Karen has have worked primarily in the voluntary sector for the last thirty years and has been privileged in that time to be involved in setting up two projects from scratch, an opportunity that not many practitioners get the chance to do.

Karen spent eleven years managing the Gt Yarmouth Young Women’s Project which received national recognition for its work with young mothers. She was then fortunate to be involved in setting up the Trailblazer Sure Start programme in Gt Yarmouth which was an amazing opportunity delivering services to over two thousand families in a very disadvantaged community, only this time with lots of capital and revenue funding!

Part of this innovative work was to be involved in setting up Gt Yarmouth Community Trust to be the successor of the Sure Start programme and today the Trust is a community hub providing services that reach both the young and old and all ages in between.

The Trust is driven by a passion to make a real difference to the lives of residents and the mission of the Trust is to empower people to fulfil their potential.

The Trust has just had it’s first Children’s Centre Ofsted Inspection which was outstanding on all Inspection Judgements, an experience which proved to be affirming for the integrated team and for the Trust as a whole and is timely as they move into a commissioning framework for Children’s Centres in Norfolk.