Simon Tatton-Brown - Chair

Simon Tatton-Brown is Vicar of St Andrew’s Church in Chippenham.

He has been active in the field of homelessness support for over forty years having worked as a volunteer in the Crypt Day-Centre at St Giles’ Church Camberwell in south London in 1970, and as a probation officer in the city of Manchester in the following decade.

As a parish priest he has ministered to casual callers at his vicarage for thirty years, and was one of the clergy who actively supported the establishment the North Wiltshire Homelessness Project in 2003 which led to the establishment of Doorway in the following year.

Jan Darts - Treasurer

I am recently retired after 40 years with the Civil Service. I completed my service as a leader of a small team placing and managing contracts and undertaking financial scrutiny of projects.

I entered the Civil Service after completing an Engineering degree at Swansea University. My education has continued, covering topics such as leadership, financial governance, equal opportunities, health and safety, and risk management.

I moved to Calne in 1995. Currently, I am the Treasurer for St Edmund's Catholic Church and Chair of the Church finance committee. I have been a Foundation Governor for St Edmund's Catholic School since Sept 2004 and chaired the school finance committee for the past 3 years. I became one of the founding Directors when the school became an Academy this Sept.

Early in 2011, I was appointed as Treasurer for "Lifelines, a national organisation that provides support to prisoners on death row in the US through letter writing.

I have recently started the training scheme to become an advisor for the Citizens Advice Bureau.

My family has supported Doorway since 2008. Since September 2011, I have been the Clerk to the Doorway Board of Directors.

I have been married to Adrienne for 25 years and have two children in higher education. I relax with gardening, walking, music and writing letters.

Mary Quarmby

Before having children I mainly worked in the catering industry, eventually owing a small seaside kiosk selling homemade food.

When the children were both at school I became part of Reachout which was a voluntary organization supporting 16 to 25 year olds with drug and alcohol issues. There I was fortunate to be given access to relevant training as well as a counseling course.

During this time I also went back to college to do a City and Guilds Course in decorative glass.

I now work as a Contemporary Stained Glass artist and have pieces in local schools, galleries and homes.

I feel very fortunate to have the life I have and that has come from having support and so am glad to be part of Doorway.

Miriam Nicholls

I have an Open University degree in Social Sciences.

I have lived in Wiltshire for over 30 years and enjoyed volunteering for Doorway for over 5 years.

I have done lots of voluntary work, as paid work would have been difficult with 4 small sons. It also meant that I could concentrate on things I am passionate about and meet people I enjoy working with.

Before moving here I worked with CAB (38 years total!), Samaritans, helped to set up a house for single mothers for Oxford Diocese, (and was DC of a Pony Club!).

During the Wiltshire years I have been an active member of our church (especially outreach) and chaired Develop, Housing Action for the Young, Malmesbury Link, Wiltshire Advocacy Project, Carers Support and Oaksey Youth Club.

I have also been involved in about 8 other organisations. Maybe the most unusual things I have been asked to do were acting as lay chair of the County Council Social Services Review Panel hearing users’ complaints and interviewing people who were considering ordination as a Lay Assessor for Bristol Diocese.

For relaxation I enjoy painting, gardening, cooking, walking and being a granny – and lots of Sudoku and Codeword when I need to sit down!

Dominic Cassidy

Dominic works for Wiltshire Citizens Advice Bureau and the Wiltshire Advice Partnership (a National Lottery funded project) as a policy researcher and analyst.

An important part of his role is to take part in, enhance, and where needed, set up structures for co-operative and co-ordinated action across different organisations in the statutory and voluntary and community sectors in order to achieve better outcomes for people in need of advice and support in Wiltshire. He also carries out research and writes reports on some of the difficulties faced by people trying to access these same services and campaigns for improvements.

In an eclectic career Dominic has worked as a Project Manager for various organisations including the Immigration Appeals Tribunal, as a Database Administrator for St John Ambulance and Oasis UK, and as a Librarian at the Institute of Criminology in Cambridge.

Seemingly a lifetime ago, Dominic toured through Africa on a motorbike and worked on a voluntary basis in Nigeria, Uganda, Zimbabwe and South Africa with community groups, university drama departments, theatre companies and the British Council. This included giving lectures and workshops, devising and directing plays and organising performances.

Hilary Dewar

After studying music at Birmingham University, I joined Lucas Industries as a management services trainee at their Group Computer Centre.

Practical music continued to be a major spare time activity, and I undertook further study on the viola, leading to an LTCL teaching diploma.

For a number of years I combined IT contract work with private music teaching and freelance viola-playing in the West Midlands, and later in North Yorkshire, where I was able to work as an IT consultant from my home on the edge of the moors.

From 2005 to 2009 I lived in rural North East Cumbria where I continued to teach and perform, and also provided IT and general office support to local small businesses and arts organisations, as well as finding time to grow my own vegetables and explore the fells of the Lake District and the Scottish Borders.