Barbara Gubbins

Governor

Born and bred in the North East, Barbara lives in North Tyneside and has two grown up sons and two grand-daughters.

At the beginning of 2018, Barbara set up her own consultancy – barbaragubbins.co specialising in marketing, business development and charity matters.  She is also a celebrant undertaking weddings, funerals and naming ceremonies.  She was Chief Executive of County Durham Community Foundation for nine years prior to this and previously Chief Executive of The Children's Foundation, a North East regional child health charity.  Barbara spent most of her career in project management, marketing & PR before moving into the voluntary sector 20 years ago.

In a voluntary capacity, Barbara was a magistrate for 16 years and specialized for a time in family matters.  She has also been involved with mentoring young people at risk of offending and was a school governor in the west end of Newcastle. She is currently a trustee of the North of England Civic Trust and VONNE.

In June 2017, Barbara was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her contribution to voluntary services.