Meet The Team
Louise, Helen and our FocusFamily of volunteers
Louise Reed
CEO & Founder
Our CEO and founder Louise Reed was inspired to begin Focus4Hope in 2016, after seeing devastating images of the body of a 3 year old Syrian boy named Alan Kurdi, who washed up on a beach in Turkey. He and two other members of his family tragically drowned during an attempt to flee to safety. Hearing his story was even more emotionally resonant because of the fact that Louise’s daughters were around the same age as Alan at the time. She knew that she had to do something to help those impacted by the refugee crisis, and so Focus4Hope was born.
Louise brought together a coalition of friends and professional contacts who were dedicated to making a meaningful impact on people’s lives. Soon after setting to work, Louise realised how much need there was in her own community, and the goal of Focus4Hope expanded to helping the homeless, elderly and vulnerable in West Yorkshire.
After years of tirelessly working in our community and beyond, we were thrilled to receive charity status in November of 2020.
Helen Keeley
Operations Manager and Crisis Intervention Support Adviser
Helen started volunteering with the charity at the Movie Day senior social and in Replenish, the charity’s preloved clothing boutique. She also supports the outreach team at homeless feeds in Leeds and leads health screening activities at the Community Hub.
Married with two children and two grandchildren, Helen enjoys spending time riding her horse, Seamus, and socialising with friends.
Nicole McGinley
TBC
Details to follow
Cathy Dickson
Replenish Retail Manager
Dawn Sadie
Replenish Boutique Manager
Hi, I’m Dawn.
I first joined Replenish Focus4Hope as a volunteer because I wanted to give something back to my community. What started as a desire to help others has grown into an incredibly rewarding journey, and I now have the honour of taking on a shared management role alongside an amazing team.
I’m proud to be part of our pre-loved charity boutique, where our Donate, Rotate approach gives items a new lease of life while helping make a real difference to people’s lives.
Every item donated and every item purchased helps Replenish Focus4Hope provide practical support, social connection and essential resources to homeless, elderly, isolated and vulnerable people in our community.
This opportunity has given me so much more than I ever expected. It has helped me learn, grow in confidence and discover opportunities I never imagined. I’m incredibly grateful to be part of such a caring and inspiring team.
I truly believe it’s never too late to learn, never too late to grow, and never too late to give something back.
I’m proud of my journey so far and excited to continue making a difference — one pre-loved item at a time. ❤️
Lisa Balderson
Replenish Boutique Manager
Two years ago, I joined Replenish as a volunteer, never imagining that it would lead to a job I would come to love so much. When the opportunity arose to join the team, I felt incredibly lucky to be offered the position, and I’ve never looked back.
I particularly love the creative side of the shop, from creating eye-catching displays and working with new stock to bringing ideas to life. I also really enjoy working alongside our amazing volunteers and seeing everyone’s ideas and personalities come together. But what I value most is knowing that the work we do helps support people who are homeless, vulnerable or going through difficult times. Seeing the positive difference Focus4Hope makes in people’s lives makes me incredibly proud to be part of the charity.
Outside of work, I have a partner and four kids, so life is always busy! I love spending time with my family, finding a bargain, getting stuck into projects at home and keeping busy with the things I love.
I feel incredibly lucky to be doing something I genuinely enjoy, while being part of a team and charity that makes such a meaningful difference in our community.
The Volunteers
All of the important work that we accomplish is made possible by our fabulous team of volunteers, and we are so grateful to work with them all. Whether offering a couple of hours a day, week or month, assisting at the Hub, collecting supplies, working in Replenish our charity shop, at our bi monthly homeless feeds, coffee mornings and beyond, their assistance always accompanied by a cheerful smile, is invaluable.
Our volunteers came up with the moniker, FocusFamily and we are!
If you would like to join the FocusFamily sign up on our volunteer page.
*All of our volunteers are DBS checked and hold Food Hygiene Certificates where required.