Karen became Chair of Trustees in 2022, having previously been Vice Chair. Karen is the sister of one of the people we support, he has lived at Stallcombe for 40 years, so Karen has known about the charity for this time. 

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Karen loves to walk with friends along the river at Otterton or along the coast at Exmouth and Budleigh. Karen also enjoys going to concerts and recently had the opportunity to see two of her favourites, Curtis Stigers and Fisherman's Friends.

Karen works part time at a local primary school as a teaching assistant- a job she enjoys very much! 

Nicky is a seasoned career and business coach with 25 years of experience in recruitment and coaching. Nicky's journey began in 1998, driven by a passion for helping individuals follow their career paths.

Nicky founded and led a successful recruitment business, always prioritising the happiness of candidates and clients. Nicky's empathetic nature and ability to make people feel at ease has been her passion.

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 In 2017, Nicky launched Pi Society, a matchmaking service fostering genuine connections, resulting in over 200 relationships and five marriages.

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Currently, Nicky's focus is on career and business coaching, driven by a passion for helping people achieve their dreams.

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Nicky's work and passions for helping businesses and people aligns perfectly with the mission of Stallcombe Community.  As a trustee,Nicky is committed to supporting the board in fostering positive changes for individuals with learning disabilities, ensuring they lead fulfilling and enriched lives

Chris began his working life as an agricultural advisor to the newly independent Government of Zambia, Chris' son was born there but has been happily living at Stallcombe for nearly 30 years! 

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When Chris returned to the UK he re-trained as a geography teacher and taught in Cornwall. Chris' professional life then took a new turn  and he set up and ran a network of term-time and holiday centres in the UK and abroad. Offering courses to international students in local culture and English language and in various activities such as sports, sailing, film making and visual arts.  

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Chris has been a trustee on and off for at least 20 years and every day is thankful that the families social worker found a place at Stallcombe for their son. 

Andy joined the team at Stallcombe in August 2022 following a 40 year career with NatWest Bank where his final role, as a Relationship Director in the healthcare sector, gave him the opportunity to support and advise a variety of healthcare businesses across Devon.

Despite having worked here for only a relatively short time, Andy was delighted to have been elected as Staff Trustee and is looking forward to helping to shape Stallcombe’s future by bringing the views and perspectives of his colleagues, together with the experience gained throughout his banking career, to our Board meetings.

Tom grew up in mid Devon and boomeranged back to Exeter in 2019 via London and Bath. He is a qualified accountant having trained and qualified across several internationally trading businesses.

More recently he worked at the Devon Air Ambulance; a charity he is still a vocal advocate for. He currently works at the MET Office supporting the Supercomputer programme.

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 Tom was drawn to Stallcombe Community due to a personal resonance of a family member with complex needs and his previous work as a support worker.

Outside of work his interests include walking the South West Coast Path with his husband and dog (there are a good few hundred miles to go), generally keeping active, baking and a good bottle of wine.

Tom lives with his wife  and 3 children on the family farm in Templeton (Tiverton). Tom grew up in North West London and developed a keen interest in music at school. This led to him studying sitar in India and doing a music degree in London. In his early career, he composed music for TV and contemporary dance as well as producing his own music. It was around this time that he was headhunted by Apple to join as a music software specialist.

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Tom spent 10 years at Apple in a variety of roles. In 2007, Tom got married and decided to relocate to Exeter, looking for a quieter life and a place where him and his wife could bring up a young family. They sold up in London and eventually moved to a farm just outside Tiverton. At this point, Tom phased away from Apple towards a new career in farming and has built a business rearing Wagyu cattle.

He studied agricultural management at Bicton College as a mature student and became a trustee after graduating. Alongside this, Tom joined Age UK as an information and advice officer. A decision that changed the trajectory of his life and led to an MBA at Exeter University and a new focus on Management Consultancy.

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Tom currently works for St James’s Place as an internal management consultant, running projects across the UK. In his spare time, Tom enjoys watching rugby, having played at county level, and treasures the 4 years he spent volunteering as a coach at Tiverton RFC. He enjoys spending time with his family and being outside in nature with the cattle.

When he gets a chance, he still likes to make electronic music. Tom is currently planning a sabbatical for his birthday when he will take some time out to go on a big adventure. On his return, he intends to start a new business (not sure what) and to travel extensively when the children have left home.

Renata has recently retired as CEO at CEDA, which is an Exeter based charity that supports disabled people by offering a wide range of opportunities. Renata worked for the
charity for 27 years and had been in the role of CEO for the last 18 years. The charity offers day opportunities to disabled adults and children; 1:1 support in the community; therapeutic support for neurodiverse individuals, their families and
professionals; Holiday, Afterschool and Saturday clubs for disabled children, as well as running a radio station, which is run by and for disabled people.

In her time as CEO the charity grew by 655%, staff numbers increased from 15 to over 120 and the number of people that we supported increased from 15 to around 250 each year.

During this time the charity generated over £2 million through
fundraising activities, which was used to set up services, create projects as well as supporting core costs.

Renata has been married for 37 years with three adult daughters and two granddaughters. Renata loves learning, walking, gardening, knitting and reading and
is looking forward to travelling now that she has retired.

Angie is an experienced facilities and risk manager who has been working with Devon Air Ambulance for nearly twelve years. This follows a long career in the RAF. She is also currently studying for a MSc in Risk Resilience and Crisis Manager with Portsmouth University.
After qualifying as a counsellor in 2017, Angie regularly volunteeredwith Devon Rape Crisis as a support worker and therapist. She has been a Trustee for the last couple of years with Clare’s Place in East Devon a charity set up to provide an affordable and fully accessible property for short breaks for people with disabilities and their families. The owners of the property (TheClare Milne Trust) took the difficult decision to sell the property at the end of 2024. She is keen tocontinue her Trustee journey.