Especially for those who want to see our “full” history
When our founder Jim McConnell stepped down from running FAITH in 1998, the project manager’s role was taken on by Paul Hughes.
Paul served us faithfully for several years. We moved to premises at Chatham Street in Reading which we shared with Christian Community Action (CCA) for about two and a half years.
From there we had a brief spell at the old Community Centre on the Coley Park estate which we shared with Parents and Children Together (PACT) but unfortunately that came to a rather smelly end as we were flooded with sewage on several occasions!
With Paul leaving in 2003, Chris Milton took over the day to day running and organised the move to new premises. Chris had joined FAITH as a volunteer during the summer of 2002, and oversaw the start of The Answer bible study, and also the running of the Stepping Stone project in Reading town centre.
Chris was able to undertake Theological study whilst with us. He left in July 2006 in order to complete the final year of his studies full time and went on to work with Faithworks in Bournemouth and subsequently has become a Prison Chaplain.
Recent previous staff
Amanda Bayley
Began with us back in 2012 as a volunteer and quickly showed her administrative and other abilities. She was appointed Administrator in 2013 and then in 2015 promoted to Office Manager. In 2018 she was again promoted to General Manager to take on greater responsibility for the overall running of FAITH, finally becoming Assistant Director in 2019.Sadly in August 2022 Amanda moved on to a new role leaving quite a hole in the staff structure.
Sharn Harvey
Sharn is a regular temporary employee, helping out wherever we have a short-term need. She was our Bed for the Night co-ordinator for 2018 joining us in October 2017 and latterly managed our B4N Hub 2022.She is part of LifeSpring Church in Reading.
Tara Hensford
Food collections; Deliveries; Warehouse
Tara worked for us four days a week enabling us to collect food from supermarkets, schools and other suppliers, parcel deliveries and looking after our “toiletries department”.
Mary Lewis
Employed as Bed for the Night (B4N) Nightshelter Co-ordinator she wass also our street homeless navigator for Stepping Stones.
As of 2021 we could not run the night shelter so she became manager of the new B4N daytime hub designed to give those in B&B and other temporary accommodation things to do during the day and a midday meal. In 2022 she was asked by Hope into Action to run their Reading project and with huge reluctance on both parts she moved on.
Mary proved to be an amazing member of our team. She is part of St James Catholic Church on the Forbury.
Andy Dutton
Worked for us on A Bed for the Night and supporting guests into permanent accommodation 2019 – 2020
Kevin Derham
Stepping Stones Support WorkerKevin joined us in February 2016 to run our Stepping Stones housing project.
Kevin left us in January 2018 when we sadly had to close the project due to financial constraints.
Richard Caldicott
Richard was with us from September 2010 till mid 2015, having previously volunteered for us. He was responsible for running Stepping Stones, ably supported by Tony (below). Richard proved his worth in researching background legislation and setting up documentation.
Claire Leonard
Claire worked with us as our Bed for the Night co-ordinator in January 2015. She did a fantastic job and is much missed as we work at the shelter the second year.
Tony Henson
joined us in the summer of 2011 and soon proved his worth. Tony was responsible for our Street Outreach work “ReadiStreet” but spends most of his time looking after tenants in our Stepping Stones housing project. He moved on in the Spring of 2015
Jonty Langley
Jonty joined the staff in October 2010 having volunteered with us on the streets for a number of years. He brought a good deal of that experience as a volunteer to help him as he ran our street outreach programme “ReadiStreet”. Sadly his stay with us was not long. But in the time he was with us he put some useful systems in place and built a good rapport with volunteers. He is much missed on staff, but appreciated as a volunteer.
Christine Durston
joined us in October 2007 taking on organising the evening Soup Runs as well as delivering parcels during the weekdays. She previously worked for The Chalet in Reading, working with ex-offenders. She brought a wealth of experience to the team. She was originally brought in to work alongside Brian to increase our capacity.
Rose Godbeer
Rose took over looking after the office at the beginning of 2008. She picked up where Jan Hearn left off in reviewing and simplifying our record keeping. Rose left us to begin a new ministry with her husband towards the end of 2010
Jan Hearn
Jan joined us in November 2007 on a temporary contract until January 2008, to cover our office administration. Jan was able to help us improve our record-keeping methods. She was sadly unable to stay on with us due to illness, but we were very grateful to her for bridging a gap and remains a keen supporter of FAITH.
Janine McCoull
Janine worked with us as a support worker from 2009
John Jenks
John joined us in November 2007 fast proving himself to be a great member of the team. John had a real gifting with collating and presenting statistics, so we are gradually getting a much better picture of the services we deliver. Sadly for us he was offered a very tempting full-time post with an organisation that he had wanted to work with for a very long time. We wish him every blessing.
Brian Harris
Brian joined us in August 2006 and proved to be a valuable member of staff bringing with him a genuine empathy for our clients.He did a stirling job fitting in his hours with FAITH alongside his business as a hairdresser.For personal reasons he left us in November 2007. He still keeps in touch and is doing great.
Vicky Greener
Vicky worked with us up till October 2007. Back in those days with such a small staff she had to cover virtually all of the admin for the street work and the embryonic Foodbank. We are grateful to her for her contribution to the work of FAITH over the years.She stays in touch and is now thoroughly enjoying her new career as a classroom assistant with one to one responsibilities for a child with learning difficulties.