Council in 1990 and has also been involved as a member of the Local Planning Team for people with physical disabilities and a member of Newton Aycliffe Local Advisory Group from 1996 - 2001.
An advocate for user voice, Carol has been involved in many groups including County Durham User & Carer Forum, the Home Equipment Loans User Group, South Durham Wheelchair Service User Group, Sedgefield Community Empowerment Network and Sedgefield Primary Care Trust Partnership Board.
In 2018 Carol won the prestigious Regional Charity Award for her outstanding contribution to Charity recognising her work and commitment to the voluntary sector, which spans more than 50 years.
Carol Briggs
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Now retired, Dame Dela has had a successful and enjoyable career in education, focusing her energies on promoting equal opportunities for children with learning difficulties and disabilities. Although Primary trained, Dela began her career teaching in a residential special school, moving on from there to a special school headship in Darlington. It was at this time that she was honoured with a DBE for ‘Services to Special Education’, as a result of her work locally, regionally and nationally, including developing the strategy for the role of special schools and a national strategy to promote inclusion for pupils with SEN. She felt to be honoured in this way for a job she loved was testament to the wonderful staff and children she worked with throughout her career.
Dela's final move was Executive Director at the ground-breaking Education Village in Darlington, overseeing the building design working with the staff of the three schools involved into its development as an inclusive community and educational setting.
Since retirement Dela has been happily involved in voluntary work with school governance, as well as previously chairing a charity for children with Down syndrome and is a Deputy Lieutenant of Durham County. She also loves travelling with her husband and dog in their motorhome.
Dela Smith
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