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.

Vic has joined as Community Engagement Manager to cover Emily’s Maternity leave

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 sessions.

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.

Fraisia has been a resident of Easton for 19 years. She is passionate about sharing opportunities and assisting people with accessing what they need. She is an 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.

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.

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.

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.

Our Centre Assistants are the friendly face on reception that greets you when you come into Easton Community Centre. They support with room setup and are also on hand to signpost you to advice services and local support agencies. They can help with photocopying, scanning and printing. Current Centre Assistants are: Marcia Walker, Kirsty Allan, Cara Peters, Jody Forrester, Yeshii Selassie, Rani Kaur and Martha Hill.

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.

Rani has been working as a Centre Assistant since 2021 and enjoys being in the busy community centre. She enjoys meeting people and the busy atmosphere of the centre.

Katya is a Centre Assistant at Easton Community Centre

Hero joined our team in 2021, helping Nirmal out in the kitchen on and casual basis. she is now a familiar face at the playground, providing children and families with delicious meals.

Carlo works as a Playworker

Rosie is a Playworker at Felix Road Adventure Playground

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.

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.”

Jess is a resident of Barton Hill and has been a trustee of Eastside Community Trust since 2022. She is a qualified accountant and has a wealth of experience as a finance director in small to medium organisations, especially charities. She particularly enjoys making better use of technology to implement safe and efficient finance processes. She is really excited to be the first Treasurer of the merged Trust.

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.

Azmina joined the board in February 2023. Azmina grew up in Easton and lives there today – her family founded Sweetmart and she has been involved in community work for as long as she can remember. Azmina is a Family Support Worker at City Academy and as a mother of two boys, she is passionate about young people having opportunities to thrive. She is interested in issues of inclusion and diversity in our neighbourhood and beyond and is keen to do lots of work in partnership with Eastside Community Trust. Azmina is also an energetic and talented Bollywood dance instructor currently running classes at Easton Community Centre.

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!

Muna joined our board in February 2023. She is a mum of three children, a community health advocate as well as a community champion and runs parenting workshops. She is a Somali, Arabic and English interpreter and joined the board because she wanted the opportunity to learn new things and get more involved in the management of charities. She is looking forward to bringing her ideas and seeing things from a new perspective.