Toybox Management Team:

Andy Stockbridge joined the Toybox team as Chief Executive in September 2004. Andy has many years experience of working in the charity sector, having previously held senior positions in Scripture Union, BMS World Mission, and West London YMCA. Prior to charity sector employment Andy worked in the commercial sector involved with consultancy, business development and training. Living in Milton Keynes, Andy is married to Beverley and they have two children. Andy is a former trustee of his local church, where he is involved in a range of activities. He enjoys running (increasingly slowly!), cycling, family life, church activities and music.

Andrew Gray is Regional Director, Latin America and studied Economics and Accountancy at the University of Edinburgh. Before beginning his studies, he spent a gap year in Salamanca, Spain, where he learnt Spanish with a Castillian accent (which gives no end of amusement to our partners in Latin America!). After university, he trained as a Chartered Accountant at a practice in London, and after qualifying he worked at ActionAid as Regional Financial Coordinator for Latin America & the Caribbean. The last 3 months of his time at ActionAid were spent living in Guatemala as part of a regionalisation process. On returning to the UK he worked for Leonard Cheshire in London for a couple of years before coming to Toybox in 2002. Andrew lives with his wife Jane and their two children in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Caroline Taylor (BSc (Hons) FCA DchA) joined the Toybox team as Director of Finance and Support Services at the end of 2008. After graduating from York University with a degree in Mathematics with Economics, Caroline qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the London office of Robson Rhodes. Following a time in the Business Support Group Caroline then worked as Management Accountant for the Cheshire Building Society for 6 years before joining the charity sector in 1993. Caroline worked with Operation Mobilisation for 10 years as Area Finance Officer for Western Europe and Head of Finance for the UK Office. Recent experience has included working with Turning Point and Manchester YMCA. In 2007 Caroline was awarded the Diploma in Charity Finance by the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Caroline is married to Roger and has 1 son, Matt, who is studying at York University. Caroline is a part of New Life Church Milton Keynes South and is a companion with the Northumbria Community. In her spare time Caroline enjoys quilting, reading, eating out and then going to the gym to use up the calories.

David Westwood joined us in early October 2009 as Director for Advocacy. Having grown up in Brazil, he has a very strong passion for Latin America (and for football!). He has been involved in international development for some 18 years, working for World Vision in the UK, Angola, Switzerland and Costa Rica, and as a result also is a bit of a linguist. He has been involved in advocacy work for the past 12 years, driven by an understanding that in order to make a real and lasting change to people’s lives, you cannot only work on treating the symptoms but also have to address the root causes of poverty. David lives on the outskirts of Northampton, and is married to Felicia and has three children – Sofia, Daniel and Emma. Nothing would make David happier than seeing a world without street children (except perhaps Spurs winning the Premier league! As you can see, he is also an incorrigible optimist!!)

Michelle Chapman joined the team in February 2008 as Supporter Care and Crafts Manageer, overseeing our busy Supporter Care team. Michelle has a background in Customer Services; she has worked in banks as well as for Audi. She has lived in Milton Keynes all her life and is an active member of Brickhill Baptist Church. She enjoys travelling as well as mission; at the end of 2006 she spent three months in Tanzania working on the World Food Programme Schools Feeding Project. In her spare time, Michelle enjoys making greetings cards and baking amazing cakes (which she kindly brings in every now and then to share with the Toybox team!).

Stephen Thorn has been Head of Marketing since January 2010. Prior to joining Toybox he ran a marketing consultancy in his home village of Ashwell, North Hertfordshire, working with clients in the education, technology and professional service markets. Stephen has 15 years marketing management experience in an eclectic range of organisations including scientific software, digital media and further education as well as luxury interior design and fine art greetings cards.
Married to Suzie and with four children of their own (Anna, Ben, Lily and Joe) he is relishing the opportunity to encourage people to make a difference to the children of Latin America through the work of Toybox. With an initial trip to the region planned for February 2010 Stephen is desperately learning a few key words of Spanish.

Go back to Toybox people

Toybox Trustees

Alastair Welford farms in North Oxfordshire, is Chairman of the Boards of a food distribution company, a property company and associated companies. He is married to Debbie with three children: Chris (now married to Emma), Jonnie and Becky. Alastair is extremely passionate about the Toybox vision - To see a world with no street children - as are the rest of the family, whose support is greatly appreciated. He has travelled to Guatemala, Bolivia and Peru to see the many projects Toybox now supports. He loves working with the street children who live on the streets and hopes in the years to come to be able to spend some time doing just that. He is passionate about communicating the work of Toybox in a variety of ways (and is available to give talks) and engaging with Governments and other organisations, where appropriate, that can make a difference to the children of Latin America. He also says that Toybox and in particular the children have completely changed his life and as a result he is totally committed to the Toybox vision.

