Our Trustees

As a registered Charity our Board of Trustees have ultimate responsibility for running the organisation. The Trustees are voted onto the Board and we seek to have people with relevant skills needed to run the organisation such as personnel and accountancy but also those who represent the communities that we work with.

Ian Pears – Chair

REPRESENTATIVE MEMBER – HCB Group Solicitors

Ian qualified as a solicitor in 1986 and moved to Northampton in 1987.  He became a partner in a local firm of solicitors in 2005.  He specialises in personal injury claims and has a particular interest in inquest work.

Helen Reay – Vice Chair

Helen qualified as a solicitor in 1990 after serving a five-year commission in the Women’s Royal Naval Service. The majority of her legal work has been in the area of social welfare law, first in law centres, for a short period in private practice, and finally at Community Law Service between 2007 and 2016. Helen specialised in housing, acting for defendants in possession, eviction, anti-social behaviour and homelessness cases.

Helen semi-retired in 2016, but continued working with CLS part-time as one of the duty possession advisers at local County Courts and also worked as a clerk to school governing boards on a part time basis.

Helen has been involved with CLS in one form or another since 1991and served several terms on the management committee, including two periods as Chair.

Stephen Hibbert – Treasurer

Chesterfield born Stephen has spent most of his life in Northampton and working in the legal profession. Proud father of two and owner of a very loyal Patterdale, he has been a local councillor for 11 years, has led the housing portfolio and has a particular interest in homelessness and rough sleeping and all of the consequences to health and wellbeing. Stephen loves music and golf, when the weather let’s him! Stephen is the Councillor for Weston Favell and Abington Vale.

Morcea Walker

Morcea Walker MBE, Vice Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire, is a retired teacher and Education Advisor. She is a Governor of a local school and a trustee of a number of organisations including Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust, Northamptonshire Black History Association, Street Pastors and Healthwatch. She works, in a volunteering role within the community where she is able to give advice and support as appropriate, She has a passion to celebrate and value the diverse communities that make up the County of Northamptonshire

Sally Beardsworth

Sally is a retired Marie Curie nurse and also previously sat on Northamptonshire County Council’s adoption panel.  She is also sits on the panel of two local grant giving organizations – The Thomas White Foundation which gives educational grants to young people from Northampton and Kingsthorpe Manor, and Town Trust which gives grants to people from Kingsthorpe and surrounding areas. For many years Sally was a local Councillor and sat on many committees.

Keith Moffitt

Keith spent the majority of his career as an international marketing director in the food industry where he travelled widely. For the past 4 years he has been an associate lecturer in business studies at the local University.

Pauline Woodhouse 

Northampton born; Pauline has spent the majority of her life living and working in and around Northamptonshire. Pauline is a LLB Law Graduate and have spent the last 8+ years working in the Restorative Justice Practice field, employed as the Northamptonshire Court Based RJ Project Manager, Bedfordshire, and Leicestershire RJ Service Delivery Manager. Pauline currently worked as a Practice Delivery Manager to the end of June 2025.

Pauline is a proud Northamptontonian who has also always engaged meaningfully with voluntary work across the different business sectors, organisations and community groups providing support services to and on behalf of local people including at CLS.

Previous Project / Leadership Management involvement includes serving as the East Midlands YMCA Regional Representative, sitting at, and engaged with work at National level as a member of YMCA England Board of Trustees and sitting as a Member of the Northamptonshire Healthwatch Board whilst working as NBA & BME SRP Community Development Officer.

Current voluntary work involvement as a Co-Chair of West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) Women’s Forum, a Co-Chair of WNC Diverse Communities Forum and serving a second term as one of the Independent Co-Opted Members of the Northamptonshire Police Fire and Crime Panel Members.

Alan Aisbett 

Originally from Sunderland Alan has lived in Northamptonshire since 1998 and is a retired solicitor having worked for 35 years for international law firms in London.

His work in private practice was primarily focussed on finance and commercial law, principally involving central and local government bodies. Consequently, Alan has a strong understanding of how legislation applies to government and issues for individuals who may be dealing with government bodies. 

He both led and participated in large multi-professional teams delivering major Government investment programmes, financing and infrastructure projects for HM Treasury, Government Departments, local authorities, banks and plc’s providing considerable experience of team working.

Alan’s private sector governance experience has been in both corporate and not for profit sectors. He has worked with both government and plcs on corporate governance and financial regulation issues including advice on establishing and subsequent management of specialist housing investment bodies and housing associations. He has also advised the government, Regulator of Social Housing and Charity Commission on the regulatory regime for housing associations.

More recently for three years Alan was a volunteer adviser for two advice services agencies and spent ten years as a volunteer managing local and regional Women’s and Girls Football Leagues.