Read about the amazing team who work tirelessly to keep the wheels turning at Selsdon Community Clubhouse.
Liz joined the Selsdon Community Clubhouse as the Centre Manager at the beginning of December in 2024. She is responsible for the day-to-day running of the centre and her role includes managing clients and volunteers, engaging with community stakeholders, and ensuring that the Clubhouse becomes financially self-sustaining .
Her extensive career began in event management, including 12 years organising the prestigious Farnborough Air Show and facilitating international trade missions for British aerospace companies around the world. She then made a career move to South Africa, where she continued working in event management, delivering high-profile events for Blue Chip companies such as Microsoft. In addition, she lectured in Event Management and Business Communication at the diploma level, writing the curriculum and assignments for the new course.
Upon returning to the UK, Liz transitioned into education, teaching English as a foreign language online to students globally. Her passion for working with people led her to this role, where she finds great fulfilment in supporting the older clientele and fostering connections within the wider community. The Clubhouse provides a vital lifeline to many, and Liz is committed to ensuring it remains a welcoming and supportive space for all.
Beyond her work, Liz is actively involved in her church, having previously served as an Operations Manager and continues to contribute in various ways. She firmly believes in giving back, working collaboratively, and, above all, maintaining a strong sense of humour—something that has been her lifelong support system!
Susan Freegrove, our Deputy Centre Manager, comes from a background in magazine publishing.
Having worked in consumer, business-to-business and customer magazine publishing through the years, Susan brings a wealth of experience to the Centre having organised international awards ceremonies at top London hotels, parties, and events throughout her career. Susan has worked in the many departments of magazine publishing and dealt with external suppliers and all aspects of publication, circulation, finances, and new business presentation. She has also experience in HR and office management, having worked her way up the career ladder, over the years. She left their employ when she started her family and took a career break to raise her two sons. Susan has worked for the Centre for almost four years during which time she has been responsible for organising the Centre’s events and entertainment. Sourcing several different musicians and entertainers for the Centre, Susan has been tasked with increasing client numbers, a role she still embraces today along with her many and varied duties in this unique and diverse post.
Tim’s interest in the Selsdon Centre came from his mother’s attendance when she moved to Croydon several years before she died. Dorothy Wilmot hugely valued the support received from our staff and other users of our services. He hopes the centre will increase the number of older people whose lives it touches like this. During the 2000s, Tim was the Director of Public Health for Croydon, and Medical Director of our GPs and Dentists. He was also very involved with establishing NHS services in Croydon for older people. He became one of the UK’s Chief Medical Officers, being based at the Department of Transport. As a result, he has sat on many boards, chairing a number of them. He is now semi-retired, consulting in Medical Epidemiology.
Catriona initially joined the Selsdon Centre board in 2018. She is a later life financial planning specialist borne from a love of working with older people. This job often involves working with vulnerable clients in vulnerable situations. Her commitment to the Selsdon Centre comes from her passion for combating loneliness and isolation for our older people. Through her expertise in her business, Catriona has gained much experience with this demographic. As a result, she feels strongly about working with other charities with similar aims and objectives in order to enhance the health and well-being of clients in our communities.
Sue has lived, worked and raised her three boys for all but 6 years of her life in the London Borough of Croydon. She is a grandmother to eight grandchildren and has been a member of St John the Divine Church for over 40 years which has always supported the Selsdon Centre both providing Trustees and volunteers. She retired from my job as a Bursar in a Croydon Secondary school in 2017 to spend more time with my friends and family. Her life changed in 2019 and a Trustee/friend suggested she might like to volunteer at the Centre and so she became an escort for the minibus and still is today. She also became a Trustee in 2021 and is currently Treasurer.
Trevor’s interest in the centre came from being encouraged to join as a minibus driver about two years ago by one of the existing ones, to drive home the patrons, usually on a Friday afternoon. He had just retired after 28 years with Barclays, mainly specialising in lending roles, &, when this ended, 13 years of bus driving followed, principally on route X26 between Croydon & Heathrow (now SL7), so he had experience driving larger vehicles. He already had posts in other local groups – secretary of the Selsdon Residents’ Association & the Barclays London Southern District Pensioners’ Club, besides being a director of the Trinity Mid-Whitgiftian Association mainly for banking purposes where he’s run their 400 club for fundraising purposes since 2007, & press officer for Chipstead Football Club which covers several jobs especially on a 1st team or under-18 matchday. In his spare time(!), Trevor & his wife Gillian have been fostering youngsters for Croydon Council since Covid times, & he has been a member of Sanderstead Lawn Tennis Club since 1977, where he helped them apply for & receive a grant from the National Lottery in its early days
Fiona practised for over thirty years at the commercial Bar of England and Wales, specialising in the law of commercial construction and energy projects, professional liability and insurance. She sat on the governing committee of the Technology and Construction Court Bar Association and was a board director of Bar Mutual Indemnity Fund Ltd (the Bar’s captive insurer), sitting also on its Audit and Risk, Rules and Cover and Claims sub-committees. Fiona became involved with the Selsdon Centre Trust after observing that the Trust’s work profoundly enriched the life of an elderly neighbour.
Jeff moved to Selsdon more than twenty years ago after living in Japan for five years, where he studied a traditional Japanese martial art. During his time in Japan, Jeff became actively involved in the local community, teaching English at a day care centre for elderly clients. This experience was extremely rewarding and sparked his passion for supporting others, a commitment that has guided much of his life. After returning to the UK, Jeff joined a major Japanese travel agency, where he worked for 32-years, the last eight years in the position of General Manager of the UK office. Since retiring, Jeff enjoys supporting the community as a trustee of the Selsdon Centre. In this role, he works closely with fellow trustees to ensure that the centre provides a welcoming environment for recreation and social interaction for the elderly community. In addition to his work at the Centre, Jeff remains active within local tennis and running clubs.
Wendy is a chartered management accountant. She worked at a senior level in the NHS for over 20 years, being responsible for the financing of health services for the people of Croydon. She has administered other charitable accounts and sat on the boards of local schools. She and Tim have six children and live locally.
Sam is a senior Leadership Consultant, trainer and Keynote Speaker, specialising in the practice of Inclusive Leadership, generally at Board and Executive levels. Her consultancy practice is built upon decades of front-line Exec and Trustee Board experience operating as Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer and also having headed up a global Executive Education leadership programme.
Prior to setting up her own consultancy in 2020, Sam spent 15 years at Omnicom – a global leader in marketing communications. As Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, she led 50+ businesses and 9,000 employees, as Chief Marketing Officer she was responsible for sales, marketing, PR and design across 250 clients and as Assistant Dean (global) of Omnicom University she led programmes to enable senior professionals to understand how to become great leaders, working with the finest Harvard Business School professors. Sam’s previous roles included 9 years as Marketing Director of Time Inc and Head of Marketing at ITV. Back in the dim-distant past she cut her teeth as an account handler at advertising agencies J. Walter Thompson and TBWA, leading client business such as Wonderbra in the ‘Hello Boys’ era.
Sam is a great believer in ‘putting back’ and as a born-and-bred-Croydonite she is delighted to be a Trustee of the Selsdon Community Clubhouse, alongside her role as a Trustee of global disability charity The Valuable 500.
Selsdon Community Clubhouse
(The Selsdon Centre Trust)
132 Addington Road
Selsdon South Croydon
Surrey
CR2 8LA
