Team - Ignite Yorkshire

Marie

Ignite Project Manager

Hi! My name is Marie Millward and I am the Project Manager for Ignite Yorkshire. This means it is my job to make sure that all the partners work together to make the project a success. Success means that we use the project’s funds to support young people to explore industrial heritage in all sorts of ways so that they gain something out of it, such as skills for employment, a space to collaborate with other young people, hopefully also having an enjoyable time! Success also means persuading more people and organisations in the worlds of heritage, culture and youth work that this is a great recipe and everyone can benefit from young people being really involved in heritage. If places like museums are not actively working to including young people in what they, they really are missing something vital.

I started working for We are IVE Ltd as the Project Manager at the start of the project and was drawn to this job because it is very unusual to see this combination of partners, activities and aspirations in a project combined with the freedom to try new ways of working. I am also really interested in industrial heritage and how it relates to where we live, how we think about ourselves and what it means for people who (unlike me) were born in the 21st century.

A little bit about me: I love growing things in my garden – flowers rather than things to eat. For my whole life have been interested in nature and how things grow. This led me to study a degree in ecology and I started my working life as an Environmental Scientist so it has been a long and varied journey from there to what I do now, but somehow it all connects.

Emily

Digital Content Assistant

Hello, my name is Emily Main and I work as a Digital Content Curator for Ignite. I am currently developing an online gallery to showcase all the amazing work the Ignite partners have been achieving since the beginning of the project!

I joined Ignite through a paid internship and have been fortunate enough to continue working here!

A little bit about me: I own a beautiful narrowboat called the Jolly Thresher!

Eleanor

Digital Content Assistant

Hello! My name is Eleanor Chesterton and I work as a Digital Content Assistant for Ignite Yorkshire. This means I am usually the one behind Ignite’s social media posts you see (including this one!) but I also write for the website and have conducted an interview!

I came to work with Ignite through one of their projects with Sheffield Museums that I was involved in. I completed an internship in the summer, and was fortunate to continue working with Ignite ever since! This work allows me to promote heritage learning opportunities to young people in Yorkshire – helping keep heritage work alive.

A little bit about me: I am a student studying Archaeology with a focus on the Stone Age! I hope to be able to go into further research surrounding this period or work as a public historian.

Asher

Asher Jael is youth coach and community developer from Leeds. His social change work engages with issues around racial justice and climate change at a grassroots level.

A little bit about Asher: Asher is a blues and jazz guitarist, and also enjoys mountaineering and nature writing. If he could do anything he wanted, he would live somewhere quiet and slow, and write music and poetry.

Becky

Project Support Officer

Hi my name is Becky and I am the Project Support Officer for Ignite. I do lots of things, but mostly look after this website and the behind the scenes bits of the Ignite project that make it run smoothly.

I started working on Ignite after working in museums, galleries and archives for several years. I have always been passionate about community engagement in arts and heritage, so this was the perfect job for me! I am now also the Business Development Officer for IVE, working to expand our work with young people.

A little bit about me: I love to travel, and once hitch hiked from Leeds to Amsterdam for charity. I spend most of my spare time in the kitchen trying out new recipes, and my new year’s resolution is to grow my own veg for the first time ever.