Sandra Link - Chair
Sandra is a founding member of the charity and appointed to the board in 2018, following a long career in public services.
Having graduated from Keele University in 1982 Sandra commenced a career as a Probation Officer and spent 35 years working in Criminal Justice. She was the Assistant Chief Probation Officer for Cheshire Probation Service and Director of Transformation for Cheshire and Greater Manchester Community Rehabilitation Company.
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Sandra has a Master’s Degree in Strategic Management and has significant experience of working on and chairing strategic boards across Cheshire and Greater Manchester.
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She possesses a detailed knowledge of Cheshire East.
Lou Vasey - Trustee
In January 2018 Lou went to the Saturday Kitchen, at that time operating out of St Stephens Church, to donate some food for the ‘take away’ bags. She was asked to stay that night and help with the washing up, and hasn’t left since, being appointed to the board of Trustees in August 2020.
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Lou has worked for more than thirty years in the advertising industry, being responsible for the production of broadcast commercials in places as diverse as Mount Rushmore, Hong Kong Harbour, and the Victorian sewers under Bolton.
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She has worked continually in the Saturday Kitchen forming trusting relationships with those that attend, firmly believing that vulnerable and/or homeless is what they are, not who they are and that it is important not just to look at people, but also look out for them.
Julie Kay - Trustee
Julie joined Chance Changing Lives when the charity was first established, initially as an active volunteer and more recently in 2020, she was appointed to the Board of Trustees.
Julie is native of Crewe and has a great deal of local knowledge and experience of the local communities and their respective issues. She has undertaken a range of voluntary work over many years, much of which has been with vulnerable adults and young people. In particular Julie has specialist knowledge of supporting visually impaired children and young adults. Additionally, she has worked one night a week on the Saturday Kitchen project, working with those who were homeless/rough sleepers in Crewe.
Julie is a key link in the Social Supermarket and supports a number of service users.
Richard Stakes - Trustee
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Richard joined Chance Changing Lives as a trustee in 2020.
By trade Richard is a Maths teacher. He taught in schools and colleges in the North West, before basing himself at Keele University, still working in Maths Education.
Richard was a volunteer in Tanzania for three years, teaching A-level Maths in government schools under the auspices of VSO.
Richard's many skills include IT and finances, and he also does some washing-up at the Saturday kitchen whenever he gets the chance. He enjoys most sport (sadly it's mostly watching now), but his lifelong love (for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer) has always been the Bradford Bulls Rugby League team.
Darren Evans - Trustee
Originally from Pontypridd in south Wales Darren left school at 16. He began working for his Local Authority straight away and continued to do so in highways, community development, policy and social care, eventually finishing his LA career as the Director of Social Care in Staffordshire.
Darren comes from an extremely modest background and strongly believes that education and improving your skillset is a very positive way to improve one's circumstances.
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Darren is a volunteer vaccinator for St John's Ambulance and until recently was working at Sandbach foodbank.
His interests are running, swimming, golf, and football.
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Juliette Boland - Trustee
Juliette became a trustee with Chance Changing Lives in November 2024, her current professional role is with West Cheshire Credit Union as a Community Outreach Officer. Juliette brings valuable experience to the charity in financial education and community engagement. Juliette’s expertise in helping individuals manage personal finances, access affordable credit solutions, and develop sustainable budgeting strategies enhances the ability of Chance to provide practical, actionable advice.
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Juliette is passionate about fostering financial literacy and is committed to making a positive impact on the lives of those facing debt-related challenges.
Prior to commencing the Trustee role, Juliette was a valued member of the Chance volunteer team and spent a great deal of her time supporting service users in the Saturday Kitchen.
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Carol Walker - Saturday Service Manager
In November 2023 we were pleased to welcome Carol Walker to the position of Saturday Service Manager.
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Carol began her career as a children's social worker and later worked in the community, supporting troubled teenagers, young adults, and their families.
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During her working life Carol has also ventured into logistics, sales planning, and even spent time as a pub landlord. One of her big passions is bringing groups of people together, especially over home cooked food.
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Originally from Cheshire, Carol moved to the South where she started and raised her family, returning to Crewe in 2021.
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Simon Tomkinson - Van Driver and Logistics Coordinator
Simon joined the Chance Changing Lives team in 2024 following a long career with BT.
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Starting out as a sixteen-year-old apprentice with the then GPO, during his time at BT he worked installing and maintaining Telephone Exchanges, as an Engineering Instructor teaching at BT Central Training School in Yarnfield, and as a Project Manager working all over the UK and also abroad in Dubai and Ghana.
He has always enjoyed traveling, combining his love of motorcycling with trips aboard. Having now hung up the helmet and boots he is still an avid spectator of motorcycle racing, albeit from the comfort of the armchair!
As the CCL Driver, Simon enjoys being able to support the day-to-day operations of the Community pantry and Saturday Kitchen, ensuring food donations and supplies are collected and delivered as required.
A local boy, Simon grew up in Shavington, near Crewe and has lived in the area most of his life.
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Jenny McKeown - Administrative Officer
After a busy few years as a full time Mum of three, part time Administrator and Volunteer for her location preschool, Jenny joined Chance Changing Lives as Administrative Officer in July 2022.
Coming from a background in Recruitment, HR and business administration, Jenny brings with her a wealth of experience in payroll, recruitment, meeting planning and reporting, the use of spreadsheets and databases. Jenny's organisational skills are faultless, and she has assisted in making our systems more logical and robust.
She is passionate about the work that Chance does and applied for the role as she wanted to be part of something that made a difference to others.
We feel very lucky to have Jenny, her professionalism and disposition enable the charity to do exactly that.
Outside of work she loves keeping busy with her three children and their love of playing different sports.
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Martyn Johnson - General Manager
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Following early retirement from a long career in a customer service environment, Martyn joined Chance as a volunteer in March 2023.
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He started out as a relief van driver and Saturday Kitchen volunteer, then came work at the Community Pantry and, in December 2023, Martyn was appointed to the role of General Manager.
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Martyn brings a wealth of experience to the charity including people management, strategic program management and strong problem-solving skills.
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Martyn is passionate about our service users and volunteers and works tirelessly to ensure everyone has an exemplary experience with Chance Changing Lives. He leads our team of salaried staff, each one equally dedicated to the Charity and its service users.
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Originally from Nottingham, Martyn is married to Laura and has been living in Crewe since 2020. As such he considers himself very much an adopted son of the town and is extremely proud to be an active member of the local community.
