Our Trustees
Sarah Baxter – Trustee
Sarah Baxter has lived in Colchester most of her life. She hopes to bring her expertise in diversity and inclusion, data insights and financial reporting into the Trustee role. Sarah has performed on the Headgate stage, is a member of Stagecraft for adult actors, and has also had a short-play she wrote staged here.
Sarah shared that “theatre wasn’t part of my life growing up and, in my role as Trustee, I hope that more people can experience its magic”.
George Branagh – Trustee
George worked in policing for some 38 years and during that time he spent 26 years as a Detective/Senior Investigating Officer mostly within the Fraud Squad.
He is a post-graduate of Leicester University where he gained an MA Degree from the Faculty of Social Sciences. He is also a graduate of the Defence Academy Advanced Command and Staff Course. He has held many Senior Strategic Command posts with responsibility for a diverse specialist portfolio and lead for ensuring multi-agency processes were in place/support.
George has lived in Essex for 30 years and has been a Parish Councillor within two Essex villages for a number of years and is currently the Chair of his village Parish Council. A keen amateur flautist George has played with a number of Essex concert bands.
Pat Gaudin – Trustee
Most of Pat’s working life has been in public relations and strategic communications in local government (including Essex County Council) and the local public sector. Her last full-time post was Head of Public Relations and Corporate Strategy for Chelmsford (then Borough) Council before becoming an independent consultant in 2006 in the local public sector across East Anglia, London and Hertfordshire and lecturer on PR degree and diploma courses.
She has served on a number of boards including, for the last 10 years, Trustee/Director of the Essex Book Festival.
Alison Gaukroger – Trustee
Originally from the West Midlands, Alison has been a Drama and Performing Arts teacher for 33 years. She has been at the Sixth Form College, Colchester for 30 years and is currently Head of Performing Arts.
Gill Green – Trustee
Gill has long been an enthusiastic theatre-goer and supporter of the arts. She has an academic and health research background as a (now almost-retired) Professor at the School of Health and Social Care at the University of Essex. She has experience of academic and research leadership as Head of the School and as Director of the National Institute of Health Research, Research Design Service for the East of England.
Gill’s research has focused on people’s experiences of living with long-term illness. She has led a number of research projects about socially excluded groups, most recently leading an international project about access to health care for young people living in low-income urban areas with high levels of violence.
Gill has an interest in public involvement in research to ensure that research is grounded in the needs and priorities of patients and the public. She is committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in all areas of life and at the University of Essex has played a key role in work to promote gender equality.
Mike Kerr – Trustee
Retired in 2015 after a career in accounting and computing, Mike was asked to take the role of Treasurer and appointed to the board in 2017. He has also served as a trustee with the Hervey Benham Charitable Trust and Citizens Advice Colchester.
Dawn King – Trustee
Dawn worked in various roles within the NHS and Social Services, predominantly in services for people with learning difficulty. She has performed with Platform Musicals, Colchester Operatic Society and Headgate Theatre Productions, and just loves theatre and the pleasure and confidence it brings to participants at any level.
Since retiring she has been heavily involved in volunteering at The Headgate where she has directed plays and pantomimes. She has been instrumental in developing the Act V seniors group and establishing Headgate Young Company.
Robert Macaulay – Trustee
Robert was born in Colchester and grew up on his father’s farm in Ramsey and received a 2:1 degree in Agriculture at Wye College, University of London. One of his brothers has been a drama critic with a national newspaper.
He has been married to Mary for more than 50 years and they have three adult daughters and seven grandchildren. They have always enjoyed going to the theatre and increasingly go to plays at the Headgate Theatre.
Robert left the family farm after more than 30 years running, he trained and qualified as a licensed conveyancer. He practised as a conveyancer, increasingly as a commercial conveyancer, for over 20 years. He retired from being a property lawyer in 2022.
Sallie Mills Lewis – Trustee
Sallie Mills Lewis is an actor and producer. Early in her acting career, she played leading roles in professional shows in the Mercury Studio. She has performed and produced in a range of venues, including the Headgate, Colchester Arts Centre, the Lakeside Theatre, the Quay at Sudbury, the Corn Exchange, Ipswich and in pubs, gardens and National Trust properties across East Anglia.
Alongside her love of theatre, Sallie looks back on over 20 years of senior management and leadership in the public sector, acting as Deputy Chief Executive of NHS North Essex before running her own consultancy for clients in the NHS, local government and voluntary sector.
Sallie is passionate about the local theatre scene. Her main interests are: nurturing emerging theatre talent, encouraging drama innovation and inspiring future generations of theatre lovers.
Mike Poole – Trustee
Michael has been involved with amateur theatre for over sixty years, acting and directing for Colchester Theatre Group, Royal London Drama Club, Orpen Players and many other local drama groups.
He was one of the original members of Theatre Arts Action Trust, spending some thirteen years looking for a building as a home for amateur theatre in Colchester.
He has had various roles on the Management Committee/Group, lastly as premises manager.
“It was a great joy to me and the other members of TAAT that the Headgate Theatre was officially opened by David Forder in 2002”.
Our secretary to the board
Marcus Almond – Secretary to the Board of Trustees
Marcus joined the Headgate as a volunteer in May 2023, working as part of the Front of House and Bar Team and has absolutely loved the experience!
Relatively new to theatre, Marcus has enjoyed volunteering backstage for the Colchester Operatic Society on a number of their recent productions and at the Headgate was lucky enough to be an ASM on the wonderful Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike production in 2023 as well as the brilliant Pantomime in the same year.