Martin Jennings is married to Joanna and is a member of 4kids.com (aged 16 to 4). He and his wife worked for 6 years with the Anglican Church in DR Congo - Martin as an agriculturalist & community development adviser. He joined Tearfund’s Disaster Management Team in 1994 on a short term assignment as a logistician in the initial response to the Rwandan genocide, and has subsequently held a number of posts within Tearfund. Those posts include: Regional Overseas Personnel Manager, Project Officer and West & Central Africa Team Leader. He recently took up the role of Head of Region for West Africa. Martin’s educational background is in Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development. A Swahili- & French-speaker, Martin enjoys travel, walking and gardening, and was once a keen athlete! He is a member of St Leonard’s Church, Chesham Bois.

John Eke has been married to Linda, an adolescent counsellor, for 37 years. They have 5 children. John worked as an accountant for the National Children’s Bureau and Save the Children Fund before joining a Christian-run epilepsy centre as Finance Director in the late 1980s. John retired in 2005, but he says he is busier now than when he was working. He is a member of the Vineyard Church in St. Alban’s, where he leads a home group and serves in the men’s ministry as well as a healing ministry. He also puts his experience in finance to work at the church as a co-opted director. In addition to serving as a Toybox trustee, John is a trustee for the Consortium for Street Children. In the very little free time he has left, he enjoys golfing, sailing, and attempting to take up skiing.

Lindsay Melluish is married with 5 children. Her husband, Mark, is the vicar at St. Paul’s in Ealing, where Lindsay is also on the staff. Together, they are on the leadership of New Wine, and Lindsay is particularly involved with the women’s conferences and with hosting the London and the South East Summer Conference with Mark. She leads the women’s ministry at her church, as well as various family courses. Together with Mark, she has written and pioneered a parenting course called Family Time – Parenting Children.. In her free time, Lindsay enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She likes the open air, the sea, sunshine, playing tennis and eating out. She has been to Guatemala to visit the Toybox projects and also more recently to Peru and Bolivia.

Nikki Adlam is married to Chris and they live in Central London, with their new son, Toby. Nikki is a solicitor specialising in commercial litigation. During 2006, Nikki and Chris lived and worked in Guatemala as part of Latin Link's Stride project. As volunteers with El Castillo, they spent most of their time assisting the street team, whilst also working in the protection house, the school and spending time with the children at Casa Bernebe. Nikki and Chris travelled to Honduras, El Salvador, Belize, Peru, Argentina, Chile and Brazil before returning to the UK. Nikki is a trustee of Hoxton Vineyard Church where she also leads a women's ministry, and teaches and serves at The Vine Sunday Club. In the little free time she has, Nikki enjoys sport, travel and learning (much to the dismay of her neighbours!) to play the sax.

Bridget Plass is married to Adrian with four adult children. After training as a professional actress at university and theatre school she has worked with children.as a secondary teacher, residential social worker, and junior church leader and with women’s groups as facilitator and retreat leader. Bridget now works with Adrian, organising schedules and performing internationally. Her passion for children to be allowed a childhood springs from work with disturbed children, trips to Bangladesh and Africa with World Vision, and an expedition to Peru and Bolivia with Toybox. She has written three solo books and three with Adrian, including ‘Fountains in the Dust’. Bridget and Adrian have recently joined Scargill House, a Christian centre in Yorkshire, which reopens next summer. She looks forward to active participation there, finding opportunities locally to speak about Toybox, enjoying the Dales, and discovering new places to eat out!

Jeni York is married to Peter and they have two grown up daughters. Jeni was Human Resources Director at World Vision UK for 21 years. During that time Jeni travelled to many developing countries visiting projects designed to relieve poverty and she experienced poverty first hand and the appalling affect this has on many lives. Jeni led a Baptist church for several years and is now an Elder at Kislingbury Baptist Church. She is on the Board of Innovista International, a charity which nurtures and equips young Christian leaders. She is also Chair of the local School of Governors. Her passion has always been to see lives transformed and to see people reach their full potential, developing both professionally and spiritually.