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
James Gough
Programme Lead
Executive programme lead, budgeting and programme delivery.
James has over 25 years’ experience in the cultural sector, he specialises in strategic planning, cultural policy, organisational change and public engagement projects. Past roles include Executive Director of Southampton 2025 (formerly Southampton Cultural Development Trust), deputy CEO at Nuffield Theatre (Southampton) and Director of audience development agency Audiences South.
Discover more about James’ work in the cultural sector at www.gjgconsultancy.com
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
Jake Orr
Creative Producer
Delivering an exciting programme of art for Slough whilst building deeper and more impactful relationships with our local communities.
Jake is a freelance producer and cultural changemaker. He has previously produced award-winning theatre productions, festivals, and performances across the UK. He is currently the Interim Executive Producer of Le Gateau Chocolat and the previous producer of Nottingham Playhouse and Theatre503.
Find out more about Jake’s work at www.jakeorr.co.uk or follow him on Twitter.
Desree Gumbs-Carty
Producer (Campfires)
Producer to support delivery of Once Upon A Time In Slough (Campfires).
Desree is an award-winning spoken word artist, writer, playwright, and facilitator based in both London and Slough.
Artist in Residence for Slough based poetry collective EMPOWORD, and producer for both Word Up and Word Of Mouth LDN, Desree has worked with a variety of arts institutions, leading culture organisations and incredible artists.
Find out more about Desree at www.iamdesree.co.uk
Photo Credit – Moses Baako
Jordon Maynard-Daley
Freelance Black History Project Producer
Producer to support delivery of the Slough Black History project.
Jordon is an experienced Programme Manager and Founder of Social Enterprise The Arts Excite C.I.C. He has a passion for supporting youth projects and developing talent amongst young people so that their can unlock their potential.
For more about The Arts Excite go to www.thearts-excite.org
Marina Wu
Administration and Events Officer
Managing the collection, processing and recording of data (both quantitative and qualitative) for use in reporting and evaluation. Administration, processing finance and contracts and communications support.
Marina has over 4 years of art administration experience. She has previously worked in various art education and museum projects in Hong Kong.
Phill Hargreaves
Critical Friend
Provides an independent view of the programme, particularly quality of content and engagement – prompting honest reflection and appraisal.
Ben Morgan
Interim Marketing Manager
Communications, branding and digital support.
Between 1997 and 2015, Ben worked in branding and digital agencies in Brighton and London, including five years as Head of Digital at a Design Week Top 100 agency. Since going freelance, projects have included launching a website for Kingston School of Art, acting as project associate for a leading arts and health consultancy, and working on the ERDF-funded South East Creatives programme.
To find out more, read Ben’s profile on LinkedIn.