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Meet The Board

The Directors/Trustees meet regularly throughout the year to consider, determine and review internal reports and UTEA’s strategies and policies. We are responsible for the overall control and strategic direction of Under the Edge Arts and regularly attend UTEA events to experience them first-hand. Sam, Ali and Caitlin are our paid employees.
For the rest of us, our work for UTEA is voluntary. We thought you might like to get to know us a little better…

Simon Wilde
Co-Chair
Trustee since 2021
Health and Safety and hall management 

I have lived in Wotton for over 10 years and have three children who have all been educated locally at KLB. I have been involved in local "green" activities and volunteered for a number of causes. I have been a folk musician for many years playing in sessions and ceilidh bands  

 

I started volunteering with UTEA when we first came to Wotton, and I'm still going!

 

I have covered all the volunteer roles over my time including bar, door work distributing leaflets and sound engineering. After lockdown I co-ordinated the volunteers for the redecoration of the hall and have been in volved in organising and supporting a range of events and activities

In my previous life I was a Facilities Manager for student accommodation at the University of Bristol for nearly 30 years. I  have extensive experience of facilities management, capital projects and development and health and safety management which included large scale student events

 

I am passionate about live music and ensuring that it is supported in all its forms and have practical experience as a sound and lighting engineer. I took a lead role in organising the Arts Festival just after the pandemic as well as our initial response to the Off We Go wellness programme. I want to see UTEA broaden it's scope to support the local community through Arts and Wellness activities.  

 

I have links with other charitable and Arts organisations and have worked with the Town Council and other voluntary organisations including a National Youth Group. (National Folklore Troupe of England NYFTE)

I have responsibility for Health and Safety and hall management 

(area of responsibility /guidance/project lead)

 

I'd like to develop links with local organisations and with the other small arts centres and providers in the Southern Gloucestershire area. I'm also keen to develop a plan to put UTEA on a secure and sustainable path for the next decade

Rich Hale
Co-chair
Trustee since 2022
Bar Manager

Bio to come soon.

Norman Dadd FCCA retired
Trustee since 2016
Finances

I trained as an accountant in Unilever Audit Department and over a 26 year career worked in packaging, agriculture and service injuries, became a senior manager and for 13 years was Commercial Director of subsidiary companies in the UK (Unifeeds, United Agricultural Merchants, Unilever Merseyside Ltd).

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I left in 1987 to run his own business and recruitment consultancy. My clients included The Japan Festival 1991 and the European Arts Festival 1992, both as part time Financial Controller. I provided financial consultancy to Bath Festival and  Cheltenham Festival and financial input for other consultant’s reports on Edinburgh Jazz Festival, Doncaster Jazz Orchestra, Winchester Cathedral Robes Project and Viables (Basingstoke) Craft Centre. 


I provided Executive Search consultancy to numerous companies including The AA and Unilever Research.

 

I was a volunteer driver with Cotswold Care Hospice, now Longfield, a Trustee for the full term of 9 years to 2016, chaired the Finance Committee 2008-2013 and was Interim Chair in 2014.

 

Otherwise, I have been a keen motorcyclist (past Chair of Bristol Advanced Motorcyclists) and play bass guitar in 3 bands.

Jacky Tolfree
Trustee since 2005?
Wellbeing therapy

I have been with UTEA from the start

I bring admin and Co ordination skills and am also a qualified hypnotherapist and psychotherapist. 

 

My skills include writing and performing plays and organising well being events.

I have run children's Drama groups at UTEA for several years and written and performed plays for children which were performed at UTEA

I have also written a adult's play and directed it to be shown at UTEA.

I have also coordinated and put on a few wellbeing events in UTEA. 

 

I am connected with therapists in the local wellbeing community.

And connected well to the local community.

 

I support decision making and add and encourage ideas to support the growth of Under The Edge Arts

I organise well being events and source therapists to support events.

I am helping a youth make a film to promote UTEA.

