The Community Development Team

From left to right. Emma Jackson. Eva McIlwaine. Ashuk Ahmed. Karen Crowley-Farahmand. Rob Barrett South Anglia is committed to improving the life chances, expectations and quality of life for all our customers.

We recognise the role we can play in transforming neighbourhoods and promoting community cohesion. We aim to build the capacity of our customers. To do this, the team will look at the issues and barriers that communities have in their lives and what can be done to remove these barriers.

For example, you may be too frightened to leave your home because of criminal activity, or are unable to find work because of poor qualifications, or are unaware of which financial products and services that may be available to assist you. The team will work in partnership with other key agencies ensuring that we deliver projects and initiatives through our five key themes:

• Youth and Young People
• Health and Well Being
• Community Safety
• Financial Inclusion
• Education

Emma Jackson - Head of Resident Involvement and Community Development.

I cover the whole of the South Anglia region and I am responsible for the strategic development of both community development and resident involvement. I manage the community development and resident involvement managers.

Eva McIlwaine - Community Development Manager.

I am the community development manager for the whole of South Anglia and I manage the three community development coordinators. I ensure the delivery of community development throughout all of South Anglia. The three community development coordinators are responsible for developing local initiatives, projects and partnerships to meet the needs of South Anglia residents.

Rob Barrett - Community Development Coordinator for Essex.

I am the community development co-ordinator for Essex and I have many years experience of working in Housing and community development within the areas of Manchester and East Herts and I will be working with groups and individuals in the Essex area to identify community needs and will be setting up partnerships and using existing partners to assist in developing these projects to meet those needs. I will be based in our Vange office in Basildon.

Ashuk Ahmed MBE - Community Development Coordinator for Luton and Bedfordshire.

I have been working in Luton, both in paid and voluntary capacity for over 25 years. I have initiated several high profile youth led projects including a summer school project, educational drama/ film production and a fulltime community radio station. These projects have made a huge difference in the local community, in terms of bringing young people together from different community and social backgrounds, helping young people to develop a range of life skills, creating volunteering opportunities and giving young people a voice to share/ raise profile of issues that affect them.

Karen Crowley-Farahmand - Community Development Coordinator for Hertfordshire.

I have been looking after community development for East Herts and Harlow for nearly 10 months now and am based at Number on Building in Bishop’s Stortford. Earlier this year I worked in partnership with the Essex Pirates Basketball team to deliver the Hoops for Housing project and throughout last winter I worked in partnership with Essex Police and Berecroft Residents Association to deliver fun football for local youngsters on Saturday mornings. My previous position was as Project Coordinator for Adult and Community Learning at Hertford Regional College in Ware with responsibility for East Herts. I am passionate about our enhancing life chances plan and want to make a positive difference to the lives of our residents.

For more information on the work of the Community Development Team, please call customer services on 0800 694 0159 or 0845 600 1543.

Last modified 27/09/11