Hope in the Community

Peter Southcombe - Director

Peter is an ordained minister and is Regeneration Director for the United Reformed Church Southern Synod. He took up the appointment in 2002 and has successfully secured funding for a number of churches and community groups. For the last 10 years he has been developing mission enabling in the South East and has written a number of training courses for mission strategy.     

He established an award winning social enterprise helping unemployed people into work through recycling projects and has gained experience in the EU funding arena. He is a creative entrepreneur who seeks to find imaginative ways forward for faith and community engagement.

Peter is now charged with helping faith communities discover and develop social enterprises in the local community. He completed an MA researching social enterprise within the United Reformed Church. He is on the Executive of the South East of England Faith Forum and Director of Hope in the Community Ltd. In response to the large number of government development programmes Peter’s work involves working with churches and local and regional government to develop true partnership and integrated community activities. He serves the URC on a Conference of European Churches committee in Brussels looking at Integration of the European Union. He has spoken at various conferences and led seminars on community development. He is a founding Director of an ecumenical social/theological project in Romania.

Peter chairs the North Kent Community Forum and was instrumental in securing £3.3m through the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to establish Community Enterprise Hubs within the Kent Thames Gateway. He is a board member on the Thames Gateway Kent Partnership.

Nigel Day - Director

Took early retirement from HSBC after 34 years service latterly as a Senior Manager in Essex having previously spent most of my career in Kent and Sussex. I had overall responsibility for two busy branches including all personal and business matters with a lending book running into many millions of pounds. Much of my time was spent visiting business customers in their premises and sites which has given me a very wide insight into commercial life.

Married to Margaret, we have a daughter who with her husband are Salvation Army officers and they have a two year old daughter. I also have a son who still lives at home!

I have been a member of the Salvation Army all my life and currently am a member of the leadership team at the Chatham Corps having until recently been the senior lay member for seven years.

Since 1999 I have been a Magistrate at the North Kent Bench sitting at Chatham and I am now a Court chairman with added responsibility. In the past I have been a Trustee of the Friends of Rochester Cathedral as well as a School Governor and a Trustee of various charities in Essex. I was appointed a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in 1991 for my services to the education of bank staff in Medway and Maidstone and for being President of the local branch of the Institute. For five years I was Treasurer of Churches Together in Medway until 2001.

 Martin Coe 

Simon Ellis - Director

David Walters - Director

Married with two grown up children.

Electrical Engineer - Just retired from full time employment after 33 years with one of the largest Electricity Companies in the U K. Have spent most of my life involved in construction projects from concept to completion and was recently involved as a Project Manager on a number of major infrastructure projects including Croydon Tramlink and modernisation and refurbishment work on some of the oldest stations on the London Underground.

Elder in the URC where I am involved at Synod and local church level. Am a very practical person and enjoy the challenge of seeing vision becoming a reality in the construction.

Hobbies DIY and Golf.

Alison West - PA

Alison joined Hope in the Community in February 2005 on a part time basis (she also has three other part time jobs). Most of the previous 15 years were spent in Scientific publishing latterly, as an Exhibitions Manager, but is grateful to be working locally and not getting up an some unearthly hour to commute to London! When not working Alison is involved in her local church and enjoys reading and socialising with friends. 

Kevin Jennings - Community Development Worker, Company Secretary  

Kevin received a degree in Engineering Science from Warwick University in 1980. He then moved to the Medway towns in Kent and worked for nearly 25 years as a systems and electronics engineer, hardware team leader and project manager for what is now BAE Systems Ltd. In early 2006 Kevin joined Hope in the Community Ltd as a CDW to work on the Neighbours4U project, part of the national Guide Neighbourhoods Programme. In this role, Kevin has been able to use his project management and team building skills to develop the project and support and mentor many local resident-led regeneration projects.

As a committed Christian, Kevin is finding that his faith is an important aspect of every part of his life. He seeks to serve and help others to the best of his ability, and is grateful for the opportunities afforded to him in his current role. In his local church he serves as an Elder and Trustee. Kevin preaches or leads services in local churches on a regular basis. He is also a trustee on the management committee of the local Playgroup – a registered charity. Kevin is married to Pat, and they have two children, both currently in further education. Hobbies include using IT as a tool, taking snaps with a camera, and occasionally using some of his basic DIY skills around the house. He also enjoys the occasional gentle walk in the peace and quite of the country-side.

Chris Walker - Consultant

Chris came into the voluntary sector after a career in the logistics industry, followed by a period as a management consultant and trainer.

He is currently involved in a project management role with a number of clients in the Kent, Medway and Thames Gateway areas.

In a voluntary capacity, he is also a Trustee and Secretary of a Christian Youth Trust, which employs detached Youth Workers in his home town of Sevenoaks.