Juli Riley - Head of Employment and Skills
Juli is the Head of Employment and Skills for Communities 1st. Juli joined the team in October 2021, when Volunteer Centre Broxbourne and East Herts merged with Communites1st. Her role is to manage the engagement and training teams. Juli is our lead for Multiply project. Juli also ensure internal staff and volunteers training needs are met.
Outside of work, Juli likes cooking and spending time with friends and family.
Rob Varney – Assistant Manager – Community Engagement & Enterprise Development
Rob leads on Communities 1st’s Better Business programme. Better Business creates and encourages partnerships between local businesses and the voluntary sector. This takes several forms including skill-share, employer-supported volunteering, Communities 1st’s Inspire Education programme, partnership opportunities, and projects. Rob also oversees the delivery of our Community Engagement at the Communities 1st Better Day hubs across Hertsmere, St Albans & District, Broxbourne Borough, and East Herts. Rob represents Communities 1st externally on the Abbey Line and New River Line Community Rail Partnerships and the local Employment and Skills Partnerships.
Outside of work, Rob enjoys watching live music, going to record fairs, and following the fortunes of his football team.
Ann Halkyard - Community Engagement Coordinator
Ann is married, has two daughters and a grandson. She enjoys spending time with her family, going for long walks, reading, and going to the cinema and theatre.
Everton Barnes - Community Engagement Officer
Everton joined Communities 1st in January 2023. He has previously worked on community-based projects, including table tennis, street dance, and meditation.
Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family and playing the ukulele.
Anna Leyden - Supported Employment and Volunteering Facilitator
Anna works leads on our Able2Enable Supported Employment/Volunteering Project. Able2Enable takes a holistic approach to support individuals to develop key life skills, improve wellbeing and increase employability skills. It encourages individuals to grow within their capabilities by providing them with coaching and wellbeing support, training opportunities and supported volunteering placements.
In her free time, Anna volunteers for organisations across the world and is a Global Youth Peace Ambassador. She is also passionate about Applied Theatre and its use in developing communities.
Monita Marwaha - Training and Skills Facilitator
Monita is our Training & Skills Facilitator, developing, planning and forecasting a wide range of vocational and educational training targeted for our members, partners, staff and other stakeholders to Communities 1st. Monita develops and delivers training courses as part of the Multiply project, upskilling adults with new numeracy skills. In her past roles in the Volunteer Centre at Communities 1st, her responsibilities have included assisting with the recruitment and training of prospective volunteers. Monita also liaises with organisations that commit to working with volunteers and offers them support and advice to ensure volunteers are appropriately managed and trained.
Her non-work-related interests include a love for gardens, food and travelling.
Debbie Charles - Life Skills Trainer
Debbie joined Communities 1st in October 2022 as a Life Skills Tutor. Her role is to deliver Life Skills courses, embedding numeracy to the community, at venues across the district. Debbie comes with a background in personal development courses within community-based organisations.
Outside of work Debbie has a keen interest in upcycling furniture, cookery and spending time with friends and family.
Paola Alessi - Events and Team Administrator
Paola provides support in the organisation of events and administration, and also assists in the creation of the newsletters. She looks after students coming for their working experience weeks and ensures that the Engagement and Skills team have all the materials needed to promote our services and events.
In her spare time, Paola enjoys organising dinners with friends, travelling and spending time with her family.
