The ETNA Team
Vanessa has run the Centre since 2014 and has enjoyed the challenges of learning about the voluntary sector and ETNA’s various stakeholders. She has worked closely with Sue and the Board to Trustees to bring ETNA into the 21st century and in securing the future of the Centre.
Vanessa is passionate about working with people/groups to start new activities or ideas and is keen to support them on their journey.
Vanessa’s background is retail buying in which she worked for several blue chip companies and interior decoration is also her passion so she has enjoyed the challenge of giving ETNA a new lease of life.
Since having her daughter she has enjoyed working in a more local role and getting involved in her neighbourhood and community. She lives in St Margarets with her family.
Karina joined ETNA in 2022 as Office Manager. She has lived in St Margarets for many years working mainly in recruitment/administrative positions, locally. Starting at Reed Employment in Richmond, and more recently at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington.
Karina has been a regular visitor to ETNA over the years, from children’s parties through to Yoga and Pilates, and now the Junk Food Project.
Karina loves the area with its easy access to parks, restaurants and rugby.
Amber joined ETNA in June 2022 as a part-time Office Administrator, and has now taken on the responsibility of digital as well as being responsible for processing invoices and supporting Karina. She has a background in accounting and has many year’s experience in various financial roles.
She likes to spend most of her free time on outdoor adventures with her son and enjoys a variety of creative arts and the gym.
Azize joined the team in December 2022 to run The Hub on weekday afternoons. She also supports the staff team when required with party bookings and other events.
Azize is a Trustee for Richmond EAL Friendship Group, and enjoys organising functions for them. She lives locally with her family and enjoys participating in her local community.
Lawrence joined the ETNA Community Centre in 2023 as the Facilities Coordinator and is responsible for the building’s upkeep and maintenance. He has lived in Twickenham for the past 25 years and has worked in many varied roles from Rugby player/coach, Export agent, running a Childcare business to working as a Classroom assistant in a Special Needs School.
Lawrence is an avid sports fan, although nowadays he is more of a spectator than a participant. He enjoys going for long walks with his family and dogs and spends many hours visiting local parks to enjoy the stunning sceneries.
Irada started working at ETNA in 2016 and looks after the cleaning and other additional duties at the Centre. She is normally in very early in the morning to get the Centre ready for action.
Irada lives locally in St Margarets and enjoys being part of her community. She originates from Poland, however she has lived in England for many years with her son.
Trustees
Sue has lived in the Twickenham area for nearly 30 years and her four children grew up here, attending local schools and benefiting from being part of a local community. ETNA was always a part of their lives and community, with music, drama and parties taking place there.
Formerly a probation officer and A level teacher, Sue is also a trained counsellor and had her own business making educational DVDs before retiring. She believes strongly in the importance of community and is committed to helping maintain ETNA as a thriving Centre, meeting the needs and requirements of the local population and remaining welcoming and accessible to all.
Nicola has lived in the local area for 10 years with her family and has children at a local primary school – amongst other things she’s a regular at ETNA for children’s parties!
Having earned a business degree in Management Studies from Nottingham University, she subsequently qualified as a Chartered Accountant and spent periods working in Singapore and Germany. Nicola is currently a senior Finance executive in a leading FTSE company, overseeing multi-million pound budgets.
With a specific interest in promoting social mobility and empowering young people, she has actively participated in various initiatives during her career, including as a judge on the Young Enterprise scheme and supporting youth charities.
Nicola enjoys fitness, particularly Pilates, exploring new destinations through travel, and making the most of the wonderful outdoor spaces across the borough.
Penny moved to St Margaret’s from Teddington and lives near the ETNA Centre. She is keen to play a role in the local community and especially interested in the Junk Food Project. She worked at Hampton School for 26 years where she was Head of Modern Languages and taught German, French and Latin. In her last few years there, she completed a Diploma in Working with Adolescents at the Westminster Pastoral Foundation and joined the School Counselling team at Hampton. She also served as the Staff representative on the Hampton School Board of Governors.
Her husband was in the Army for many years and she accompanied him on several postings abroad in Germany and Cyprus where she ran Army Wives Clubs. She has taught German in Army Education Centres, as well as English at a German Grammar School and in a voluntary capacity to immigrant women in Twickenham.
Penny has a daughter and a son and three grandchildren. She is a keen Bridge player and loves classical music. She enjoys reading and is a member of a local Book Club which has been going for almost 25 years. She is also passionate about the city of Berlin – she has written two guidebooks about the German capital, runs a blog called ‘berlinunwrapped’ and has translated over a dozen books about the city from German into English.
Esther moved to the UK from Canada 21 years ago and has lived in East Twickenham with her two sons for 17 years – taking advantage of ETNA’s chess club when her children were young.
