At The Hope Centre we have a team of full and part time employees and volunteers who work in partnership with stakeholders and the local community to create social connections and positive relationships that build and develop community resilience. We believe that we do this best by sharing our knowledge, expertise and experiences and working in partnership with people and the community.
Overall responsibility for the Charity and its operations is held by the CEO, Sarah Eardley. She works closely with the managers of the different departments to create a warm and friendly work place where respect, value and professionalism come together to support the community. The teams deliver a wide variety of services and support from the Centre and on an outreach basis.
The Charity’s Board of Trustees is led by Sarah Kelly, Chair and Gill Tait, Vice Chair. Our Patron Sir Andrew McFarlane has supported us from our humble beginnings and we are most grateful for all he does for us. All our stakeholders and supporters are of great importance to us and give invaluable time and resources that really help us offer much needed services.
Both the CEO and Chair of Trustees are members of ACEVO and AoC, respectively, and the Charity is a member of NACCC, amongst others.
The organisation has got several departments including Admin & Finance; a Community Café; a Family Time Contact Centre, an Early Years provision and a Support Services team.
The Admin team is our backbone and oversees the smooth running of the Centre and is the first point of contact for visitors. Providing essential admin support to all areas of the Charity, as well as ensuring compliance with regard to H&S, HR and other legal matters, they are managed by Anna Beddows. The Admin team also manage the rental and hire of the training rooms and facilities that are available at the Centre.
Hope Café is our community café open to the public and has the only free Soft Play Zone in Bromyard. The café team serves freshly prepared food and lunches and welcome visitors from all over the county. As well as this, they also prepare and cook lunches daily for the children attending the Early Years setting on site. The café supports the Centre and other departments providing refreshments for other organisations using our facilities for training and meetings as well as providing buffets and lunches. The café is very environmentally friendly, contributing to the Herefordshire Recycling scheme as well as participating in several food share schemes reducing food waste and poverty.
Our Support Services are managed by Heidi Mulholland, who manages the Support Services Team, Restoring Resilience, Bromyard Children’s Centre. Working with adults, families and children, we are committed to upholding the highest of safeguarding standards. We accept referrals from private and law cases as well as deliver a contract on behalf of CAFCASS for Worcestershire and Herefordshire court areas. Our Children’s Centre services remit is to deliver the Children’s Centre service and offer support and guidance to families. We work across a rural area and with families and children and share information and support to families with children under 5. We play a key role in partnering with Health Visitors and Midwifery and local Early Years providers to ensure all children under 5 in the local area receive access to services and support. Hope Community Hub is a service open to all in the community and offers practical and emotional support without limit on time or any eligibility criteria. This is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund.
Rachel Cross, EY manager, is responsible for the Early Years onsite nursery and preschool. Their role is to safeguard every child in our nursery and preschool and oversee the learning and development of every child. Rachel is an experienced Early Years manager who is SEND trained and is passionate about enriching the experiences and development of all children who come to HOPE Early Years. The provision is currently judged Good by Ofsted.
Blaise White and Debby Davis form the Finance Department at Hope and together oversee the smooth running of Management Reports, Annual Accounts, invoicing and budgets, utilities contracts and all finance related matters on behalf of the charity. Blaise joined Hope in 2017 as Finance Officer and previously worked as an FD for a large third sector organisation. Debby joined the charity in September 2020 and has extensive third sector experience and is a qualified AAT accountant.
If you are interested in visiting us or would like to learn more about what we do please call us on 01885 488495 or visit our Friends of Hope or Donate pages
