Our Board of Trustees
Our Governance is built upon third sector best practices and the guidance of the Charities Commission. Trustees/Directors come from a wide variety of backgrounds with a broad and relevant range of skills and experience required to run an organisation like the Basement Project.
Chair – Jamie Morris
Elected at the 2025 AGM
Jamie joined the Board in 2022. His professional background has been largely in local government as Executive Director with Walsall MBC and Assistant Chief Executive of Birmingham City Council. Prior to this he was a management consultant with Deloitte, advising public and private sector organisations on strategy and performance improvement. Since retiring Jamie was a Non-Executive Director of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust where he chaired the workforce committee and the mental health collaborative committee. He is an active member of Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, Bromsgrove U3A and various local music projects.
Treasurer – Alan Deakin
Elected at the 2023 AGM
Alan grew up in South Birmingham and worked in and around the West Midlands area in various finance roles primarily in the Motor Industry, latterly working for a string of French based organisations, before a spell living and working in the USA and Mexico. After finishing University Alan qualified as a Management Accountant, and enjoyed Financial Controller, and Director positions in various organisations in the OEM supply chain, all the way back to Stainless Steel manufacturing and distribution.
But time came for a complete change, and in the early 2000s, on returning to the UK, Alan retrained as a mathematics teacher, and has subsequently worked in Secondary Education, firstly in South Birmingham and most recently in leading teams and teaching in Redditch.
Alongside his professional life, Alan has undertaken extensive work with young people through church -based youth work, and has been a long time volunteer in supporting the work of a local non-league football team alongside a self-confessed obsession following Aston Villa.
As Alan reduces his professional work load he is relishing the opportunity to contribute his skill set and experience to this worthwhile initiative [The Basement Project] in his local area.
Vice Chair and Chair of Governance Group – Richard Hood
Richard works as a director at a large social housing provider, with responsibilities for legal, governance and assurance across the organisation, advising and directly supporting the work of our Board and our Committees. He has experience of working in many different organisations across different sectors, including working in private companies, government and not for profit / charities (including Action for Children).
Richard is a solicitor and governance professional and is passionate about increasing public access to justice and legal support.
Safeguarding Trustee Lead – Jean Spencer
Jean has been associated with the Project since its early conception and was employed as the Project Administrator for a period of time. Jean joined the Board of Trustees after this and continues to support the Project, additionally providing safeguarding and governance expertise to the Governance Group and management team. Jean is an active member of the community and works in a local middle school.
Katherine Squires – Chair of the Fundraising and Communications Group
Katherine is currently Director of Policy and Public Affairs at a UK wide business trade association, where she also held the role of Interim Director General during a period of organisational change. Her background includes leading political engagement at National Highways and working as a Senior Policy Advisor in the civil service. She also has experience in research and external affairs in the housing sector, and holds a Masters in Planning, Growth & Regeneration from the University of Cambridge. Katherine lives in Bromsgrove with her husband and two young children.
Claire Pennell
Claire is a Civil Servant working for the DHSC as a Workforce Development Manager, within OHID which is responsible for Public Health and Inequalities. Her career has centred around values driven organisations and positions working to address health or societal inequalities. As a trained Leadership and Executive Coach and Workplace Mediator she is especially keen on activities and initiatives that support the development of people to release their potential. She is also an elected Membership Representative for the Midlands with the Co-op Group.
Pippa Trueman
Samantha Preece
Samantha is a seasoned Senior Marketer with a wealth of experience in leadership roles at major companies, including Halfords PLC, Vax, and GTech. As a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, she has successfully managed both traditional and digital marketing teams, winning awards for her retail and social media campaigns. In addition to her marketing expertise, Samantha is a qualified teacher and serves on the Worcestershire Board of the charity Young Enterprise, where she is a passionate advocate for developing life skills and employability in young people. She lives in Bromsgrove with her husband and two daughters.
Andy Gwillam
Elected at the 2024 AGM
Susan Hindle-Smith
Sue is a retired nurse with a long involvement in housing issues and the impact poor or lack of housing can have on people’s lives. She worked in A and E in central London where it was apparent that housing (or no housing) had a huge impact on health and well-being.
She went on to work with Out of Hours GPs around the West Midlands and again experienced the impact of homelessness on health and the ability to access good, preventative healthcare especially when GP surgeries are normally closed (at night, weekends and Bank Holidays).
Sue also has a background in management and a wealth of experience of problem-solving. She has a Masters Degree in Healthcare Management and Policy which enables her to focus on the critical elements of an issue and try to find solutions.
Sue lives near to Bromsgrove with her husband and a collection of unruly animals.
Key People & Contacts
Chief Executive Officer – Caleb Mallard
Caleb joined the Project in January 2024.
Operations Manager – Marina Price
Marina has worked at the Basement Project since 2007, initially as the Private Tenancy Scheme Coordinator before moving on to becoming a full time floating support worker. She is trained in counselling and is a mediation practitioner. She enjoys the challenges of working with many diverse and complex needs and is passionate about young people being given a voice. During her time at the Basement Project she has built strong working relationships with other agencies.
Deputy Operations Manager – Nina Wilkes
Nina came to work as a volunteer at the Basement Project in 2010 while she was finishing her degree in social work. She applied for a vacancy for a new floating support worker which she was offered in 2012. Nina has a lot of experience in the area of homelessness and is passionate about supporting young people. She moved into the role of Finance and Senior Support in 2023 after over 10 years as a Support Worker with The Basement Project before taking on the role of Deputy Operations Manager in 2025.
Fundraising and Communications Manager – Kelly Turner
Kelly joined the Basement in March 2019 having previously worked with young people in education and youth work settings.
Finance Manager – Helena Eagles
Helena joined the Project in February 2025
Support Worker – Barbara Bunce
Barb joined the Basement Project in 2013 and has a range of experience working with young people. She returned to live in Worcestershire after a time working in Bristol. Her last role was in a hostel providing high level support to vulnerable adults and she has previously worked with NEET (Not in Education Employment or Training) and homeless young people.
Support Worker – Kennedy Adams
Kennedy joined us as a temporary support worker to cover maternity leave and is now a regular member of staff. Kennedy, who is from Redditch, was previously a healthcare assistant for young disabled adults.
Support Worker – Sadie Howell
Sadie joined us in April 2018 and has experience of working with young people across a variety of settings, namely Connexions; a local Further Education College, Social Care and a County-wide Careers Service.
Support Worker – Zoe Burford
Zoe joined the Basement Project in February 2020 after being TUPE’d over from Rooftop Housing. She has 13 years’ experience of supporting young people in crisis and has worked alongside the Basement Project for many of these. She has qualifications in mentoring and working with young people.
Support Worker – Laura Draper
Support Worker – Maisie Cook
Application Station Coordinator – Anna Duffy
Application Station Coordinator – Elisha Mahoney