We're Saying Goodbye to Bridget
As many of you will know, Bridget Hughes, our TSL Supporting Communities Lead has just retired. As TSL Kirklees’ longest-standing employee, the trustees and staff would like to take this opportunity to thank her for her 9 years of service, and wish her the very best in her retirement.
Bridget joined TSL in 2016, not long after it had become a charity, having previously worked for other third sector organisations (including Lifeline) and in social work. She led our very first project, Community Learning Works, and worked closely with our then Chair, Tom Taylor.
Tom said, ‘Bridget was great from the start. She was organised and got out and met loads of people and organisations, engaged them and listened. After years of us all fitting TSL work around our day jobs, having Bridget on board made a huge difference.’
As part of that work, Bridget developed a new model of community learning, bringing together and using expertise from larger local community and voluntary sector organisations as delivery partners, whilst empowering smaller local organisations to run fun and engaging activities in their local communities that brought learning to a much wider audience. This is an approach that’s still at the heart of much of TSL’s work today.
In more recent years, Bridget worked closely with our previous CEO, Val Johnson, and as Supporting Communities Lead, she continued to work with and support smaller grassroots groups across Kirklees. Her particular skill was in helping them to thrive and grow, whilst keeping admin and bureaucracy to a minimum, via initiatives such as People Helping People, Open to All, Well Connected, Health Your Way, Eat Well Move More, Ready2Learn, Here For You, Household Support Fund, Warm Spaces, Community Champions and Community Anchors. During Covid she went above and beyond to support Mutual Aid Groups, and help co-ordinate the emergency community response in Kirklees. She has been a regular judge at Thornton Lodge Action Group’s baking competitions, and even helped put together a community cookbook. More recently she was immortalised as an animated character in videos about the Community Conversations part of the Community Champions work.
I think we can all agree Bridget has been an integral part of TSL Kirklees and the wider Kirklees VCSE sector, and she will be missed.
For help or information about any of Bridget’s projects, please speak to the other members of the TSL Kirklees Supporting Communities team:
- Ibrar Hussain – TSL Kirklees Community Anchors Lead
- Steffi Rogers – TSL Kirklees Community Champions and Multiply Lead
- Christina Simpkin – TSL Kirklees Contracts Manager
Andy Petrie, Chair of Trustees on behalf of everyone at TSL Kirklees