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Meet the Team

Our Gympanzees Team

This is our Gympanzees team. These are the people who are going to ensure that we raise the vital funds needed to transform our site into the UK’s first fully accessible exercise, play and social centre for disabled children and young people. Along the way, we’re also expanding our Lending Library to support thousands of families before the centre opens.

Together we will #MakeItHappen.

The Team
Our Trustees
Our Committees

Our Mission

To enable every disabled child and young person from ​0-25 years old in the UK to access regular exercise, play and friendship, to improve their physical and mental health and wellbeing, and to take their families out of isolation.

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Stephanie Wheen – Founder and CEO

Stephanie founded Gympanzees in 2016 after learning of the lack of accessible options for exercise and play for disabled children. Gympanzees has grown from an idea to the recent purchase of a 43,000 sqft building and the launch of a £8m capital appeal to transform it into the UK’s first fully inclusive leisure facility for disabled children. Gympanzees has won a host of awards, including a Queen’s Award for Innovation, and Stephanie has won a Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award, one of only two awarded in Bristol. Prior to founding Gympanzees, Stephanie worked as a disabled children’s physiotherapist for 20 years in the NHS and founded a private children’s physiotherapy practice in Bristol from 2012-2022.

Read Stephanie’s blog on why Gympanzees started

Connect with Stephanie on LinkedIn
Fran Garland - Chief Operations Officer

Connect with Fran on LinkedIn

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Jack Lewis - Director of Fundraising

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Sophie Brown - Finance Director

Connect with Sophie on LinkedIn

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Kimberley Britton - Head of Marketing

Connect with Kim on LinkedIn

Paul Tasman - Grants and Statutory Fundraising Manager

Connect with Paul on LinkedIn

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Victoria Noël - Trusts and Foundations Manager

Connect with Victoria on LinkedIn

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Emily Thorn - Centre Manager

Connect with Emily on LinkedIn

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Alastair Lee - Business and Development Manager

Connect with Alastair on LinkedIn

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Leila Rogers - Marketing and Lending Library Officer

Connect with Leila on LinkedIn

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Chloe Collins - Digital Marketing Officer

Connect with Chloe on LinkedIn

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Jenny Davies - Corporate and Community Fundraising Officer

Connect with Jenny on LinkedIn

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Hannah Penfold - Events & Corporate Fundraising Officer

Connect with Hannah on LinkedIn

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Shereen Powell - Finance Assistant

Connect with Shereen on LinkedIn

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Lucy Spielberg - Family Liaison Officer

Connect with Lucy on LinkedIn

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Sally Howse - Executive Secretary

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Helen Burclaff - HR Manager

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Rebecca Oates - Interim Research and Impact Manager

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Chair - Kelvin Jones - COO at DPP
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Secretary - Liz Scholey - Retired GP
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Treasurer - Richard Cartwright - Partner at Saffrey
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Dr. Mark Mason MBE - Entrepreneur
Luigi De Luca - Professor at Cardiff University
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Judith Gray - Chief People Officer at BSW Hospitals Group
Parent Trustee - Emma Wilson

Our Ambassadors

Robert Gore-Langdon - Freelance writer, Journalist and Author
Charles Wylde - Trustee and Governor for several Bristol organisations

Property Committee

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Tanya Voisey - Bsc (Hons) PG Dip NEBOSH
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Alan Northen - MRICS
Alex Hunt - Director at Q Works

Commercial Property Committee

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Advisor - David Mace - Managing Director at Baylis Estates
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Advisor - Simon Bennett - Director at Altitude Investments
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Advisor - Jayne Rixon - Director at Burston Cook
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Advisor - Bill Marshall CEO at Just Good Solutions
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Advisor - Stephen Davies Director at Padmanor Investments Limited
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Advisor - Spencer Crowder
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Advisor - Martyn Jones

Fundraising Committee

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Jon Bonnick
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Maggie Glastonbury - CEO and Founder Sunrise Foundation CIO
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Dr. Mark Mason MBE - Entrepreneur
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Paul Davis - Chairman at Charon Holdings Ltd
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Pete Lockett - Entrepreneur at Angel Investors Bristol
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Alison Cooper
Natasha Mckenzie - CEO at Talisman Sparro
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Tony Lock - Experienced Chair and CEO
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Mimi Avery - Speaker and Presenter
David Constantine MBE - Founder Director at Freedom Through Design

Service Delivery Committee

Emma Wilson
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Anna Gallagher
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Esther White
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Helen Hudson
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Tom Routley
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Dayna Wetherall
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Laura Brown
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Anna Blanchard
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Lauren White
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Ellie Kelly
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Emily Stephens
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Georgina Pike
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Emily Preston

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