The people who help get things done
Ruth Melville
Project Lead
CPP project overall direction, governance, stakeholder management and oversight on communications, engagement and monitoring and evaluation.
Ruth is a strategic consultant with 20 years of experience working in the cultural, environment and social inclusion sectors. She has acted as an advisor to both UK and international cultural organisations. She is a Critical Friend and Evaluator for several of the Creative People and Places Programmes projects and is co-author of a new cultural strategy for Medway.
Read more about Ruth’s experience at www.ruthmelville.net
Hannah Dix
Executive Lead
Finance, community engagement, evaluation and fundraising.
Hannah is an experienced arts manager who has worked for over 20 years in Arts Development leading on strategic initiatives and community-based arts projects.
She has a strong understanding of community engagement and participation having developed and managed a diverse range of arts based programmes for and with communities, including those who are seldom heard, in both Surrey and Berkshire. Past roles include Chief Officer of Creative Response, an arts for wellbeing charity, and Arts Officer for Guildford Borough Council.
Claire Giacobbe
Community Engagement Manager
Building on our past activity and future programme ideas to create a meaningful, dynamic, community network to include creatives, businesses, third sector organisations and local residents.
Claire has over 10 years’ experience in community investment serving as a useful source to those seeking inspiration, help or advice. In April 2021, she launched a styling business with a mission to support people with personal style and image.
There’s more about Claire’s business at www.igotstyle.co.uk
Andy Kumar
Creative Lead
Delivering an exciting programme of art for Slough whilst building deeper and more impactful relationships with our local communities.
Andy Kumar is a British presenter, VJ, actor, choreographer and costume designer.
Also known as VJ Andy, he has hosted popular shows and events: India’s Got Talent, Box Cricket League, Filmfare Awards Red Carpet, Beauty and the Geek India, Dare to Date, Date My Folks, U R Fired, Get Gorgeous and was a participant in Bigg Boss (Indian Celebrity Big Brother). He has also been a core member of the Rifco Theatre Company creative team for over a decade.
Find out more about Andy’s work at www.andykumarworld.com or follow him on Twitter.
Anna Jones
Producer
Caroline Francis
Assistant Producer
Caroline works with our current programming for HOME Slough including WoW! Slough, On Your Doorstep and Follow Me. Her experience includes festival production and community engagement.
Matt Sanger
Commercial and Tech Producer
Matt is a university lecturer in Festival and Event Management, and business at Solent University and had 5+ years Festivals, Events and Global Business Development experience. He is the producer of Southampton Mela, Wick Street Festival and is on the senior event management team at Camp Bestival. Previously worked for Bestival, Camp Bestival, Common People Festival, Blissfields Festival, Southampton FC in senior and management roles. Matt is also a Strategic Doing practitioner, a consultancy business owner, and cultural enterprise entrepreneur. In his spare time, he is a DJ taking people on what he calls ‘multi-genre sonic adventures’.
Ru Raynor
Project Coordinator
Administration, coordination, data collection, finance and comms support. Ru previously spent 4 years providing voluntary administration and accounting support to environmental activist groups, while also maintaining her own practice as an artist. She has produced community theatre productions in woodland settings, hosted art therapy retreats in the Welsh countryside, and in her own art practice works mainly with textiles.
Marva Carty
Marketing and Communications Manager
Communications, branding and digital support.
Marva was born in Slough and returned to the town in 2000 after stints in the Caribbean and in the US. She has worked in marketing, communications and executive support for a number of well-known companies in Slough and the surrounding area including Reckitt, Centrica, The LEGO Group, Misys, Citroen, Thames Valley University and Intercontinental Hotels Group. She has also recently published two children’s books and is looking forward to supporting the arts and culture agenda in Slough.