Jon Carling, Catalyst’s new CEO, introduces himself…
I’m really enthusiastic about joining Catalyst this week. I’m a local resident, and I’ve previously worked in Durham, Middlesbrough and across the North East in the public sector, and a few years back I spent three years as Chief Executive of a voluntary sector infrastructure organisation in North Yorkshire. I know how important the voluntary and community sector is in Stockton.
Over the last few weeks I have met (well, video-linked to!) so many people running organisations which do so much to support their community, whether that be a neighbourhood or a demographic group. What stands out is the passion they all have expressed for what they do. Even in these difficult times, no one seems remotely deterred from making a difference. In fact, the awfulness of COVID19 makes people even more determined to do their best for their community.
I see Catalyst’s role as a voice for the sector, and as an enabler, helping local charities to do the work that they do. A key element of this will be for us to have a really good, detailed understanding of the issues Stockton faces, as a whole and for each community. I want us to bring together people from all sectors and to use that intelligence to develop projects to address those needs. Working together we can deal with them, and we can attract resources from the public sector, the lottery, and anybody else who is able to provide support.
There are a lot more people that I need to get to know in my new job. If you’d like a chat, please drop me an email to jon.carling@catalyststockton.org and I’ll get back to you.