About Us
Who We Are
WFCVS is the voice and support system for Waltham Forest's vibrant community of social purpose organisations. As an independent registered charity, we exist to ensure that local organisations have everything they need to serve our communities effectively.
Who We Support
We use the term "social purpose organisations" to describe the wide range of groups and organisations that exist primarily to benefit communities rather than generate private profit. This includes:
Charities – Registered organisations with exclusively charitable purposes
Voluntary organisations – Groups that rely on volunteers to deliver their work
Community groups – Local organisations serving specific neighbourhoods or communities of interest
Faith organisations – Religious groups delivering community benefit
Social enterprises – Businesses that trade for social or environmental purpose and reinvest profits into their mission
Community Interest Companies (CICs) – A legal structure specifically designed for social enterprises, with an "asset lock" ensuring assets are used for community benefit
Our borough is home to hundreds of social purpose organisations – from small community groups run entirely by volunteers to established charities with professional teams, from faith groups supporting their congregations to social enterprises creating jobs and opportunities. Each one plays a vital role in making Waltham Forest a better place to live, work and connect. We're proud to support them all.
-
Guidance on financial management, budgeting, funding applications, and financial sustainability.
-
Support with premises, equipment, technology, data protection, and sustainable working practices.
-
Help with marketing, social media, stakeholder engagement, and raising your organisation's profile.
-
Our Network of Networks approach helps you build relationships, find partners, and collaborate for greater impact. We can also introduce you to commissioners and strategic partners from the public sector that can help you in your work.
-
Support with monitoring and evaluation, demonstrating your impact, and using findings to improve your work.
What We Do
Aligned to the Trusted Charity Quality Areas
We provide practical, accessible support that makes a real difference. Our support is aligned to the 11 quality areas of the Trusted Charity model – the nationally recognised quality standard for the voluntary sector. We have also added a twelfth standard that we know is important to Waltham Forest which is about sustainability. That is your organisation’s sustainability and the work that some of you do to support sustainability more widely. This means we can help you strengthen every aspect of how your organisation is run.
-
Support with board development, trustee and director recruitment, governing documents, and ensuring your organisation is governed effectively and responsibly.
-
Help with strategic planning, business planning, setting priorities and targets, and reviewing progress against your goals.
-
Guidance on leadership development, management systems, organisational culture, and effective communication.
-
Support to design services around the people you serve, including needs assessment, service design, and user involvement.
-
Help with recruitment, HR policies, staff management, and creating positive working environments.
-
Training programmes, skills development, and support to build a learning culture within your organisation.
Meet our team
Terry Day
Trustee
-
Terry Day has led Age UK Waltham Forest’s Befriending Service for the past 9 years, developing it from a service with 40 volunteers to one with 270 volunteers. She is passionate about the value of volunteers, and not allowing volunteers to be exploited by a statutory sector under pressure. She’s a keen advocate for older people in an ageist society. She’s been involved in the process of creating the CVS for the last 2 years and is particularly keen to raise the voice and influence of a wide range of VCS organisations in the health and social care sector. Prior to semi-retiring to Age UK Waltham Forest (not much retirement happening!) , she started her career in the NHS as a speech and language therapist, and was also CEO of Age Concern Liverpool in the 1990s. She has extensive experience of organisational change, having led equality programmes for many years in large organisations, including London Underground, Manchester City Council, the Healthcare Commission and the Olympic Delivery Authority. She is chair of Waltham Forest Patients Not Passports. She’s also an allotment holder, avid bird-watcher, grandmother and great-grandmother.
Brian Kelly
Trustee
-
Brian Kelly has worked for Waltham Forest based environmental social enterprises since 2002. He is a founder member of OrganicLea, where his current role focuses on Fundraising and Partnership Development. As well as being a WF CVS Trustee he also currently sits on the board of three local organisations - Hornbeam Centre, GREEN (Growing Resilient and Energy Efficient Neighbourhoods) and HEET (Home Energy Efficiency Training). Previously he coordinated Forest Recycling Project for 10 years.