Becki Britton-Griffiths (she/her)
Trustee since 2021.
EDI lead. Founder Wotton Pride

After completing my degree in 2011, I started a performance company based in Leeds called Indivisible, they went on to set up an arts venue in Leeds city centre called Live Art Bistro or LAB for short Live Art Bistro - About page. This venue is now called Centre for Live Art Yorkshire or CLAY and has since become a registered charity, providing a warehouse style centre for boundary testing live artworks that provoke, experiment and promote social change. CLAY. Under the banner of LAB I was Co-Artistic Director and producer for In(X)clusion, a 24 hour live art festival takeover and also the producer and stage manager for The Impossible Lecture, a performance stage/tent at Beacons Festival, near Skipton. Both In(X)clusion and Impossible Lecture were Arts Council Funded.

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I stepped away from LAB and finished performing in 2015 when I moved to France, where I met my wife and moved back to Wotton in 2019, where we now live with our daughter, cat, and another child on the way.

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Now working as a project manager for a firm of Property Managers and Building Surveyors, Workman LLP, I have worked in several of the departments, getting a good grounding across multiple disciplines. My day-to-day focus is ensuring that projects run to budget, on time and deliver the required outcomes. I also sit on the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) working party at Workman and was instrumental in setting up the four employee networks; Women’s, REACH (Race, Ethnicity And Cultural Heritage), LGBTQ+ (Chair) and Disability, Neurodiversity and Mental Health Network.

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Outside of work, I am a keen DIYer, and when time allows relish the opportunity to get in the shed to hone my carpentry skills. A member of Wotton’s Dramatic Society and Wotton Hockey Club I still find time to tread the boards as well as running up and down a hockey pitch.

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As a member of the LGBTQ+ community and as an advocate for EDI, it has been important for me to ensure that the programme at UTEA and the core values are as inclusive as possible to ensure a wide variety of events taking place.  I am the project lead/director of Wotton Pride, a new project/event under the umbrella of UTEA for 2024 as well as the lead on EDI within the organisation. 

Deb Brooks
Co-opted to Board
Trustee 2019-2022

I have lived in Wotton for 17 years and love it's friendly community.

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My first experiences of UTEA were from nights out with friends at music events and attempting dance classes.

In 2018 I started running sewing and textile classes in The Fanthorpe Room, with the aim of creating a fun learning environment that also nurtured easy conversation and shared ideas. It was at one of these that I was invited to join the board of trustees.

 

As a trustee I was lucky enough to be part of the team to revive the Wotton studios trail and organise an exhibition of KLB A level art work

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During the first lockdown I led the design and building of the new website with a DofE student. Hosted the "Sunday morning cuppa" an online get together with a wellbeing or creative guest and activity that could be done using things around the house. As an extension of this, The Creative Community Challenges were born, a series of creative challenges based on recycling household items. Instigated the "Sponsor a square" online fundraiser to re paint the hall.
 

After lockdown I started the Why not try workshops, 2 hour "taster" sessions in a variety of creative techniques. This was a response to The Keepers area wide consultation where affordable creative activities were the second highest request. 

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I also took on the role of Volunteer coordinator, re building our team of volunteers as music and evening entertainment returned to the hall.

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In 2022 I took part in Create Gloucestershire’s Creative Catalyst training programme. Worked with other local arts centres to programme and deliver the “Off we go” project.

I stepped down from the board and the volunteer coordinator role to concentrate on developing accessible creative activities with a wellbeing focus for UTEA.

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Thanks to funding from The National Lottery Awards for all I have been able to continue the monthly Sunday morning sessions, deliver workshops in other community venues including the Library and The Keepers, and pilot variations of these workshops including a teen group, evening workshop with the bar and A creative cafe.

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I am currently part of the Wotton Pride team with UTEA Trustee Becki.

 

I am a creative producer and teacher with a focus on the benefits of creativity for wellbeing. My background textile and fashion design, further education and small business management.

