CORE TEAM
People are central to everything we do at Lippy People and we love meeting and working with people from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, much like our core team and our specialist project associates.
CEO and Founder - DAVE TOMALIN
Since my early childhood, social inclusion has been a constant commitment in my life. To this end, I have spent much of the last 40 years collaborating creatively with diverse people to overcome the barriers they identify that have led them to feel socially excluded, marginalised or ignored. I strongly believe that we can all affect positive personal and social change by using our stories of lived experience to connect with our emerging potential and with others.
My work within Lippy People involves leading the strategic development and management of the charity. I also lead some of our video storytelling and coaching projects, including ‘Life, Loss, Learning, Legacy’, where I work with the team to creatively coach people who experience significant life-changing events to produce and share video stories that reflect the learning they have taken from their experiences and to use this to achieve their emerging goals.
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Having worked as a journalist in the Middle East for over 12 years, I have always been passionate about telling the stories of those otherwise silenced in society.
After working in print and online journalism for years, I decided to return to Yorkshire with the aim of getting involved in social justice and social impact filmmaking.
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As soon as I learnt about Lippy People, I was keen to get involved with an organisation with such strong values. I am extremely excited about sharing stories of lived experience to help open discussions around important subjects and raise awareness of exclusion and other social injustices.
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As Learning and Development Manager for Lippy People, I gather and share the impacts of our work, and identify potential funding opportunities. I also work on bespoke filmmaking projects.
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In my spare time, I'm a keen Leeds fan, enjoy getting on the tennis court and love nothing more than watching (and occasionally playing) live music.
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Learning and Development Manager - PETER TOWNSON
OUR TRUSTEES
Chairman - ANTONIO FERRARA
As Chair of Lippy People Charitable Trust I continue a lifetime professional interest in
wanting to understand who creates the stories that actually reach us and touch us in a deep and meaningful way. I have always been interested in the stories of ordinary people, incorporating universal qualities and expressing heartfelt emotions that as individuals touch all of us but that we cannot always say for ourselves. Their stories often contain life-changing experiences and wisdom that I felt could have a lot of significance for a wider audience.
However, I have found throughout my career that I was not always seeing these precious elements reflected in the stories that reached me very often.
I found myself being drawn to what I felt was missing. Stories from the poor, from the disadvantaged, from those that lacked the skills, resources or confidence to reach out and tell their own stories, even if they had wanted to. Stories from people that we often ignore or consider ordinary when so much of our media is trying to portray the extra-ordinary, people who are the forgotten and invisible elements of society. Stories from people who think that their stories do not carry the weight or significance that is needed for them to be heard; stories that, if collected and told in the right way, might help to change things for the better.
Individual stories when banded together allow voices to be heard and powerful life events to resonate; that what you often experience on your own can provide comfort, inspiration and learning for others.
I have tried to be true to this aim as a professional filmmaker working within criminal justice for over 20 years. Working with Lippy People, I support and work with organisations, communities and individuals to articulate stories that deserve to be heard and can lead to positive change that helps all of us to feel better about ourselves and the communities we live in.
SUE SUTTON
I am a Bereaved Carer Support and Development Worker at Carers Leeds and also self employed as a counsellor and trainer. I was drawn to support Lippy People as a Trustee having witnessed the power of video story telling when Dave worked with bereaved carers at Carers Leeds. Carers and their needs are often ignored and they can feel isolated. The 4Ls Project gave them a voice.
I also have 10 years experience as a volunteer counsellor for a charity based in Bradford offering bereavement counselling. I served on their Training and Supervision Committee and Management Committee for a number of years.
As well as my counselling and bereavement experience I have 24 years experience working as senior administrator and clerk to governors in a small specialised higher education institution.
YVONNE UGARTE
I initially became involved with Lippy People after I first made a video story about my young son Emil’s life as part of the 4Ls project.
After this I decided to keep in touch with Lippy People and follow their work, before eventually becoming a trustee. Having become part of Lippy People through the 4L's project, it seemed a natural progression for me to become a trustee of something I totally believe in.
I’m a 62-year-old mum of three and work part time in a local primary school.
In my spare time, I’m a well-known performance poet and have featured on various podcasts, newspapers and on LeedsLive TV.
I recently had a book published and raised over £900 for Martin House Children 's Hospice where Emil was so lovingly cared for.