Officials

In 1977 I started an apprenticeship at Kellingley Colliery as a Blacksmith Plater Welder. Worked my way up over the years to Assist Mechanical Engineer when the mine employed over 2500 men. Over the same period I was an active member at Pontefract Squash Club

Around 1998 I successfully purchased the club from receivers Price Waterhouse Coopers. Built the club up over the next 18 years to over 1600 members while producing 70 British Champions in all age groups, a current World #1 U13 boys and two Professional World #1’s , alongside changing the club’s status to a CASC.

Now it is a non-profit making private members club with an open door policy for all, called Pontefract Squash & Leisure Club. We work with lots of governing bodies, the latest being Badminton England who’ve just funded our new Badminton/Sports hall, recently opened in February 2016.

Craig is one of the founding Trustees of the Foundation.

When he’s not golfing he is Managing Director of two companies in the building sector.

He is a golf enthusiast and was instrumental in setting up the Foundation’s Annual Charity Golf Day in 2013, which has grown into a major fundraising event.

Rob Jepson is a Senior Facilities Management Professional having worked for the last 15 years in both large private and public sector organisations leading operational change and personnel development.

Rob Joined the Foundation as a founding Trustee and continues to work on fundraising administration as well as fundraising activity to further increase revenues the Foundation has to invest in its programmes.

Nick is founder of Software2, a supplier of cool technology solutions to Universities and colleges all over the world.

His role at the Foundation focuses around engagement with the schools and providers, helping put activities in place to create new opportunities for students.

Jos has been involved with the Pontefract Sports and Education Foundation for the last four years and joined out of a desire to see kids in the local area get more involved in sport. A keen follower of all things sport, Jos has a real desire to see kids from the Pontefract region get more active, increase their confidence and even become the next generation of national superstars.

Joseph’s day to day work is with PeoplesHoldings.co.uk who specialise in recovering losses for customers who’ve been mis-sold financial products such as loans, investments or pensions. Jos is also a trustee of the Lineham Farm Children’s Centre which helps underprivileged children from Leeds and its suburbs get out into the countryside to take part in activities to help get them out of the urban environment and teach them new skills.

Jos is dedicated to helping the Foundation achieve its full potential and is always keen to speak to anyone who can help.

Steven is an individual with a strong track record in sales and delivering results across multiple roles. A competitive team player he is able to support and motivate colleagues whilst developing and delivering key strategic themes through effective communication. Steven has also been involved with several mentoring programmes throughout his working life and has a wide breadth of understanding of the local and regional economy.

Within his current role at Lloyds Bank he leads on the North CES strategy as well as being the Learning Champion for the North of England. He has demonstrated himself to be adaptable and good at executing strategy and embedding new operational design, and delivering on strategic goals all key attributes to enable the Foundation to progress.

Andrew has been at the forefront of digital innovation for over 17 years. As a Digital consultant with several internet research companies, Andrew has worked not only with some of the internet’s most successful companies, but also public sector and charitable organisations.
Having worked with several of the Uk’s biggest charities, Andrew brings a wealth of experience in maximising digital channels within the third sector.

Steve started out life in the Royal Navy as a teenager and became a ships diver. He later went on to work at various local pits on the coal face until redundancy following the miners strike after which he established his own signage repair company which he ran for some years. Steve then changed career and trained as a flying instructor before going on to become an airline pilot.

He is currently an airline captain on the Boeing 767 with DHL Air UK based at East Midlands airport and lives with his partner Angela and 3 children.

Luke is a Business Management graduate (BA) and has a Diploma in Management Studies (DMS). Luke began his career in the energy sector before working in financial and operational analysis at one of the country’s leading Housing Associations for several years before returning to the energy industry in 2011, helping to develop the Energy Risk Management function for an award winning energy solutions company.

His key areas of experience include Strategic Development, Risk Management, People Development and Management, Project Management, Relationship Management, and Process Improvement all of which are attributes that ensure that the foundation can continue to develop and achieve its aims and objectives.

Luke is one of our newest recruits and a former junior member of the Pontefract Squash Club.

Steve sadly passed away in 2017 but the Foundation and everyone involved will continue to finish the hard work which he started and help kids in the area.

Steve played professional Rugby League for 13 years, starting with home town team of Featherstone Rovers, before moving to Hull FC, securing a Challenge Cup winners medal. Steve is also a former British Lion international.

Steve believed greatly in supporting the Pontefract Education Trust, paying for and facilitating sporting, artistic and educational activities for proactive schools in the area.

Jayne has 28 years in experience in children and families social work working across the whole range of children’s services. She has worked as a residential worker and social work practitioner and also in more specialist child protection posts.

She has worked in Wakefield, Doncaster and York and has held middle and senior management positions in Wakefield and York managing all aspects of children’s services from residential services to family support fieldwork services. Jayne also acts as child protection advisor to England Squash and has had this role for the past 10 years.

Jayne is a Director of Pontefract Squash and Leisure Club and is a qualified Level 2 squash coach. Jayne is also the child protection advisor to the Club. Jayne works closely with the Head Coach to provide a programme of coaching to children of all ages and standards. More recently Jayne is working with the Pontefract Sports and Education