Tom Charnock (Chair)
Tom was born in Merseyside and completed an Engineering Apprenticeship on leaving school. He then worked in various industries including the motor, shipbuilding and toys. Tom moved to Peterborough with the toy industry and came to Swindon in 1980 to start Bluebird Toys. More recently Tom has been very involved with the Strategic Development of the town including a hotel for Honda and Keypoint. Tom is Chair of Stanton Fitzwarren Parish Council, a member of Wiltshire Association of Local Councils (WALC), Trustee of Voluntary Action Swindon and Chair of Swindon Strategic Partnership Overview & Monitoring Group.
Steve Henderson
Stephen is Chaplaincy Manager at The Great Western Hospital – Swindon and is currently serving as the Representative for Faith Communities on the Overview and Monitoring Group of the Swindon Strategic Partnership.
Prior to becoming a chaplain in 1998 he was a Baptist minister having held the office of Pastor in two congregations in Manchester and Newton Abbot in South Devon. He has always had a concern that the outworking of the religious life should result in seeing communities and the quality of life changed for the better. Stephen is passionately committed to seeing all interested parties in the life aspect of “Faith” networking and relating together in ways that will meet his concern.
Stephen is an enthusiastic supporter of the Strategic Partnership initiative and sees all the aspirations of the Swindon Community Strategy as affirming the highest hopes of the religious communities he is acquainted with. This present Strategic Partnership enterprise is he believes a real opportunity for local authority and Faith communities to collaborate for the highest good.
Stephen was born in Bristol in 1955 and enjoys travelling, his young, adult son and daughter and his wife Alison (last but not least!). He has lived in North Swindon since 1998 and also latterly enjoys the solitude of putting on an “Ipod” and downloading lots of good music and podcasts.
Dr Mike Pringle
Mike is Director of the Swindon Cultural Partnership. As a graduate of Swindon College of Art and resident of Old Town, he is passionate about both the arts and Swindon, and is determined that culture, of all descriptions, plays an increasingly important role in the town. Mike gained his doctorate working with Virtual Reality at the Royal Military College of Science just outside Swindon, at Shrivenham, and has previously been Director of AHDS Visual Arts and a Technical Manager with English Heritage. Mike also spent many years running his own business in design and illustration, producing books for Usborne and Collins Children's Division, and was Art Director for Pickwick Records in London. Mike has designed album covers for all the big names in music (Tchaikovsky, Beethoven etc.) and, perhaps more importantly, has worked with such household names as He-Man, Transformers and Thomas the Tank Engine.
Daniel Rose
Daniel has lived in Swindon his whole life, spending his childhood in Highworth and now living in Rodbourne. He has been Chair of Swindon’s well known Mechanics’ Institution Trust since 2006 and has been a Trustee since 2003. Prior to joining the Trust he was Chair of Swindon Youth Council and was heavily involved in youth work in the town and championing the voice of young people. He successfully brought the National Youth Council Conference to Swindon in 2002.
Daniel has held various positions in his working life starting as a youth worker for Swindon Borough Council and later a role in Social Work and then Swindon College. He has worked for The National Trust, whose HQ is in the town, for the last 5 years with a national remit concentrating on community engagement, youth participation, audience development and digital media.
Over the last 10 years he has kept up with a huge amount of voluntary work apart from campaigning for the Mechanics’, including being Chair of Swindon Youth Partnership; Vice-Chair of Swindon Participation Network and a member of the Participation Works Network England (PWNE) Advisory Board.
Daniel was invited to become a Fellow of the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) in 2009 recognising his work in the field of youth participation nationally.
Daniel brings his experience in public participation as well as knowledge of Swindon’s Voluntary and Community Sector to the Overview and Monitoring Group to ensure the community has real input into the Strategic Partnership.