Our people

Stacy’s involvement with Eastside Community Trust extends back to 2005 when she joined Community at Heart as a Communications Officer. Through various communications roles and then as Director of Up Our Street, Stacy has developed strong relationships in the community and a deep understanding of the local area. She believes in the power of community and the central role of public spaces, play and connections between neighbours to make positive change.  

Tom has played and worked on adventure playgrounds in Bristol, Cardiff and London and has a rich insight into their unique cultural heritage. He joined the team as Felix Road Adventure Playground’s Business Coordinator in 2016. He is passionate about children’s play, family friendly neighbourhoods and community development.

​Abiir has lived in Easton for 14 years and first became involved with Eastside Community Trust while volunteering in her neighbourhood. She began working with Up Our Street as a Community Researcher in 2019 and then became a Trainee Engagement Worker in 2020. Abiir is passionate about green spaces and is a trained cycle instructor. In her current role, she is involved in a number of activities helping residents to get involved in their community.

Araceli first became involved with Eastside Community Trust in 2013 as an Invisible Youth volunteer art and circus skills facilitator at Felix Road. In 2017 she joined our team as a playworker and in 2020 initiated the idea to start a podcast with the children that play at Felix Road. She supports the children create the Freedom Kids Podcast, where they express their thoughts, feelings and dreams.

Emily has been a part of the Eastside team since 2016, when she joined Up Our Street as Business Development Coordinator. She is a resident of Easton and manages our work on the Community Climate Action Project. Her background is in sustainable social enterprise, and she is passionate about finding ways of doing things in our local area that bring people together and build community ownership.

Gemma has been working as a playworker at Felix Road Adventure playground since 2019 and in 2022 became Senior Playworker. Gemma was instrumental in setting up Felix Girl’s and works at both Felix Girls and Felix Nights sessions.

Gemma is currently on maternity leave.

As a former trustee of Felix Road Adventure Playground, Jack has now joined the play team. Jack has many years experience working with young people and people with disabilities in a forest school environment. Jack is a resident of Easton.

Fraisia has been a resident of Easton for 19 years. She has many years of experience working in front of house roles, helping people to access services and giving a warm welcome. She is a passionate advocate for inclusivity and equality. As well as her role and at Eastside Community Trust, she is a director of Brick Project CIC, making collaborative community art, promoting creativity for all.

Nirmal began serving meals in the Felix Road Kitchen in 2012, and has filled various roles since then as a volunteer and later as a member of staff. Nirmal grew up just down the street from the playground, and her grandkids are now the third generation of her family to play at Felix Road. Whether she’s leading play sessions, or serving up delicious meals from the kitchen, Nirmal applies the same principles of hard work, dedication and care to all that she does. Nirmal is a fluent Hindi and Punjabi speaker.

Ollie has been working with the team at Felix Road Adventure Playground since 2018. He is responsible for ensuring the playground has a wide range of stimulating play opportunities, maintaining the equipment and resources, and helping children to feel welcome, safe and included. Ollie has been a playworker since the age of 18 and feels privileged to have settled into such an amazing adventure playground.

Kate has been involved with playwork for over 10 years. She has worked in parks, adventure playground, in schools and at events. She is passionate about open access, outdoor play in the community & is so glad to be in this role at Felix Road.

Marcia has worked for Eastside Community Trust since 2020 as a Centre Assistant at Easton Community Centre, on call for reception to cover events for the diverse community that makes up Easton and Lawrence Hill. Marcia also volunteers as a radio presenter for our community resident radio station BCfm and she enjoys being part of this inclusive team.

Stephen has been a member of the team since 2014, when he began working as a playworker at Felix Road. He brings a wide range of experience in youth and play work, and his consistency and deep commitment over the years has placed him very much at the heart of the playground community. He channels his love of sport, live music and drums into his play work, often setting up games of table tennis and badminton and helping to start music sessions at the playground.