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Recent freelance projects have included consulting for Create Gloucestershire, delivering workshops for The Keepers, Gloucestershire Libraries and The Independence Trust, teaching at The Quarry Chapel, working with Dursley Town Council and Rednock school on a bus shelter art project, and managing the Coronation Hula hoop project across 6 Primary schools.

Ali Lidbetter
Programme coordinator since 2011.

  • Managing UTEA calendar of events

  • Researching prospective performers, artists and tutors and approaching them to perform at UTEA

  • Main point of contact for artists and their management.

  • Negotiating fees, booking in dates, issuing contracts for artists to appear in the UTEA programme.

  • Meeting with prospective new artists/ tutors / private hire customers and showing them around the venue / provide them with necessary information prior to their workshop / exhibition / event.

  • Collate contact details, technical and staging requirements, dietary requirements from performers prior to an event.

  • Update UTEA bookings diary – ensuring regular events (Jazz, Blues Jams etc) have dates booked / try to avoid clashes with big Wotton events as they are announced – Nibley etc

  • Collate PR images and copy for UTEA programme and website etc.

  • Facebook updates / weekly update of profile image to promote upcoming event

  • Compiling each programme ready to submit for formatting and printing.

  • Provision of essential information to administrator – agreed artist fees.

  • Provision of essential information to volunteer coordinator   - tech requirements / riders / dietary and accommodation requests etc

  • Produce monthly report to the board of directors

  • Booking of private hire events and liaising with these customer.

Sam Carlton
UTEA administrator since 2004

Governance

  • Compliance with Companies House & Charity Commission requirements, including reporting

  • Producing annual report with accountant

  • Record-keeping - details of trustees and guarantor members

  • Licensing - Stroud DC, PPL, PRS etc

  • Lease

  • Data protection

  • Insurance

 

Correspondence and point of contact

  • Registered office address and info@utea.org.uk

  • Point of contact for tutors etc re using the Hall

 

Core admin systems

  • Administrative support to board

  • Meetings: minutes, agendas, forward plan, follow up actions

  • Financial - banking, payments, invoicing, online payments (including hall hire invoicing, and payments to performers)

  • Bookkeeping (Xero)

  • Monthly report of membership payments to membership secretary

  • Policies

  • Operational - paperwork, event forms

  • Record-keeping: ticket sales, postcodes, mailing list

  • Online booking - keeping record of ticket sales and forwarding to event coordinators

  • Updating UTEA details (eg contact details) on other websites

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Ordering supplies, equipment, services

  • Purchase of equipment

  • Ordering and purchase of supplies for the Hall

  • Arranging visits from other contractors, services eg. piano tuner, fire extinguisher annual service, 

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Fundraising

  • Researching grants/trusts

  • Applications

  • Admin support to fundraising sub-committee

  • Letters to organisations, businesses, potential donors

  • Record-keeping - applications current and past

 

Promotional material

  • Production of posters: creating, printing/laminating, delivery to distribution coordinator

  • Design/production of programme leaflets and other leaflets

  • Adverts in Wotton Directory, Wotton Times

  • Emails to website mailing list

  • Promotion through other organisations, websites

  • Design of promotional banners, signs

  • Updating website, adding events

Caitlin Main
Volunteer Coordinator since 2023

  • Working closely with the Programme Coordinator to understand the volunteer slots required for UTEA events.

  • Working to fill these slots by, for example, emailing volunteers.

  • Holding a Sunday/Saturday volunteers coffee morning at The Chipping Hall to catch up with volunteers face-to- face, encourage volunteers to socialise and sign up to the next programme’s events and to recruit new volunteers. This is usually 3 times a year, 2 weeks prior to the beginning of each new programme.

  • Using the above session to offer training on the till, door / bar duties. This training could be delivered by a Board member if necessary.

  • Coordinating the volunteering for poster/leaflet distribution

  • Coordinating recycling duties in The Chipping Hall.

  • To be a point of contact for local schools with regards to Duke of Edinburgh Award volunteering possibilities at UTEA.

  • To encourage new volunteers to UTEA.

  • To help develop the UTEA membership scheme.

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