Our Spring North
Trustees
Our board consists of our Chair and Vice Chair, 4 Executive Trustees, 3 Non-Executive Trustees, and a Treasurer.
Arif Patel
Chair of Trustees
Deputy Director of Integrated Care, Partnerships & Resilience | East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
Arif has substantive NHS experience as a healthcare director, fostering and maintaining strong relationships with local government, the voluntary community and faith sector, patient groups, as well as educational and private sector organisations.
Before the NHS, Arif worked in Research and Development at Unilab Ltd., a global electronics company specialising in educational teaching aids.
Claire Bennett
Vice Chair & Treasurer
CEO | Positive Action in the Community
Claire has over 24 years of experience working in Lancashire within the voluntary sector with extensive experience in the areas of Youth Homelessness, Domestic Abuse and Emotional Health and Wellbeing. Claire’s experience and skills are focused on identifying local gaps in provision and services for local communities and developing collaborative, and innovative responses and sustainable provision to meet that need.Ian Gibbs
Director | Retired Police Officer
Ian completed 30 years service with Lancashire Police as a Detective and in Undercover Operations. Since retiring, he has founded his own cycling businesses and delivered programmes for Lancashire County Council and Transport for Greater Manchester.
Lewis Alexander Baxter
COO | Marketing & Communications Agency
Lewis joined Spring North's Board in 2020. He has been active in the charity sector for 8+ years, as a founder of a social enterprise, Board Trustee and volunteer. He's currently COO at a leading global marketing and communications agency.
Balwinder Kaur
Interim Director of Adult Community Services | LCC
Balwinder has worked in Health and Care since 1984. She worked as a Community Pharmacist in India before settling in England as a Day Centre Officer. As a registered Social Worker, Balwinder has held roles both in Local Government and NHS, before working in management across many local authorities including as Director of Adult Social Care at Surrey County Council, and as current Director of Adult Community Services with Lancashire County Council.
Amanda Barrass
Manager | Homestart BwD
Amanda has over 25 years experience of working in the VCSFE sector in Blackburn with Darwen. Managing and securing funds and contracts, focusing on the recruitment and training of volunteers, and providing support to families with pre-school children, in all communities.
Martin Needham
Senior Contracts Manager | NHS
Martin worked in FMCG across Europe for 15 years, and a further 13 years working in the Construction industry. He ran a small charity helping young people who presented as LGBTQI+ or who lived with neurodivergent issues, and continues to to work with communitites to support meaningful projects.
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Spring North is a member-based charity consortium covering Central and West Lancashire, Pennine, Morecambe Bay, and the Fylde Coast.
Join hundreds of North West organisations in becoming a Spring North member for free. Alongside managing projects in the community, we offer a variety of business support services to our members as well as information, training, advice, and guidance.