Trustees

Eileen Brady

Eileen Brady

Eileen is a qualified Social Worker with 30 years of experience of working with veterans, asylum seekers, torture victims, and she now runs a fostering agency.

Febrina Robinson

Dr Febrina Robinson

Febrina is a Gateshead based GP. She came to the UK to study medicine from Indonesia and has since gained British Citizenship.

Karen Bianchi

Karen Bianchi

Karen is a social worker who leads the Pause provision for Durham Council, supporting young mothers who have had children taken into care. She has previously worked with Care Leavers.

Mark Buttanshaw

Mark Buttanshaw

Mark previously worked for the larger charity, Oasis Community Housing, and has experience of fundraising and policy writing.

Norman Urwin

Norman Urwin

Norman has had 40 years of experience teaching woodwork and metalwork in schools up to Deputy Headteacher level.

Dr Paul Morley

Dr Paul Morley

Chair

Paul is a Chartered Engineer with experience as a trustee of other charities.

Mike Elliot

Mike Elliot

Board Advisor

Mike has experience as a Chartered Accountant and Finance Director and acts as a Finance Business Partner and Board Adviser at our Finance Steering Group and Trustee Meetings.

Senior Management

Dan Northover

Dan Northover

Chief Executive Officer

Dan (a qualified Chartered Accountant of 11 years) founded Handcrafted and developed it as a part-time volunteer whilst working a senior finance role in the public sector. He’s since completed an MBA, but says he’s probably learned more from fostering and adopting several children, who have taught him about the immense strength people need to overcome traumatic situations in their lives.

John Hinton

John Hinton

Operations Director

John has been our Operations Director since 2016. Throughout his career he has successfully managed a diverse selection of projects across a range of organisations in the UK and abroad.

Seymour Jacklin

Seymour Jacklin

Senior Support Co-ordinator

Seymour previously worked as a psychiatric nurse. He uses this experience to inform the development and training of our support approach.

Ruth Crichton

Ruth Crichton

Women’s Work Co-ordinator

Ruth specialises in supporting people with experience of domestic abuse, drawing on her lived experience. She has established four protected women’s only groups and works to ensure their needs are all met.

Harry Jennings

Harry Jennings

Director for Young People

Harry pioneered and leads our work with care leavers, asylum-seekers and refugees. He has built a strong relationship with the Young People’s Services in Durham and Gateshead.

Jack Perrin

Jack Perrin

Business Development Manager

Jack manages our Business Development team which encompasses funding, strategy, systems, communications and finances. He comes from a background in Mathematics and joined Handcrafted in 2023 on our Graduate Programme.

Image depicting someone helping another person up a mountain

Testimonials

I have referred a number of offenders to Handcrafted.  The offenders can attend the project several times per week if they wish to, if not daily. This means that they have some where to go and something constructive to do with their time. They can learn new skills or continue to develop skills they already have. They are given the opportunity to try projects they would probably never have considered themselves able to do.

They all take great pride in the items they produce and some have expressed interest in forming their own small businesses on the back of the skills they have learned.

Most of my offenders have then begun to work on their own projects outside of Handcrafted, for example, one produced a bench for a new nature reserve. The offender stated that he feels he has left a legacy for other people to benefit from. Again, this gives them something constructive to do with their time, gives them a sense of pride and self worth. All of this is extremely positive for the offender and helps to deter from further offending.

Lesley G, Durham Constabulary