Sir Steve Lancashire - Chair of Trustees
Sir Steve Lancashire, the founder and former CEO of REAch2, the largest primary academy Trust in England, has over 35 years in education, including 20 as a Headteacher in challenging contexts. As a National Leader of Education, he has supported schools nationwide and worked internationally, including as lead adviser for the UK Department for Education's London Challenge. Knighted in 2016 for services to education, Steve specialises in executive coaching, mentoring, and bespoke MAT development. Steve has played a pivotal role in leading and enhancing educational systems and leadership discussions.
Dan Bell
Dan is a CIMA qualified accountant with a diverse background in finance and systems, having worked in FMCG and Fresh produce industries in Spalding. He has held various roles in his career, including Management Accounts, Financial Controller and Head of Finance. Recently, he took on a new challenge in a family-owned agricultural services business, where he started as a Financial Controller and later transitioned to a newly created role as a Business Insight Manager.
Apart from his professional pursuits, Dan is a passionate self-learner and has acquired multiple coding languages and software packages. Living the first part of his life on the family farm at Wigtoft before moving to Spalding with his Wife Rosie, he is a proud family man with young children who are likely to attend one of Infinity's schools in the future. Dan believes in giving back to the local community, which is why he became a trustee of Infinity, a charity that aligns with his core values and has a unique and successful approach.
Rick Chipperfield – Data and Curriculum
Over the past 20 years, Rick has been involved with helping children in many different ways. After working as a teaching assistant in a local special needs school, a local secondary school and two mainstream primary schools, he completed his teacher training through the graduate teacher programme. Since then, he has spent 10 years teaching in a village primary school in all key stage two classes. During this time, Rick was fortunate to be both a staff member and parent governor. Currently working at a small primary school in a head of school position. Out of school, he is also the Chair of a junior football club which is still going strong after 20 years. His varied roles have helped to not only develop a strong understanding of what effective child-centred education looks like but also to appreciate different ways of strategic school improvement.
Stuart Griffiths - Health and Safety
Stuart first became a school Governor when his, now teenage, children were at Primary School. During this time, he has served as both Chair and Vice Chair. Stuart became a Governor of St Thomas in 2010, serving immediately as Vice Chair, and continued in the role as they joined the Great Oaks Governing body, when St Thomas federated with Wyberton Primary School. For a number of years, he has also served as a Trustee of a local Pre-School and is part way through a new building project with them, to facilitate their growth. This has involved liaising with local planners, Lincolnshire County Council and commercial banking. In 2011, Stuart started two businesses, after working in the third sector for eight years. He continues to manage two limited companies manufacturing and retailing window dressings. In the last few years, one of the businesses has developed into an online retailer, which now accounts for half of the group turnover. Stuart takes a particular interest in the finances, staffing and property management in school and feels that this not only gives him an opportunity to give back to the local community, but it is also a chance to learn new skills for himself.
Declan McLoughlin - Legal
Declan is a corporate crime and investigations solicitor at the global elite firm McDermott, Will & Schulte. He advises clients in highly regulated industries, including finance, energy and technology, on their most sensitive and important matters, including internal investigations into executives, corporate compliance programmes and risk assessments, as well as associated litigation.
Declan also has a thriving pro bono practice, which includes appearing in the first tier tribunal to challenge decisions made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in respect of benefit entitlements and providing housing advice at multiple East London clinics. Declan also sits on a leading international university's research integrity committee, where he adjudicates research misconduct cases.
Prior to qualifying as a solicitor, Declan worked in the charity sector where he founded and led a charity focused on regional equity in CAIEG provision, operating in the East Midlands. Declan founded this charity as a way of giving back to his community, having originally grown up in a household facing multiple disadvantages near Boston and saw first hand the specific challenges facing CAIEG provision in Lincolnshire and the surrounding area.
Declan draws upon his range of experiences, including both professional and lived, to inform his approach to governance and leadership.
Wayne Norrie FCCT - Safeguarding
Wayne is a qualified teacher with 25 years of experience with 22 years of Senior Management experience. He has undertaken a variety of roles including Headteacher, Senior Local Authority Officer and Senior Her Majesty’s Inspector for Ofsted. Wayne is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Greenwood Academies Trust, serving over 18,000 children and young people across 37 primary, secondary and special schools in the East Midlands and East of England.
Wayne has a deep-rooted commitment to raising educational standards for all children and young people, by providing them with high-quality learning experiences. His vision for education embraces the local culture of each academy, promoting, demonstrating and celebrating diversity, inclusion and equality. Wayne believes a school should ensure that young people are able to take a full and active place in society, regardless of any barriers they may face.
Claire Welberry - Finance
After obtaining a degree in Accounting and Finance from Nottingham Trent University, Claire joined a local firm of Chartered Accountants and three years later, qualified as a member of the ICAEW. She now has over twenty years of post-qualification experience. During her career she has worked in both Accountancy Practice and also within the Manufacturing, Travel and Agricultural industries as a Company Accountant, Project Accountant and Internal Auditor. These roles included producing monthly and year-end accounts, VAT returns, Personal and Corporation tax, payroll, Human Resources, budgeting and cash flow forecasts, KPI’s, and both internal and external auditing. She returned to accountancy practice in 2006 and, after a few years, became involved in the Academy school sector, preparing year-end accounts, carrying out Responsible Officer visits and advising various academies on VAT and other tax matters. In 2012, Claire moved from Accountancy practice and became the Finance/HR Director for a medium-sized secondary grammar school, in fact the same school she had attended herself as a child. She is now responsible for not only the Finance, payroll and HR functions within the school but also oversees both the Premises and Catering departments as well. Claire was the Treasurer for Gipsey Bridge Pre-School PTFA from 2005 to 2007, and became the Treasurer for Gipsey Bridge Primary School PTFA from 2008 to 2010. In 2012 Claire had the opportunity to become a school Governor at Gipsey Bridge Primary School, the school her two sons attended at that time. She continued in this role for three years. She is now the Treasurer for QEGS Horncastle PTFA and will remain in this role until 2021. Claire became a Trustee for Infinity Academies Trust in 2020.
Katharine Nundy - HR
Sara Munton
Sara is an experienced educator who has held a range of teaching and leadership positions across the education sector. With a strong commitment to public service, she currently serves as the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for Lincolnshire. In this capacity, she leads on key county-wide portfolios including Violence Against Women and Girls, Criminal Justice, Victim Support, and Youth Engagement.
Sara is a passionate advocate for cross-sector collaboration, recognising its vital role in achieving sustainable community development. She is dedicated to ensuring that every child and young person has access to a fair education and equal life opportunities, regardless of the challenges they may face.