Prior to 2002 Brian worked for 3 years in India and 1 year in Mexico supporting the development of social and environmental justice initiatives in indigenous / tribal communities. Previous to that he worked in nature conservation management with RSPB, National Trust and TCV.
He has a BA in Sociology and MSc in Environmental Science and Environmental Policy. He is originally from NE London and lives in Walthamstow.
Rita Chadha
Coordinator, Waltham Forest CVS
-
Rita brings decades of experience working at the intersection of community action, public services, and voluntary sector development. She started her career in domestic abuse services and with a disability organisation, developing from the outset a commitment to equity, rights, and making services genuinely work for the people who need them most. From those roots, she has gone on to work locally across East London, nationally, and internationally.
Over the years, Rita has held leadership roles across a wide range of organisations, including the Migrants Rights Network, RAMFEL (now Refugee and Migrant Justice), Home-Start UK, and the Small Charities Coalition, which she led during the pandemic to become the largest umbrella body for small charities in the country — a remarkable achievement during one of the most challenging periods the sector has ever faced. Her career has spanned frontline practice, policy, advocacy, and organisational leadership, giving her an unusually rounded understanding of how change happens — and what gets in the way.
Rita specialises in equity, governance, audit, organisational transformation, and health and social care. She has served as a Cabinet Member in local government, holding responsibility for health, adult social care, and transformation — bringing direct, hands-on experience of public sector decision-making, accountability, and reform. She is also a trustee of a number of charities, and has a particular passion for supporting organisations to govern themselves well and to stay true to their values as they grow.
As Coordinator at Waltham Forest CVS, Rita is focused on building a strong, independent infrastructure organisation that genuinely serves the VCFSE sector in Waltham Forest. She is a straight-talking, collaborative leader who believes that the best ideas come from working alongside people — and that a well-supported voluntary sector is one of the most powerful forces for good in any community.
Franklyn Sweeney
Trustee
-
Frank Sweeney, MA is a Senior Arts Manager with over 30 years of experience working in the Voluntary and Community Sector, focusing on using the arts to drive social change and community engagement.
He has had significant roles in producing and managing cultural events, particularly at the Hackney Empire, where he helped launch the careers of many now-prominent artists. As co-Director of GB Carnival, Frank produces large-scale community arts initiatives, including town carnivals for Margate, Ramsgate and Waltham Forest. Through his arts management company, Desire Paths, Frank produces the primary stages in the formation and realisation of artists' creative ideas.
He is Executive Producer of the African Diaspora Festival Choir, an International Community Arts Cultural Exchange, developing programmes across the African Atlantic Diaspora.
Frank serves as a Charity Trustee and Non-executive Director for youth & community, youth music and dance theatre organisations, The Show Crib, Rising Tide Trust, Prevention Better Than Cure and the Clod Ensemble.
Over the past 10 years, his fundraising work has secured over £3 million for ensuring the long term sustainability of various arts and community projects.
Frank practices as a Sector Expert and Peer Mentor on the Clock Yours Skills non-formal higher education assessment framework. He is currently undertaking a non-formal Clock Your Skills Level 8 Professional Development Award, working towards a PhD in Community Arts Practice.
Frank is known for his ability to build and maintain strategic partnerships across sectors, leveraging his experience to create impactful arts and cultural programmes. His ongoing research into African-Caribbean Carnival & Masquerade traditions, the cultural histories of the African Atlantic Diaspora and the Artistic Direction of Carnival & Masquerade reflects his commitment to preserving and promoting cultural heritage.
Nate Gabbidon
Trustee
-
Nathan Gabbidon is a passionate and resilient youth advocate, community leader and Founder of Skills Within Developments CIC (The Skills Within)—a community-focused project management company dedicated to empowering individuals and businesses through skills development and economic independence. The organisation aims to reduce reliance on social services while fostering grassroots community growth.
Projects are designed through a blend of lived and learned experience and include initiatives such as community living rooms, a community food truck, youth mentoring and SEN school gardening and growing. The Skills Within prioritises relationship-building, networking and collaboration—linking activities to measurable outcomes, recommendations and a framework for scaling, adaptability and ultimately, self-sustainability.
