Adam Fletcher

“Being a Trustee is an extremely rewarding and fulfilling role – I’m helping to make sure children achieve their full potential. I have developed new skills and improved on existing ones, such as; strategic planning, collaborative working and above all gained a greater understanding of the challenges faced by families in our society. I became a Trustee because I care about our community and want to make a positive impact to children’s lives, after all, they are our future! As a local employer, I am passionate about insuring education equips children with the skills needed to be a part of a modern work force.

I have been able to use my professional legal knowledge and experience to offer a different perspective to the board, it’s not all about experience in education, the Trust Board needs a diverse range of expertise. We require people from all walks of life to provide valuable input to inspire our future generation and help open up new opportunities and experiences for our children”.

John Hughes

“I am a founding member of Castleford Academy Trust.  The Trust was formed with the aim of giving the pupils a first class education and a good start in life.  I started off as governor when my boys started at school , now one of my Grandkids is at a school in the trust!  I have always worked towards our community getting the best for its residents, despite it being a deprived area and the loss of so many well paid jobs in the past. By being a Trustee I can help the community further and impact on children’s life chances by ensuring they reach their full potential.

I have a wealth of knowledge and experiences that I bring to the board, including 30 years as a governor, 10 years as union convenor including budgeting and working with local councillors to improve our community as Vice Chair of our local labour ward amongst others. My future aims are to see every pupil in the trust attend an outstanding school. Just as important they are equipped and educated for life after school”.

John Iveson

“Being a Trustee enables me to apply my skills in a different environment; with people from different industries, with different personalities and skill sets.   I also have the satisfaction of being able to learn from other trustees and gain new insights from seeing how individuals with different backgrounds respond to situations and make decisions.  As a Trustee I have found it to be extremely rewarding seeing all our work yielding positive results. 

I am working with a team of like-minded people and our decisions help to make a meaningful impact on children’s lives and futures.  I believe education is not just about exam results it’s about our children learning a wide variety of life skills which will help them achieve their ambitions”. 

Jonathon Hughes

“I have found becoming a Trustee to be both challenging and rewarding, and I am honoured to be playing a small part in supporting children in the local community in reaching their full potential. The role has allowed me to increase my knowledge into a new sector and apply my experience in strategy, leadership, communications and corporate governance in a completely new setting. I became a Trustee because I care about the local community and want to play a role in ensuring all children get the best possible opportunities in life. 

As a local employer, I am also passionate about inspiring and supporting the next generation who will drive our business forward in the years to come. I was concerned that my lack of education sector experience would be a problem, but the team have been very welcoming and supportive and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with such a dedicated team”. 

Marie Hunter

“I feel very honoured to be a trustee and involved in shaping the futures of our academies and the lives of the pupils. I am passionate that education is not only about examination results ( although important) but is about providing a pathway for our pupils to realise their full potential whilst equipping them with what they need to thrive beyond school.

Having had a long career in education I felt I still wanted to utilise skills and knowledge I had gained to continue to make a difference.  Working with an amazing team of professionals within the academies allows me to keep up to date and be involved in many aspects of education. Being part of the trust board allows me to work with people from diverse backgrounds, with different perspectives and experiences which compliments  and strengthens our existing skill sets and expertise. It is certainly an interesting and rewarding role!”