Support Hub

Lisa Lound

Executive PA

Lisa supports the CEO and Director of Development, Operations & Governance, managing their busy diaries and has significant responsibilities in respect of co-ordination, oversight and prioritisation within the Trust on their behalf.

Lisa contributes to the working practices of the Trust by identifying areas for improvement, using creativity, initiative and foresight to find resolutions.

Lauren Bedford

Commercial Director

With over 15 years of experience in finance across a variety of sectors, Lauren has several years’ experience as a CFO leading Finance, Catering, Estates, and HR within both large secondary schools and multi-academy trusts. Professionally qualified with a Diploma in School Financial and Operational Leadership, a Certificate in Business Accounting and IOSH Safety for Executives and Directors, she is also a Member of the Institute of School Business Leadership and an accredited School Resource Management Advisor (SRMA) on behalf of the Department for Education. Lauren has a strong track record in strategic financial planning, delivering organisational efficiencies, and securing investment through successful grant funding, while working with Trustees, Senior Leaders, and operational teams to strengthen governance and align resources with educational priorities.

Sarah North

Deputy CFO

With a degree in Mathematics and over 16 years of experience in school finance and funding across local authority, multi-academy trust, and individual school levels, Sarah brings deep expertise in strategic budget planning, financial benchmarking, and resource management. She spent over eight years at Bradford LA as the lead officer for school funding, supporting all phases of education and leading key working groups on early years and high needs funding. Her career includes roles as a School Business Manager and School Operations Manager, with a strong focus on supporting newly opened schools. As Deputy CFO at CIT, Sarah supports financial governance, risk management, and strategic decision-making across the Trust, while mentoring finance staff and leading on Integrated Curriculum and Financial Planning (ICFP).

Gayle Ellis

Trust Early Years Lead

Gayle is an Early Years specialist with over 25 years of comprehensive experience in the education sector. She has written several educational books to help parents to support their children with reading, writing and numbers. Gayle’s career encompasses a multitude of roles, including Headteacher, Early Years Consultant, and Children’s Centre Teacher. Throughout her tenure, Gayle has demonstrated a profound commitment to fostering the development of young learners, actively promoting innovative teaching practices.
As a consultant, she has provided guidance and support to educational institutions, helping to enhance Early Years provision and ensuring that children receive the highest quality of education. Gayle is often called upon to deliver training and workshops for educators seeking to expand their knowledge and skills in early childhood development.

Darren Wilson

Procurement & Analytics Manager

With 25 years experience in the private and public sector, Darren has created a Trust-wide Procurement Strategy that encompasses the ethos and values of CIT. The Strategy focuses on high quality and best value for money while delivering services specifically required within individual schools.

Darren provides support to schools advising on tendering requirements, suppliers and services and procurement law.

Katie Beeby

Deputy Trust Safeguarding Lead

Katie has worked in education for over 33 years undertaking roles within Early Years, SEND and Safeguarding. She is a Specialist Leader of Education and for the past 4 years worked within a CIT school as a Safeguarding Lead.
Katie’s role as Deputy Safeguarding Lead for the Trust involves her supporting all schools with safeguarding and working closely with our Trust Safeguarding Lead, to oversee all aspects of the Trust’s safeguarding arrangements (from monitoring safeguarding and child protection issues to managing specific cases).
Katie also supports the development of bespoke safeguarding training for all staff and the advancement of our Trust-wide safeguarding strategies.

Amanda Locke

Trust DSL

Amanda’s experience working with children and adults in both education, healthcare and social care settings has equipped her with a robust background spanning 20 years.
Specialising in safeguarding, behaviour, and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), she consistently strives to achieve the best results with a key strength in demonstrating empathy which enables her to develop trusting and positive relationships with families, children, and staff.
Amanda has previously worked in three schools across the Trust, now bringing her knowledge to the Support Hub to benefit all CIT schools.

Jacki Bartram

Head of Communications & Fundraising

Jacki is responsible for Trust-wide communications, PR, marketing and fundraising. She has been in post since the Trust’s inception in 2014. Jacki is a part of the Trust’s Onboarding Team (for schools joining) as well as the Free School Projects Team. She has supported nine schools to onboard into the Trust, as well as four Free Schools to open from fruition.
Prior to working for CIT, Jacki was a Director within the Radio industry.

Chris Lincoln

Communications & Fundraising

Chris supports the schools across the Trust with PR and Marketing opportunities. He also provides fundraising support to ensure the provision of new facilities for the pupils are brought to fruition.
Chris is also Project Lead for the SEND Workforce Development Project, commissioned by LCC, bringing together CPD resources and training opportunities for Lincolnshire professionals who work with pupils with SEND.

Andy Evans

Estates Manager

The Estates Manager’s role within the Trust is to support School Leaders and the Support Hub with all estates related work streams. Andy provides a joined up approach to site management allowing good practice to be shared, whilst maintaining a central reference point for all building or estate related queries to support all sites throughout CIT.

Stephen Thornley

Facilities Manager

Stephen has worked in education for over 25 years, starting out supporting students and later moving into the site and operations side of school life.
After a long and rewarding career in education, Stephen took the opportunity to broaden his experience by joining Lincolnshire Police – a completely different challenge that strengthened his resilience, leadership, and communication skills. Over time, Stephen realised that his passion lied in education, where he can make a lasting difference to children’s lives. He says returning to education felt like coming home.
Stephen works closely with the Estates Manager to support the smooth running of the Trust estate and buildings, ensuring schools meet the necessary compliance standards.

Tom Booth

ICT Strategic Lead

With a background in the information and technology industry for over 20 years, Tom went on to teach ICT to children with additional needs. He became a Deputy Head at a SEMH school and when the Trust began to grow, Tom was pivotal in the procurement and communication training across the Trust. Tom is now responsible for all ICT across the Trust.

Sarah Fardell

Data Protection Officer

Sarah supports CIT schools with data protection related queries, raising DP awareness across the Trust and reporting GDPR issues to ELT and Trustees. Sarah also supports the Trust’s mandatory eLearning. She has a wealth of knowledge within administrative roles across the private and public sector including 14 years working for the Department for Work and Pensions. Sarah joined CIT in 2015.

Kyle Allen

IT Project Manager

Bio coming soon…

Jennifer Goodrich

HR Manager

Jennifer started working in HR 14 years ago as a HR Administrator within a food manufacturing company. After becoming CIPD qualified she progressed to HR Generalist before moving to a global agricultural business where she worked in a fast-paced environment as an HR Officer. Jennifer supports the schools and staff within the Trust by providing advice and guidance in areas such as Absence Management, Policies, Contracts and terms of employment.

Rachel Smith

Payroll & Pensions Manager

Having previously worked within the Retail Sector running an end to end payroll department for 6 years, Rachel recently relocated to Lincolnshire and is looking forward to expanding her knowledge of payroll within education and assisting the Trust with all payroll and pension processes.