Tom is joint-CEO of Community First Oxfordshire. Tom is a community development and research specialist. He has helped build Community First into the ‘go to’ local organisation for communities seeking high quality support throughout the Neighbourhood Planning process. Tom has brokered on the ground community development worker projects on major developments at Woodstock and Heyford Park and has led on placemaking and community development research for multiple public and private sector clients, including Blenheim Estate, Sovereign Housing Association, Oxfordshire County Council, and Cherwell, South Oxfordshire, and Vale of White Horse District Councils.

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Emily is Joint CEO of Community First. She has worked with rural and urban communities for a number of years, supporting the County’s community transport sector to thrive. She leads on placemaking projects in new developments at Heyford Park and Graven Hill. She also leads on our health and ageing work such as the Dementia Friendly Communities project. She has a Post Graduate Certificate in transport planning and a BA in development studies. She is a member of the Oxford Strategic Partnership.

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Gemma supports the CFO team as Senior Administrator and is also serving as Parish Clerk for Kingham Village. Gemma has over 15 years of experience in administrative/office roles and loves to organize and be part of a team. In her spare time, Gemma enjoys running, walks and spending time with her family.

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Tessa previously worked for the Community Council for Berkshire for 10 years, teaching and putting on training events, managing funding for community projects, and carrying out consultation events. More recently, she has helped communities in West Berkshire develop Parish Plans and supported them to carry out projects from the plans. She has been working with Thatcham Town Council to get their Parish Plan refresh adopted by West Berkshire Council and to reconnect with all their amazing volunteers after all the hard work of producing their plan. Tessa likes walking, gardening, reading and loves singing, co-leading a community choir in Newbury.

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Lisa has two roles at CFO. She manages the Supporting Communities through Covid 19 Fund, providing ‘grants plus’ support to 26 grantees and other community groups and charities in Oxfordshire. Lisa is also the lead for Community-led Planning and Community Review services and training to help strengthen social infrastructure for communities across Oxfordshire, based on ABCD principles and practise. Her portfolio includes 13 years in international development working with partners and community groups in Asia, Africa and Latin America to develop, implement and evaluate poverty/ low-income housing projects and associated projects (water and sanitation, community development, disaster response, land rights and microfinance etc.). She also has a varied background in art and design as a designer in the fashion industry, an art and design lecturer in further and higher education and pursuing academic research via an MA and PhD in Fashion and Technology. A feature of her approach is the use of creative facilitation to support community engagement and social action.

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Fiona is a Rural Housing Enabler and also the Communities Lead at Collaborative Housing. She provides support for parish councils which are seeking to provide local affordable housing and works with community housing groups to take forward citizen-led housing projects. She has over 30 years’ experience in the management and delivery of affordable housing through Housing Associations and Local Authorities. She is an accredited CLH Advisor through the Institute of Housing.

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Stephen has worked in the field of planning and development for over 30 years, working on major regeneration schemes through to small community projects. As a qualified Chartered Town Planner and a Chartered Surveyor working in the development process from strategy through to implementation, Stephen has in depth knowledge of the planning system. He has worked in both the public and private sector advising on development management and policy and has acted an expert witness in many planning appeals. More recently he has worked for a major charity working with communities across the country, working as a bridge between developers, landowners and communities. He is also an elected Borough Councillor in Surrey sitting on the Planning Committee.

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Kay is a Rural Housing Enabler. She provides support for parish councils which are seeking to provide local affordable housing. Kay’s formal training and degree is in interior Architecture, which she studied in Germany. She has over 25 years experience of working with communities and youth work through theatre productions,  local history exhibitions and public art commissions. On a grassroots level, Kay has initiated intersocial art-spaces,  exploring how communities relate to the space and people they encounter. These spaces have been in launderettes, take-aways and on buses. Kay has also been an elected parish councillor for 9 years. She is an active member of the Soha scrutiny committee, a member of Thame Community Land Trust, and has been involved with community-led housing for more than 10 years.

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Rosie has lived in many different places and worked with a variety of companies over the years, but all have involved direct contact with the public.  She has spent the past five years in Community Development, supporting residents in new housing developments.  She also has a background in teaching, training, pastoral care, leadership, networking and team development. She sings in a community choir and loves to dance.

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Maryam is our Impact and Communications Officer. Her work focuses on sharing all the brilliant things our communities are working towards, and ensuring that Community First support is accessible and inclusive. Maryam also leads on our website and social media. She has been involved in community organising in Oxford for the last year, and has been campaigning for food and climate justice since she first stuck her hands in the soil! After finishing her BA in Geography, she has worked for Farmability and Asylum Welcome. Maryam enjoys landwork, community football matches, and getting carried away with lots of different volunteering.

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Clare is a Community Development Worker who brings a wealth of experience from previous roles that span service delivery, strategic planning and commissioning and research and evaluation in public and third sector organisations in Oxfordshire.  She is  driven by a strong desire to work alongside people to help make a difference to their lives. This has included projects to improve housing, public health and social care for children and families, young people, adults and older people.  Clare supports community development projects focusing on improving health and wellbeing and addressing health inequalities. She believes strongly that people themselves have the skills, assets and experience to address issues that affect their lives and uses her facilitation and mentoring skills to support volunteer action to bring about positive change in local communities.  Outside work, Clare enjoys yoga, cycling and walking with friends and family.

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Jane is one of our Community Capacity Builders for the Well Together programme, which provides funding and support to community groups. Jane has worked in community development for 20 years, including in her own community in Florence Park, Oxford. Previous to that, she worked in developing play services across Oxfordshire (with Oxfordshire Play Association) and before that she was a teacher on a Scottish island. She values the ‘ABCD’ approach to community development – ‘Asset-Based Community Development’, which ‘starts with what’s strong in a community, not with what’s wrong’. She loves socialising, walks and plays drums in an all-woman, over-50s punk band called The HorMones.

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Rachel Woods is one of four Community Capacity Builders for the Well Together community-led health inequalities prevention programme, which provides funding and support to community groups. She has worked in education and community development with schools, NGO’s and communities over the past 20 years, including in both urban and rural contexts in the UK and overseas, fulfilling her passion for encouraging people of all ages, organisations and communities to flourish. Within her practice Rachel integrates a unique blend of asset-based community development, coaching, dynamic facilitation, creative processes, pastoral and reflective skills.  Walking, gardening, drawing, painting and stone-carving are some of Rachel’s active interests.

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Assia has worked in community development for over 17 years and is passionate about working with communities and grassroot charities. Her experience has included supporting a wide variety of cultural groups and communities, being their advocate, supporting victims of domestic abuse and honour based abuse, dealing with issues around racial discrimination, and enabling BAME groups and Asylum Seekers to raise their voices and helping them to link with others, including with statutory bodies. She loves collaborating, sharing knowledge and expertise with groups, and creating an atmosphere of trust within communities. Assia holds a level 4 diploma in Therapeutic counselling. Outside of work, Assia loves going out, trying different types of food (especially Indian and Italian), playing and coaching netball, gardening, travelling, and going for walks in nature for the inspiration and beauty.

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