For the last 210 days I have had the great privilege of being Chief Executive here at CHADD, having taken over from Jane Clarke who retired at Christmas. Jane had put her heart and soul in to building this fantastic organisation working to improve people’s lives in Dudley over many decades. It is indeed an honour to be here leading CHADD in to the next phase.
What struck me about CHADD is that so much of our work, and the full range of the vital services we provide is unfamiliar and relatively unknown to many people and to many of our stakeholders in Dudley. I hope this new website and our blog posts will help to reveal more about what we do and our passion to see lives transformed.
In the 200 odd days that I have been here, I have met a lot of people – so many names and faces to remember! People are very much at the heart of CHADD. We work with lots of people experiencing challenging times and difficult circumstances, and who need help to live independently or need help to rebuild and recover. Their stories, experiences and aspirations are important and reveal that we have more in common with each other than we realise.
We have a brilliant team of dedicated staff working with us, who all have their own stories of how they came to be here and why they love their job. Their passion for people is infectious and inspiring. They are also quite lively and bring a lot of fun and laughter to their work.
Photobombing the CEO
We love being part of Dudley’s vibrant voluntary sector – there are so many stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
We want to tell some of the stories of our people through sharing the ‘Faces of CHADD’ – we hope you find it as inspiring as we do.
Whether it is through providing support, housing, training, outreach or care, I believe it is through connecting with people and their stories that makes the beginning of seeing lives transformed.
Anna Gillespie – Chief Executive
Faces of CHADD
Betty’s Story
‘It’s Annie really – Annie Elizabeth but they all call me Betty. I’ve lived here 12-months in September. I lived down Gospel End but I couldn’t manage the stairs anymore so I moved here. The best thing about living here is my friends. I’ve known some of them for years and now we live together and my daughter is just down the road with my 2 grandchildren. These parties remind me of the celebrations we used to have when we were young. My Dad used to dress the horses up for May Day. When I was 9 we dressed a goat up and we went to Bantock Park to collect for the Red Cross. My Dad made the harness for the goat, they used to call him the King of Gornal. Every time I go to Sedgley they still recognise me ‘hey, you’re Sam Jeavon’s daughter aren’t you’.
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