MEET THE STAFF

Trustees

Mark Coburn – Mark is a long-term volunteer and is currently the Chairman of MSVOF (Red Gables). He joined the charity in 2013 to assist with Redwoods Lunch Club having spent many years working for another lunch club in the local area. His background in the charitable sector goes back several decades.
Over his time volunteering at Red Gables, he has created multiple successful singing projects for people living with dementia or any other neurological conditions, and remains active as a musician who often performs at Singalong events ran by Stowmarket & District Dementia Community Group.

Susanna Lovell – Susanna has been involved with Red Gables since she co-founded the cancer support group, Cake, Cancer and Coffee in 2017. As a cancer survivor herself, she has been keen to raise awareness of the impact of cancer and has regularly taken part in Relay for Life, a 24 hour walking relay in aid of Cancer Research UK.
When her father died with Alzheimer’s dementia during the pandemic, Susanna helped create the “Memorial Arbour” in the gardens of Red Gables, as a way to thank the Stowmarket community for their support during her father’s final years. Susanna was invited to become a Trustee in 2021.

Lynn Scott – Lynn moved to Stowmarket in 2013 after meeting her now husband James. Lynn lives in Lockington Close with James and her elderly mother, who she cares for. Living in close proximity to Red Gables, Lynn can find James plenty of odd jobs to do around the grounds. Before retiring in 2022, Lynn worked for Adept Dental Laboratory for 12 years after returning from Spain where she helped run the family’s haulage business near Valencia. Lynn also volunteers to run events and helps with our new project ‘Cooking on a Budget’ to teach families the valuable skills of cooking nutritional yet affordable meals.

Mark Trent – As a relative newcomer to the trustee board having joined in 2022, Mark has been actively involved as a volunteer at Red Gables since 2018 and has over 35 years of experience teaching martial arts to a variety of all age groups. With his initial background in security, Mark carries out various maintenance jobs to keep the facilities and buildings in check. He also cares deeply about the environment and is a founding member of the Volunteers Of Stowmarket group. He continues to improve the environment around Stowmarket by volunteering on the recycling stall and helps to lead our monthly litter picks.

Colin Lay – Community Engagement Manager – has been part of Red Gables since 2012, as a volunteer and ‘Head Gardener’ to our Garden Project which he continues to lead. He has a background in mental health support and outdoor activities.

Jackie Claridge – Finance & Administrative Officer – Jackie looks after our room bookings, the day to day finances and ‘front of house’ reception, ensuring that our visitors, users and tenants have a welcoming friendly face.

Jim Harrington – Jim first volunteered at Red Gables in 2010 and worked on the grounds in readiness for summer event being held that year. In July 2019, Jackie’s eyesight deteriorated to the extent that she needed support within the workplace. Jim is now Jackie’s full time support worker.

Kaitlyn Lay – Project support officer – Kaitlyn is our newest member to join the team, having graduated in 2022 with a degree in promotion and communications, Kaitlyn now assists us with our projects and events, as well as managing our digital marketing and promotional materials.

At Red Gables our volunteers play a considerable and important role in keeping us running and helping to run our various ‘wellbeing projects’. We have over 50 volunteers, including 10 that help with the Garden Project, 15 at the Repair Cafe and 6 at the Redwoods Lunch Club.

In the office we depend on volunteers to carry out important roles.
- Betty Spencer volunteers in the office and has sorted out our filing system and archive. She undertakes a number of administrative jobs for us and has been a volunteer since 2016.
- Jack Kennedy has been with us for many years and is a great help carrying out odd jobs in the office.