Tracy joined the team in 2020. She has 19 years of experience working in Community Development as a volunteer and paid worker. She is passionate about people being involved in their local communities and having their voice heard. She is the project lead for our St Monicas funded network Eastside Connect.

Anna has been working in adventure playgrounds in Bristol since 2018 when she began working alongside photographer. Esther May Campbell on the child-led photography project ‘scrapbook’ based at St Pauls Adventure Playground. Anna is passionate creativity and play outside of school environment and currently works as photographer for Feestyle Bristol, a digital platform for creatives

Yeshii has been part of the team at Easton Community Centre since 2017 and was born and raised in Easton. She enjoys interacting with members of the community and her brother Jahluke is a well-known long standing volunteer at Felix Road Adventure Playground for many years. She enjoys working in the community where she grew up and played as a child herself.

Marya has lived in Easton since moving to the UK. She spent a lot of time on the playground growing up and started working as a Playworker at Felix Road Adventure Plyground since graduating. She has been loving it ever since!

Jhalak lives in Easton and joined the team as a Playworker in May 2022.

Aliya has been coming to Felix Road since she was a child and has a long standing connection to the playground. Aliya works as a Playworker.

We work in partnership with a number of Freelance practitioners to deliver project work and specialist services. The expertise these individuals bring to the organisation are highly valued.

Manu has lived in Easton for over 10 years and joined our Board in September 2020. He has worked as a teacher in Bristol for 10 years and runs a CIC called Nature Youth Connection and Education which aims to provide creative outdoor education and mentoring to young people from low income and ethnic minority backgrounds. He also sits on advisory boards for Bristol Green Capital Partnership, and National Trust South West. “All three organisations feel like they are part of my home, and part of the identity of the area. My daughter plays at Felix Road, I have danced at the community centre, and Up Our Street represents a genuine attempt at community cohesion. It is an honour to be Chair of the trustee board.”

Andy became a trustee of Eastside Community Trust in 2020, following six years on Felix Road Adventure Playground’s management committee. His involvement with Felix Road stretches back almost five decades to the 1970s, when he helped found the playground. Andy was also the founding chair of ACH (Ashley Community Housing) and continues to serve as the Director of Himlo, their training and employment programme. He is involved in a number of campaigns and community organisations across Bristol and has a wealth of experience in youth and community work, housing policy, local politics, education and the arts.

Alice joined the Eastside Community Trust board in 2020, following four years as a trustee for Felix Road Adventure Playground. She began volunteering with Felix Road soon after moving to Easton with her family in 2015, excited to share her time with an organisation that needed people to take part and contribute during a time of growth and change. Alice has worked in education, coaching, facilitation and professional development and is the founder of a coaching business to support mothers, MAMA Coaching. She also volunteers with Forest School Camps, runs a children’s café and has experience producing music festivals and as a touring musician.

Mandy is a resident of Barton Hill and has been a trustee of Eastside Community Trust since 2020. She first became involved with Felix Road as a local parent in 2013 when the playground was threatened with closure, and served as Chair from 2014 to 2020. In this role, Mandy worked tirelessly to turn the playground back into a vibrant, diverse hub of activity for local families, helping to secure a 30–year lease from Bristol City Council, developing the Children’s Kitchen, acting as volunteer centre manager and building partnerships locally, nationally and internationally.  

Noelle joined our Board in 2020 having been in the same role for Up Our Street since September 2016. She is an interim manager and consultant in Higher Education, with expertise in both data and information about students, and in giving students information and support. On evenings and weekends, she is active in Bristol’s community and voluntary sector and, over the years, she’s been involved in service delivery, community development, campaigning and much more!

Over the last 20 years, Zoe has worked within the benefits and employment sector advocating and supporting people with barriers to accessing employment. She specialises in supporting people with disabilities into employment and is passionate about advocating for employee rights and helping people to maximize their potential and fulfil their aspirations. Having recently become a mum to a baby boy and becoming a trustee for our newly merged organisation, she is more committed than ever to working with our community to help to promote equality and opportunities for everyone.