Kidz Klub Trustees

Here at Kidz Klub Leeds we are very grateful to have 4 amazing trustees who each bring different areas of expertise and skills to our team. Read on to find out a little bit more about each of them.

Steve Reilly - Chair of Trustees

Steve grew up on one of the estates in which Kidz Klub now works. He joined the pastoral team at Bridge Street Church, in Leeds, in 1986. He is now lead pastor of Bridge Community Church, which is one of the largest churches in Leeds/Yorkshire. Steve has been instrumental in the launch of numerous projects in Leeds as well as Kidz Klub, including Teen Challenge and Food Bank.

In his words:

I grew up on a council estate surrounded by poverty and a lack of opportunity. Expectations were low and there was little help to see beyond this. For me as a young boy of 7, help came in a way I would not have expected. Louis, a man from a local church came to where I was and started children’s work on the estate. Week in week out Louis and his team were there. The love and care shown by these people was life changing, giving me hope, purpose and direction. Not only did I learn about Jesus but I experienced his love through people who encouraged and invested in me over many years. As a 12 year old I came to faith and joined the church that had started the children’s work. Ministry has been core to my life as I have grown through years as a Youth Pastor and now, in my 50s, I have the privilege of serving as Senior Pastor to Bridge Community Church. Louis and several of his team are still walking with me today as members of our church. I don’t think for one minute that when they met me as a 7 year old they ever thought I would become their pastor!

Kidz klub is enabling stories like this to happen in the lives of over a 1000 children in the poorest areas of Leeds every week. These children need people who will go to where they are, people who will walk with them, love them, encourage and invest in them. We are asking you to partner with Kidz Klub and enable us to go further, to reach more , to take the life transforming message of the God who loves them deeply, the God whose plans are to give them hope and a future. 

Linda Harding

Linda Harding - Linda provided senior management for an NHS trust in Surrey, moving on to becoming a highly sought after Management Consultant. Linda was until recently instrumental in providing management and overall strategic direction for Kairos and World Outreach, Christian international development and mission organisations. Linda has a strong skill set in project management, strategy development and personnel development.

In her words:

I love the focus Kidz Klub has for the most vulnerable children in Leeds - that every child is valuable and special. All the Kidz Klub activities aim to offer a seamless service, seeing children in their home and schools, as well as in the large Klub event and the smaller Hubs; occasional outings and camps, and where possible offering support to the families too.  As a Trustee I believe Kidz Klub makes a unique contribution to children's lives, and I am continually impacted by the stories of changed lives over 20 years, made possible by an amazing team of staff and volunteers.

I seek to bring to Kidz Klub my experience of working in the public sector as a health professional and manager, and also with charities and with churches, in staff and leadership management and training, and strategy development, together with my  passion for excellence, and my love for children and families. 

Ann Weir

Ann Weir - Ann was a PSHE teacher for many years at what is now Garforth Academy. Ann then went on to be the Family and Children's pastor at St George's Church in Leeds, a demanding role with large numbers of children to work with and families to support. Presently Ann provides support and mentoring for churches and ministry teams across the UK and in Romania.

In her words:

I got involved because my background is in Children’s work. Both as a teacher and in my 7 years as a Children’s Pastor at St George’s church. I was approached to be involved and felt strongly that God was asking me to use my experience to encourage younger people who were doing children’s ministry just as I had been encouraged.

What makes you passionate about being involved with Kidz Klub?

The fact that there are children who may not even hear about the love of Jesus or have the opportunities without Kidz Klub. Also the endless patience, kindness and model of Jesus which I see demonstrated in the volunteers and their endless desire to make a difference in the lives of the children.

Suzie Hamlin

Suzie is a long standing supporter of Kidz Klub and runs a business strategy consultancy company. Prior to this Suzie was a Business Unit Director within a consulting firm, she has a lot of experience in developing communications programmes to enable corporate sales channels for clients such as BT Ignite, Ericsson, ePeopleserve and O2. Suzie has also worked with BT and BT Mobile within HR, Product Development and Marketing. She has a practice-based PhD from the University of Sheffield based around organisational change. Suzie specialises in the development of flexible, but systemised, ways of communicating and sharing information across organisations in any sphere; with the purpose of increasing productivity and encouraging collaborative working. Suzie advises the Leadership Team on areas of strategic development and has provided key input into the process of developing a new 10-year strategy. 

In her words:

I am becoming a Trustee of KK because I am passionate about young people, passionate about Leeds and passionate about the part they will play to transform the City. 

I believe that KidzKlub was conceived by God and the team do an incredible, essential job.  Using the skills, experience and time plus the connections I have, I want to help the team achieve their hopes and dreams in any way I can.

I have an extensive background in HR, marketing, communications and organisational dynamics.  I help organisations of any size to healthily go through any process of change, also to understand their internal dynamics more. 

I also facilitate and ‘hold spaces’ for any size of team/group to help unpack problems, pool wisdom, find a way forward etc.