We have welcomed two new members to our Grapevine team in recent weeks and we thought you’d like to meet them!
First we have a new Senior Operations Officer, Lucy Gilbert, who joins us from working in the NHS and more recently as a Lived Experience Lead for a community interest company called Neurodiverse Connection.
As senior operations officer, Lucy is often the first person people will speak to when looking for support to strengthen their life, be part of their community or lead change.
Lucy brings lots of experience to the role; which alongside being a primary contact for people, will also see her streamlining our operational activities across all projects and programmes, premises, IT systems, day-to-day logistics and more.
Meet Lucy
What were you doing before you joined Grapevine?
I was working as a Lived Experience Lead at Neurodiverse Connection which is a community interest company set up to improve the lives of neurodivergent individuals. I worked a lot with the NHS to improve care and outcomes for autistic people in mental health services, delivering training and advising on quality improvement projects.
Before moving into lived experience roles a few years ago, I worked in the NHS in innovation and quality improvement.
What made you apply for your role?
I’ve long admired the work that Grapevine does and wanted to work somewhere with a person-centred and compassionate ethos. I’ve always enjoyed the operational elements of previous roles and wanted to be in the hub of a charity, making a positive impact to their work.
Grapevine senior operations officer, Lucy Gilbert
What experience do you bring (professional or personal, or both) that you hope will help?
I’ve had a varied career background spanning research, strategy, leadership and facilitation which has given me lots of skills which will come in handy as this role is quite diverse!
I’m also autistic myself with two neurodivergent children — which means I easily connect with and readily empathise with the people and communities Grapevine supports.
What are you most looking forward to about your job?
Getting stuck in to learning more about the work and ambitions of Grapevine, and helping to enable our teams to do their best work.
Do you have a fun fact, skill or something interesting about you that you could share with us?
I am a huge charity shop lover and almost everything I wear is a pre-loved bargain find! I’ve also really got into gardening recently and just turned my front garden into an allotment. So when I’m not working you can usually either find me in a charity shop or covered in soil!
Thank you Lucy!
Meet Grace
Next up we have our new Campaigns Coordinator, Grace Lewis.
Grace recorded this great video to introduce herself and is very much looking forward to working with Coventry Youth Activists on developing their campaigns and taking them to the next level.
Grace’s background in campaigning, community issues and local and national government will certainly be a big asset to the CYA team.
Get involved!
Coventry Youth Activists (CYA) are a group of disabled campaigners fighting for young disabled people’s right to a good life.
This year, CYA turn their attention, skills, passion and lived experience to launching a national campaign to challenge benefit changes that pose a serious threat to the futures of young disabled people across the UK.
Explore CYA’s website to learn more at www.covactivists.co.uk and contact them if you’re aged 13 to 25, passionate about disability justice and want to get involved. Please email covactivists@gmail.com.