Esther has a strong community philosophy of life and regards it as the foundation for wellbeing. By offering an incredibly wide range of services and programmes, she sees the ETNA Centre as a pivotal resource for the neighbourhood by providing a unique sense of community to the area.
She is a qualified counsellor and social researcher. Currently, Esther works for a charity in Teddington where she runs an international online network for survivors of domestic abuse and has recently edited and published a handbook for survivors of domestic abuse.
Formerly, Esther has managed a Vocational Assessment Centre and Rehabilitation Team in the insurance industry in Surrey, as well as working in rehabilitation centres in Canada helping those with injuries or long term ill health return to work.
Ian is a Non Executive Director of a FTSE quoted investment fund and of two smaller companies and a Director of a financial consultancy / advisory business involved with start up and smaller businesses specifically in the FIntech sector.
Prior to setting up the consultancy business Ian was a senior Managing Director and Head of the capital Markets business in a major UK bank, with a career spanning some 30 years in the international capital markets.
A local resident, in East Twickenham for the last 5 years, Ian is a member of the ETVA group and the Schools for East Twickenham initiative. He has a young son and four older children and an association with the area going back to his Grand parents his Grandfather being a senior GP in the Strawberry Hill, Teddington area for over 50 years.
Kate first moved to Twickenham in 1998, before moving to work abroad around Europe, Caribbean, USA and Asia, only landing back here permanently in 2014. Using the wide experience gained through all of these moves, she has developed a portfolio career managing teams through transitions as well as championing entrepreneurs & start-ups from an operations perspective.
Her interests lie mainly in the fields of health and the environment so is excited by the key role that local community organisations such as ETNA can play in supporting local groups working in these and other fields.
As a mental health advocate, she is currently focused on promoting good health in the workplace especially with an eye on the Future of Work.
Kate has a life-long passion for both playing and watching a range of sport and loves to get outdoors to actively enjoy the beautiful green spaces we have locally.
Geoff has been a Richmond Councillor for twelve years following a 35 year career in automotive marketing and communications, including Marketing Director of Saab Great Britain. He has been a school Governor at Chase Bridge for nine years and local counsellor for many year, and Mayor during 2020-2022
He is married and has lived in Twickenham for over twenty years and enjoys playing tennis, playing the clarinet, country walking, food and drink and travelling.
Susan has lived in the area her whole life attending Chase Bridge Primary and Kneller Schools (now Waldegrave School). Living in Teddington, Hampton and Strawberry Hill but, has been back in Twickenham for over 21 years where her children went to school and sixth form.
She was a counsellor for Twickenham Riverside for eight years and had responsibility for the voluntary sector organisations across the borough and latterly for children’s services and schools. During her time as a councillor, she worked closely with groups in East Twickenham and has seen the importance of ETNA to the local community.
Susan is married to Steve, an artist and has two grown up children and she is working part-time for Habitats & Heritage. She takes a keen interest in the local community, being a member of two local organisations – The Twickenham Society and The York House Society of which she is the Hon. Secretary. She has also become a Governor at Stanley Primary School, and works part-time for Habitats & Heritage.
Until earlier this year, she worked in a small nursery and pre-prep in Putney and prior to that for Barclays Bank for almost twenty years, both locally and in the city.
When she gets the opportunity, she loves researching her family history and enjoys gardening.
Perminder retired in 2014 when he sold his Deli / Grocery business in East Twickenham, after serving the community for 30 years. He ran the business with his wife Surinder.
Pindi, as he is commonly known, came to UK in 1982 from Kenya with his family. Pindi was a District Agricultural Officer and Provincial Training Officer with Ministry of Agriculture, Kenya for nearly twenty years. He also owned a fifty five acres fruit farm in Mombasa.
Pindi was President Of Rotary Club of Twickenham in 2004/5 and 2010/11. In 2012 he led a Rotary International Group Study Exchange team from UK District 1140 to Rotary District 3080 in North India. He is the founder Chairman of East Twickenham Traders Association, and a founder member of East Twickenham Village Group. Pindi is also a member on many other local Organisations in the Borough.
Phil has lived in St Margarets for 28 years with his wife and two children. His wife taught at St Stephen’s school and their children also attended local primary schools. Over the years they have used several of the services that ETNA provides.
As a Head of Biology at Hampton School for over 20 years, he has always been actively involved in promoting environmental awareness, especially that relating to practical conservation. He is a keen gardener, has maintained an allotment for nearly 30 years and is also an amateur beekeeper with two hives at the school. Phil is also a sportsman, playing competitive tennis as well as cycling whenever and wherever possible.
During the first covid lockdown, he became involved in The Junk Food Project and is keen to become more involved in the future with this and any other food related scheme that ETNA can provide. He is interested in how food and the environment intersect and how these two can aid positive social interactions.
