Our Scene Team

Our social mission is to provide a  ‘change of scenery’ for those who need one in our Brandwood neighbourhoods by providing activities which help connect people to people with shared interests and through fun and collaborative community ‘build’, active citizenship, and environmental improvement projects. 

Board of Directors

Our Scene CIC is led by Suze who has lived in the Brandwood area of Birmingham for almost 14 years with her hubby Andy, two children and dogs.

Our Board of Directors are volunteers who all live in the area. They steer the Community Interest Company in the right direction and support our social mission through bringing their unique perspectives, advice, skills and experiences. They are also contracted to deliver some of the projects.

Meet the team behind Our Scene CIC

Suze Carter (she/her)
Chief Executive

The ‘ideas’ one

Suze is a community connector with 20 years’ experience of designing and delivering heritage and arts projects and running community events and activities.  She’ll always have a big smile on her face and a warm welcome.  Her favourite words are ‘community’ and ‘collaboration’ and loves nothing more than running projects where hundreds of people are all contributing small pieces to make large community artworks.  In 2019 her passion for bringing communities together led to her setting up city-based arts organisation Woolly Mammoth Stitch Works CIC with her colleague Tina. Best decision ever! Our Scene CIC was set up to work in a very hyperlocal and place-based way. She’s a busy lady who finds it hard to do ‘nothing’, so she is going to be doing ‘plenty’!

Andy Phelps (he/his)
Executive Director

The ‘practical’ one

Andy brings his  practical skills and over 35 years in the building trade (specifically, felt roofing) to Our Scene CIC. He’s a good ‘un, honest, friendly, makes a mean cuppa and will always find time to chat. 

Give him a community ‘build’ challenge and he’s on it! 

The epic four years of Fun Palaces events at Stirchley Baths could not have happened without Andy’s DIY, woodworking and creative skills, vision and willingness to volunteer his time. 

He’d say he was ‘roped in’, but we all know how much he enjoys it!

Zed Bhatti (she/her)
Non-Exec Director

The ’empowering’ one

Zed lives in the Kings Heath neighbourhood and brings her extensive background in education and community work combined with her mentoring and coaching skills to the team. Zed has had a successful career in the education sector, developing and empowering individuals.  She is passionate about creating environments that allow individuals to flourish. Over the years she has created numerous programmes of learning, many focussing on personal and social development, IT Skills, Basic Skills and Employability Coaching. More recently, Zed worked as a Local Community Active Networker in South Birmingham, in which she aimed to transform communities by helping them explore and overcome barriers to physical activity and social wellbeing.

Lucy Hilliage (she/her)
Non-Exec Director

The ‘go getter’ one

Lucy lives in the Kings Heath Brandwood neighbourhood and has done so for over 25 years. She brings to the team her professional experience in counselling and mentoring and years of volunteering her craft skills with local school children and youth clubs. As an active citizen Lucy is feisty and will her stand her ground for causes she is passionate about! She led the successful campaign to improve road traffic safety along Vicarage Road in 2015 which included the installation of the speed monitors, islands and halo lights on the crossings. Lucy is also very crafty, but the ‘crafty one’ title had already been taken !!

Valerie Smith (she/her)
Non-Exec Director

The ‘crafty’ one

 

Valerie lives in the Brandwood End neighbourhood and is looking forward to meeting more fellow residents. 

A retired teacher, family history enthusiast and a very talented knitter (yes, she is one of the local mystery post box yarn bombers), she is keen to get together with others to share her knitting and crocheting skills and working together with others to invest time in the community and to help brighten up the area.

Valerie is equally looking forward to enjoying a cup of tea and a natter and hopefully a piece of cake!

 

Benny Nkubiri (she/her)
Non-Exec Director

The ‘seeing potential’ one

Benny was born in Congo, grew up in Sweden and lives part time with family in the Dawberry Fields neighbourhood. She is currently studying Social Work at the University of Birmingham. 
 
She has always been passionate about people’s well-being, and aspires to promote sustainable communities. Benny believes in diversity and social inclusion. She brings her personal experience as a former refugee, her social work knowledge and skills on how to work with different groups of people to achieve their full potential and strengthen the development of society.   Benny’s daily motto is “together we are strong”. 

Dana Archer (she/her)
Non-Exec Director

The ‘social changemaker’ one

Dana lives in the Dawberry Fields neighbourhood. She is a Film Studies graduate, has dabbled in film criticism and has written several unpublished (yet!) novels.
 
Dana is a member of a number of LGBTQ+ groups in Birmingham, several of which are hobby based in creativity. Dana is a firm believer in the arts as a powerful drive for change and believes it has the ability to inspire growth and social movement.
 
Dana is hoping to introduce diverse projects, inclusive ideas and new groups to the area. Activism begins at home and she believes through this project there is real possibility to engage positive social change.

Victoria Townsend (she/her)
Non-Exec Director

The ‘drinking coffee’ one

Victoria lives in the Brandwood Kings Heath neighbourhood and is a lifelong Aston Villa fan. Having grown up in the north of the city she has lived locally since finishing her PGCE, followed by a 16 year teaching career. Victoria is now a stay at home mum and looks after her two children.  She has volunteered as an Assistant Beaver Leader for the past five years.
 
Victoria is passionate about accessibility.  There are still many places including entrances and toilets where access is restricted for people on wheels and with restricted mobility. Victoria would love to help make change happen so that Brandwood and Kings Heath becomes a place where EVERYONE can appreciate our wonderful local places.  

Jorden Crawford  (she/her)
Non-exec Director

The ‘strategic’ ones

When not travelling Jorden lives in the Brandwood End neighbourhood and has done so for the past two years with her dog and two cats. Jorden has an extensive background in the Housing sector, working with Local Authorities across the West Midlands to develop and improve services for local citizens. 

Jorden is passionate about her local community, bringing about social mobilisation and ending loneliness. She believes it takes a village to bring about change and have a positive impact on the lives of others.  She has a keen eye for all things strategy and policy amongst many other talents. 

Belle & Gidget
Dog Directors

The ‘life balance’ ones

Great for exploring the neighbourhood, local green spaces and meeting and chatting to local residents!

More part of the Our Scene team than they will ever know!

Interested in joining the team?

Which ‘one’ are you?

Are you passionate about making a positive impact in the area and interested in getting behind our social mission?

Do you live in a Brandwood neighbourhood and interested in finding out how you can join the team? 

We are especially interested in adding even more diversity to our team of local residents to reflect where we live. Who are we missing? Is it you?

Get in touch! email: team@ourscene.org

We have a dream...

What does the future hold? Read on for an idea of what we would like to happen!

At Our Scene CIC we would like to transform one of the empty shop units in the area into an inclusive community cafe/workshop/venue/meeting place. Our aim is to create a space where we can run regular activity sessions and run a basic chatty ‘café’ at other times. We will also hire out the space so people can run other types of activities.

Yes, there will be huge amounts of tea drinking and cake eating, but most importantly we will be able to provide regular opportunities for people to connect with new people and offer a ‘change of scenery’ for those who need one, reducing social isolation in the area.

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