The Community Centre is managed by twelve local residents who make up Hornsey Vale Community Association’s management committee. The management committee is responsible for ensuring the Centre is well run, meets its charitable objectives and demonstrates sound financial management. Everyone is unpaid.
Members of the Committee apply and are appointed based on their skills and interest in the Centre; some places are held for regular Centre users. The Chair, Secretary and Treasurer are elected at our Annual General Meeting, held each November.
We have vacancies on the management committee and, in particular, currently lack HR, legal and architectural planning expertise.
We warmly welcome interest from disabled people, people with Black and Asian heritage and young people (aged 18-25), all under-represented in our organisation. You can apply at any time; ask for our application pack if you’re interested in getting involved.
Current members of the management committee, all living within walking distance of the Centre are:.
Debra Mendes (Chair)
Debra joined the Trustees in 2018 and since then has led a range of decorating and infrastructure projects, helping to modernise Centre operations. With a background in business process improvement and governance, Debra chairs the Management Committee, sits on the Strategy, Finance & Governance sub group and is line manager to the Centre Administrator.
Duncan Kerr (Company Secretary)
A casual chat with two of the original founders of HVCA over the back fence led to Duncan joining the Centre as a volunteer in 1993. He helped out with big events like the May Day Gala, Music In The Park and Fireworks on 5 November, while his children were at Weston Park School. Now he leads the maintenance sub group, painting, problem solving and oiling squeaks. Duncan’s family has used the Centre’s After School Club and kids’ activities and enjoyed Yoga, Pilates and Circuit Training for almost all of the Centre’s first 30 years.
Josh Arnold-Forster
Mary Hogan
Mary has lived in Hornsey Vale since 1992, working in the voluntary sector till she retired in 2021, becoming a Trustee in 2023. Her paid working life included Citizens Advice, Sutton Community Farm, Volunteer Reading Help and the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). With her partner Peter she has facilitated an open music session at the Weston Cafe (formerly Bon Croissant) for decades and sings in the local Songworks Choir. They both enjoy the Lunch Club at the Centre and Mary is also a regular with The Conservation Volunteers in parks and green spaces across the whole borough.
Aman Kaiser
Kayla Thomas
Tilly Williams
Tilly first got involved in Hornsey Vale in 2009. Since then she has led on many events at the Centre with a focus on environmental issues, such as our annual Apple Day. Tilly established the tyre garden at the front of the Centre over 10 years ago and continues to maintain it, with members of Transition Crouch End.