Our Trustees
Good Neighbours-Rural Peterborough is managed by a board of dedicated trustees.
Jane Cave, William Baxter, Derek Skingle, Claire Bysshe, Dorothy Halfhide, Joan Pickett, Patricia Pearce
If you are interested in becoming a trustee please email or write to us with a brief resumé and details of how you think your skills and experience could benefit the Trust.
William Baxter - Secretary & Treasurer
William, a Peterborian, at first worked for the Church Commissioners, then moved to the family’s national agricultural business.
In the mid 80s he started his own agricultural business and served on the National Council for the industry as its youngest member for fifteen years. He represented the industry on the Potato Marketing Board and was an arbitrator, valuer and inspector for the London Futures Market and is still active in the industry.
He has been a parish councillor for 24 years and a parochial church councillor for 23 years. He has also been a Waywarden for the church for 23 years, the forerunner to the Good Neighbours Scheme.
He joined the St. Kyneburgha Building Preservation Trust at its inception in 1999 and has been its treasurer for 14 years. Apart from squash and racket ball, bell ringing has been one of his pastimes since 1996, and he has been tower captain of St. Kyneburgha for the past 15 years.
Jane Cave - Chair
I am Jane Cave. Having been born and brought up in Northamptonshire, I spent my adult life in the South East and then returned to Northamptonshire with my husband in 2018. We have one adult son and my passion is gardening.
I had a varied and enjoyable career in HM Courts and Tribunals, where I worked in London and the South East. I led large teams, encouraging a focus on delivering as good a service as possible to those who used the courts, recognising that, for many people, particularly victims and witnesses, the Courts and the Justice System could be a daunting experience. In addition to managing the day to day operational service and the strategic development in the Courts over a large geographical area, I led large projects aimed at improving the service and I also worked alongside partners in the Criminal Justice system such as the Police, CPS and Probation Service.
After leaving the Court Service I joined a local Hospice in the South East, as one of their senior team. I found working for a Hospice to be a rewarding and thought provoking experience. My role involved managing and developing the volunteer service which supported the valuable work of the Hospice. We had over 1000 volunteers working in many different roles, from directly supporting patients to working in our shops. Whilst there, I established a new volunteer scheme which involved supporting people with life limiting illnesses in their own homes. Whilst Hospice nurses and other clinicians provided medical support, the Hospice recognised that, when someone is living with a life limiting illness, there are still everyday things that need to be done at home and so ‘Hospice Neighbours’ was born. We had over 100 volunteers providing practical support and befriending for people living at home (and their loved ones) during the last months of their life. There are many similarities between the support offered by Hospice Neighbours and Good Neighbours scheme in Peterborough and the surrounding area.
I am delighted to join the Trustee Board of Good Neighbours and hope that I can use my past experience to help it flourish.
Joan Pickett
After training as a nurse Joan came to live in Ailsworth in 1961 where she was an active volunteer at the local school, both in the classroom, as clerk to the governors, as a school governor and as orgnaniser of the summer school play scheme for 26 years.
She joined the church choir in 1974 and has been a member of church council since 1976 and a waywarden for many years.
She was also joint leader of the local St John Ambulance Cadets Joan has been a Parish councilor since1995 and chair since 2008 taking a keen interest in the both the history and the future of the community by helping to write the local history book, create the information boards and working on the village design statement and the village neighbourhood plan.
Joan was awarded a lifetime achievement award and also received a community involvement award from Peterborough City Council in 2017.
Derek Skingle
Retiring at a senior Management level 11 years ago, after many years living and working in the transport industry both in the UK, and in Asia, Derek became involved in various community and voluntary work, including at a local hospice.
He was also involved in bereavement counselling with bereaved and pre-bereaved children, and has volunteered with Age UK for over 10 years, both with the befriending scheme and also at Trustee level, as well as having been a Police Community Volunteer.
Derek understands what loneliness and isolation is and brings a wealth of experience working with older and vulnerable folk and the issues they face, having been an Ambassador for the Older People’s Partnership Board for Peterborough City Council. He holds an enhanced DBS and is a current Parish Councillor
Michele Matthews CEO
I have been in the charity sector for over 20 years, in a range of senior roles, and recently taken on the lead role at Good Neighbours - Rural Peterborough.
I'm delighted as it fits naturally with my values of good old fashioned 'neighbourliness' and looking out for those in our communities, that might just need a bit of support, a friend or a smile and our wonderful volunteers, do this on a daily basis, we are nothing without them.
On a wider level, the new role plays to my passion of bringing neighbourhoods, communities, causes & businesses together - making stronger connected communities to develop, grow and support services for the benefit of all - providing a voice, raising awareness and sharing ideas, vision and delivery.
Please feel free to get in touch at anytime and chat about opportunities for working together in the community.
