Fran Rigo As a member of our Trustee Board, Fran brings her skills as a qualified solicitor specialising in Family Law and Family Legal Costs. Expand Fran is a qualified solicitor who specialised in Family Law and now practices in the specialist area of costs law. Fran embarked upon the Association of Costs Lawyers course in 2015 and qualified as a Costs Lawyer in 2018 with distinction. She now specialises in Family Legal Costs. She has also worked as a volunteer at the Citizens’ Advice Bureau and as a peer mentor. She has experience of working with victims of domestic abuse and is passionate about ensuring that our children and young people have the very best opportunity to overcome the domestic abuse they have experienced. She is the Trustee lead for our Children & Young People's Service, ensuring that the board understand and consider the implications of decisions on our services for children and young people at all times.
Karen Williams - Chair of the Board Karen brings her extensive housing management, strategic knowledge of safeguarding and experience of improving support pathways for survivors of domestic abuse to our board. Expand Karen has worked in the Housing sector for 25 years and has a wealth of skills and knowledge in the area of Domestic Abuse and Safeguarding. She has also held the role of Chair of Governors at a local primary school so has governance, risk management and compliance knowledge and skills which she brings to our board. Additionally Karen holds the Chartered Institute of Housing level 5 professional qualification along with an Institute of Leadership & Management level 5 qualification and is the strategic Safeguarding lead for CBH. In Karen's role within Colchester Borough Homes she is working on improving the pathways for survivors of Domestic Abuse and she is keen to see how she can bring this together with the work of Next Chapter for the benefit of those experiencing domestic abuse. Karen is passionate about ensuring that the voice of our service users is represented and taken into account when we are planning and designing our services. To contact Karen directly, please email her at [email protected]
Rory Doyle Rory bring his extensive operational and strategic experience of housing, health, wellbeing, and community safety & development as well as his links into the health and social care networks in North East Essex, helping us develop key partnerships in this area. Expand Rory is an experienced operational and strategic leader, bringing extensive skills from his professional background in housing, health, wellbeing, and community safety and development, knowing how important a safe and supported home environment is to wellbeing. He also has extensive professional experience of how complex people’s lives are and how poor health, inequality, prejudice and abuse can have such a devastating and negative impact. His work and ethos is to enable people to self care, to use and build on individuals own assets and strengths, but providing support and intervention at times of crisis, which aligns entirely with that of Next Chapter. Rory brings skills, experience and knowledge of relevant networks and strategic partnerships, including Health and Social Care Economy in North Essex and the Alliance Executive Team leading transformational change in the way health, wellbeing and community services are delivered in North East Essex.