Carole Wildman
Chair
Carole is a retired Social Housing Executive and has a track record in investing in people and communities and large capital building programmes. She is passionate about assisting people and communities to become empowered through education, training, work and active citizenship. She has been a Trustee of SIFA Fireside since July 2016 and became chair in 2018. She is also chair of the Pioneer Group; a community-led social housing provider in north Birmingham.
Holly Pyke
Trustee
Holly has 20 years of experience working with vulnerable adults and young people with complex support needs. Holly provided both strategic and operational management support across a range of third sector and NHS services to develop services that reduce health and social inequalities. Holly has spent her career ensuring that the rights of vulnerable people are respected, their voices are heard and they are empowered to live independent, socially included lives.
Martin Chidgey
Trustee
Martin Chidgey: A former Head Teacher and voluntary sector Chief Executive, Martin has been closely involved with SIFA Fireside since 2015. Martin has over 20 years’ experience in the voluntary sector working with organisations that support vulnerable people and their families. Before joining the Board of Trustees, Martin was Company Secretary at SIFA Fireside and prior to that had worked in partnership with SIFA Fireside in the delivery of Criminal Justice services.
Dave Ollier
Trustee
Dave has a background in teaching and has been with SIFA Fireside since the two charities merged more than ten years ago. In addition to his extensive professional experience, Dave also runs SIFA Fireside’s AA group every Friday and is a strong advocate for ensuring that the voice of our clients is present around the board table.
Catherine Groom
Trustee
Locally grown, Catherine is the General Manager at Fierce, an international performing arts festival in Birmingham where she does everything and anything that needs doing, from HR and policy development to finance and producing events. Alongside her work at Fierce and in the arts, she freelances as a consultant and trainer for small charities. Catherine joined the SIFA Fireside Board in October 2022.
Steve Partridge
Trustee
Steve is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and has worked in social housing finance for over 30 years initially with Birmingham City Council then as a senior consultant to local authorities and housing associations helping them with their business and investment planning. When he was at the Chartered Institute of Housing, Steve helped lead a major national change to the finances for local government housing. He has worked with hundreds of housing providers and is a regular contributor to debate and discussion around housing policy especially around housing finance. He is a passionate advocate for affordable housing – to improve existing homes and to provide new homes.
Stuart Young
Trustee
Stuart is a commercial lawyer working at one of Birmingham's largest firms of solicitors. He started out as a volunteer at SIFA Fireside's breakfast sessions and joined the SIFA Fireside Board in 2023.
Martin Molloy
Company Secretary
Martin joined SIFA Fireside in a voluntary capacity as Company Secretary in 2019. A former Assistant Director in the Civil Service his main responsibilities included corporate governance and finance. Prior to that he worked in urban regeneration, both as West Midlands Policy Lead on a range of Government initiatives and as Head of Corporate Services and Communications at regeneration programmes in Castle Vale and Kings Norton. Martin was also a Trustee of the Birmingham Irish Association for several years.
