Yorkshire Board
We are governed by a Board of Trustees who along with our Executive Director and Senior Management Team, determine policy and the strategic direction of the charity.
Our board work as an effective team, using the appropriate balance of skills, experience, backgrounds and knowledge to make informed decisions and through its leadership support Groundwork’s behaviour, culture and overall performance all of which are critical to our success.
ANTONY NELSON (Chair)
Starting his professional career as an Occupational Therapist, Antony has also worked in a series of service improvement, modernisation, programme management and Director roles across a range of NHS and allied organisations. He has also worked as a consultant implementing change initiatives in and across the NHS, local authorities, charities and private businesses.
He currently balances a range of work responsibilities within a portfolio carer including; working as an independent Change and Organisational Development Consultant supporting initiatives across the public sector; a Non-Executive Director of the Wakefield District Housing Association; and as the independent Chair of two Primary Care Networks.
He is also a trustee/director at Nova Wakefield District and a board member of Groundwork UK.
ELAINE BLEZARD
Elaine has lived in Normanton all her life. She had a varied career in office, retail and factory work and has been a Labour Town Councillor since 1999. She had the privilege of serving as Mayor of Normanton in 2010/11. She has been chief whip, and is now Deputy Leader of the Town Council at Normanton.
Elaine is involved with several charitable activities such as food banks and school uniform swop shop. She was a District Councillor from 2006 to 2022 and she served on a range of scrutiny panels, including as chair and deputy chair. Elaine was previously currently Deputy Portfolio Member for Climate Change.
ALEXENA CAYLESS
Alexena is a fine art and design graduate with a background in creative industries management and the health and care sector. She specialises in operations management, project management, and organisational development.
As a freelance consultant for the past 4 years, she uses practical design processes and organisational culture development to enhance team collaboration for mutual long-term benefits.
With a strong passion for the natural environment, she enjoys contributing to innovative teams dedicated to improving people’s experiences and environments.
PETER COOPER
Peter is a born and bred Yorkshireman from Fitzwilliam near Pontefract. He was educated at Hemsworth Grammar School and Leeds University, where he studied Chemistry. Formerly chair of Groundwork Yorkshire 2021 – 2023.
Peter’s career was spent in the chemical industry, where he held management posts in production, sales and general management, working for large multi-million-pound organisations. He first joined the board of Groundwork Wakefield in 1996, to use his business experience to give something back to the community.
He was Chair of Groundwork Wakefield from 2017 and became Chair of Groundwork Yorkshire when it was formed in 2021. He sits on the Finance Committee and is Chair of Groundwork Pride and Whitwood Golf Club.
JOHN READSHAW
John spent most of his career in the Electricity Supply Industry at various power plants, where his roles included Head of Finance and Procurement; Head of Personnel and Administration and latterly Head of HR and Reward.
John retired in 2008. He is a season ticket holder at Aston Villa and Featherstone Rovers, where he was also a director from 2011 to 2014. John was a trustee of Groundwork Selby and subsequently Groundwork North Yorkshire, and was Chair of Groundwork North Yorkshire. He also chairs the HR Committee and sits on the Finance Committee and the Governance & Compliance Committee.
NICK ROBINSON
Nick’s background is in youth engagement and development. After briefly working in private education, Nick joined the charity sector and has worked on a range of projects including school-based mentoring programmes, employment schemes supporting young people into work, and most recently the management of volunteers. Nick serves on the HR Committee.
GARY WILLIAMS
Gary worked in the Power Industry for 42 years, starting life as a craft apprentice and ending his career as a Manager. He worked in maintenance, engineering and operations. He also undertook management roles within training, compliance, health and safety. Outside work he loves cars, squash and restoring properties.
DAN WILSON
Dan worked in education for 12 years, teaching in primary, secondary and special schools and after a brief spell as a local authority Curriculum Consultant he joined Yorkshire Sport Foundation, leading their work on Children and Young People across West and South Yorkshire.
Now the Director of Development at YSF, Dan has responsibility for the business development and continuous improvement of the charity while leading the teams working on thematic elements of their strategy including active design, workforce, sport, education and events. In this role Dan has built relationships with government departments and supported the development of national policy and strategy. He also sits on the All-Party Parliamentary Group for a Fit and Healthy Childhood, contributing to influential reports and debates.
Dan is the founder and director of Questr Community Interest Company, a Harrogate based business that designs and produces interactive infrastructure solutions to increase footfall and engagement with open spaces.
Outside of his work for YSF, Dan is a proud father of two, Chair of Governors at a large Academy in North Yorkshire and occasional triathlete.
As a Trustee for Groundwork, Dan sits on the Finance and Business Development committees, checking and challenging the executive team and supporting with insight gained from his other roles.
CLLR PAUL WRAY
Before being a councillor, Paul worked as an energy efficiency advisor and developed a passion to reduce peoples fuel bills and carbon footprints. When he was elected, he brought this passion with him, and he has worked on several climate and energy related projects since. He spent several years on the Leeds Climate Energy Advisory Committee, but has also developed a keen interest in good governance, sitting on both Governance and Audit Committee for Leeds, which he used to Chair, and the Governance Scrutiny for West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
GPL BOARD
The GPL board is made up of Non-Executive Directors who are responsible for overseeing the work of Groundwork’s landscape contracting subsidiary.