With over two decades of experience in youth mentoring, career guidance and pastoral care, Nate has excelled in roles at Hackney Council, Haringey Youth Offending Service, Parliament Hill School and Victory Christian Centre, where he supported over 1,000 young people aged 8–25.
He blends academic knowledge with lived experience and deep compassion for those he serves. As a Trustee of the Walthamstow Toy Library and Play Centre, he also champions early years development through innovative community partnerships.
Whether mentoring at-risk youth or leading transformative initiatives, Nate’s mission remains clear: to inspire, uplift and guide the next generation toward empowered, fulfilling lives.
Amtal Rana
Trustee
-
Amtal is the Chief Executive of Kiran Support Services, bringing over 30 years of experience in the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) sector. She began her career in 1992 as one of the first South Asian Domestic Violence Workers in Waltham Forest, working within the then LBWF Women’s Unit. Since then, she has developed extensive expertise across both the voluntary and statutory sectors, with a strong focus on supporting marginalised communities.
Under her leadership Kiran Support Services has grown organically to provide refuge accommodation across 2 London boroughs, specialist counselling services, play therapy, and immigration advice, and advocacy support.
Amtal chaired and contributed to a number of local and national forums and has delivered domestic abuse training to professionals including social workers, housing officers, and police.
In 2023 Amtal won the Roshni Birmingham Award for Leadership in Excellence, and Kiran Support Services won the London Faith and Belief Forum Award for supporting women and girls experiencing domestic abuse.
Sven Stears
Volunteer Brokerage Coordinator, Waltham Forest CVS
-
Sven brings experience from across the charity, arts, hospitality and sales sectors. Throughout their career, they have focused on connecting people, and the power of the story.
Before joining WFCVS, Sven managed a national network of volunteers at Alcohol Change UK, supporting recruitment, engagement, training, and communications, giving volunteers opportunities to contribute, develop skills, and strengthen their communities.
Alongside their professional work, Sven is an award-winning poet, facilitator, and public speaker. As the 2024 UK National Poetry Slam Champion, they have delivered workshops and performances across the UK and internationally, using creativity to encourage participation, confidence, and connection. In 2020 They took a career break to undertake an MA in creative writing.
They run INKBOMB, a poetry event and education organisation, and Slamden, the UK’s sober poetry slam.
At WFCVS, Sven is passionate about supporting local organisations and helping residents find meaningful ways to get involved in their communities. They believe volunteering plays a vital role in creating stronger, healthier, and more connected neighbourhoods.
Sarah Yiannoullou
Coordinator, Waltham Forest CVS
-
Sarah has over twenty-five years’ experience of rights-based work in the voluntary and statutory sector. This has included working with a wide range of local, regional, national and international initiatives.
With a background in the arts Sarah developed early approaches to visual literacy and graphic facilitation in the health and social care sector. Her work included Art Therapy and the wider use of accessible communication and information for people who struggle to have a voice in our society.
Over 20 years ago Sarah was involved in the set-up of some of the first People First organisations in the UK, as well as the first and only Clubhouse for people with learning disabilities.
During the early 2000s Sarah worked at Waltham Forest CVS as the Service User Involvement Co-ordinator, co-producing the first cross service ‘Service User Involvement Strategy’ for the London Borough of Waltham Forest.
As the Managing Director of the user-led National Survivor User Network (NSUN) for just over 10 years, Sarah led the development of the 4Pi National Involvement Standards, which have since been the reference and foundation of local and national co-production policies.
Sarah continues to work with equity-led community organisations nationally and locally was involved in establishing the Leytonstone Mutual Aid group during Covid-19.
Lee Thomside
Trustee
-
I Trained as a general nurse and midwife in South Africa and completed a post graduate course in Paediatrics at Great Ormond Street. Worked as the Paediatric Manager at St Mary’s Hospital. I then worked at the School of Nursing in Newham as an Allocations Officer with nurse training. Next I worked as a Health Visitor in Redbridge from 1989.
I retired in 2004.
In 2012 I became a Volunteer at the Afro- Caribbean Elders Association. In 2016 I took the post of Chair-Person at ACEA.
I was on the planning meetings of the CVS &Transition Board and now as a Trustee of WFCVS.