Who we are
Local Welcome is passionate about bringing newcomers together to cook, eat, and make new friends.
We’re a nationwide organisation led by members and supported by a core team, trustees, advisors and alumni.
Core team
Our small core team supports members to launch their groups, host meals and grow.
Celia Mellow
Product & Operations
Celia studied Global Development with Sociology at the University of Derby. As Student Action for Refugees society president, she assisted in the launch of our first Derby group in 2017, and joined the team full-time after graduating. In her spare time, Celia plays dodgeball and is a trustee for a local woodland conservation charity.
Hannah Ozsanlav
Member Support & Engagement
Hannah is an English graduate of the University of Sussex, where she specialised in postcolonial theory and literature. Since 2020, she has supported displaced people through various charities that focus on improving English language skills, befriending, and reducing social isolation. Hannah is a project coordinator at another charity, and enjoys art-related activities in her spare time.
Andrew Chaplin
Finance
Andrew is a graduate of the Teach First Leadership Development Programme (primary). Before joining Local Welcome in 2017 he had three years’ experience in the voluntary sector, including working alongside refugees and displaced communities in the West Bank and South Africa. Andrew is currently a trustee of two other charities both with financial remits.
Rhiannon Prideaux
Funding
Rhiannon has been working in the Charity Sector for over 9 years before joining Local Welcome. She has MSc in International Development and has managed projects supporting refugees and displaced people in the UK and Peru. She has fundraised for a number of small charities based across the UK.
Trustees
Mark Roe
Trustee
Mark is currently an executive director at an investment bank, specialising in culture, behavioural risk and risk management. Prior to this Mark worked across the corporate, public and voluntary sectors on issues relating to regulatory compliance, community safety, and social care.
Nick Gretton
Chair
Nick is an experienced finance director and board member who loves to help organisations make an impact. He has worked for a number of technology businesses and has helped many non-profit organisations, in the fields of education, sustainability and faith-based projects.
Paul Amann
Trustee (and Liverpool leader)
Paul works in local government and has long championed equality and human rights as a trade union activist. He has also worked as a successful bid writer in the charity sector. Paul has also been a leader for his local meals in Liverpool since 2019.
Claire Price
Trustee (and Cardiff leader)
Claire is an experienced executive leader and leader of schools. She has spent her career serving disadvantaged communities and making sure all people, especially the most marginalised, have a voice in shaping what happens to them. Claire is also a leader for her local meals in Cardiff.
Annie Turnbull
Trustee (and Derby member)
Annie has spent almost 20 years in the charity sector and is currently a senior leader in fundraising at Oxfam GB. She has worked on international humanitarian, development and peacebuilding programmes in East, Central and West Africa, South-East Asia and the Middle East, and has significant experience of working to support communities displaced by conflict and disaster.
If you're excited by our vision and mission, and can help us meet it by being a trustee please contact us.
Advisors and Alumni
Nasser Youssef
Nasser is a board member of the Syrian Arab Association in the UK and Deputy Head teacher at The Syrian Community School in London. He has a background in commercial and private banking and investment consultancy. Nasser served as Local Welcome's chair of trustees 2019-2020.
Kylie Havelock
Kylie is an experienced digital product specialist, who helps equity-driven organisations deliver inclusive public services. She has founded and led digital teams in U.K government, Canadian federal government, and the national Citizens Advice charity. Kylie is also a Clore Social Leadership Fellow.
Clare Young
Clare (Chair 2020-2024) is a delivery specialist and has extensive experience building and leading teams in the public and charity sectors. She is currently delivery director at leading independent digital agency, dxw, and has previously worked at Comic Relief, the Home Office and the Government Digital Service.
Ben Pollard
Ben founded Local Welcome in 2015 with Nasser. Previously, Ben worked with displaced communities in Bangladesh, Darfur, and Zimbabwe before co-founding the Citizens UK campaign that increased Syrian refugee resettlement to the UK in 2015. He is now an ADHD coach.
Tom Baker
Tom is the Director of Campaigns and Organising at Save the Children UK. He was recently listed among the ten most influential people in campaigns, advocacy, policy and public affairs by The Right Ethos.
Teem Khan
Teem Khan has been a European Operation Manager at Ben & Jerry's and is an active campaigner in the LGBTQ & refugee community. Teem ran Local Welcome meals in London in 2017-18.
James Darling
James has over 10 years of experience in the digital sector. He has been Technical Architect of the Labour Party, Head of Software Development at Ministry of Justice, Technical Lead at GOV.UK and Creative Technologist at design consultancy BERG. James also co-founded Rewired State.
