As a company limited by guarantee, Tyne Coast Academy Trust is constituted under a Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association and has legal Members who oversee the Trust and its Trustees.

The Trust has five Member positions. 

The Members are responsible for (amongst other things):

• Approving any changes to the Articles of Association;
• Appointment and removal of Trustees; and
• Securing the highest standards of accountability from the Trustees for the provision of all pupils in the Multi Academy Trust (MAT).

All Members can be contacted via Mr Neil Longstaff, Director of Governance. Please complete our Web Form and we will respond as soon as possible.

Our Members' business and pecuniary interests show details of any economic and/or business links and roles in other institutions. 

Meet Our Members

Andrew Watts is the Executive Director of ‘Changing Places and Changing Lives’ Charity Groundwork South Tyneside and Newcastle, and he is the current Chair of Governors at Tyne Coast College, the Academy Trust’s sponsor. His priorities include building greater business and community partnerships, and increasing educational opportunities and outcomes for all students.

Andrew spent 15 years working in the public sector in various environmental positions before joining Groundwork in 2005. His role as Executive Director is varied but includes helping create strategic partnerships across Tyneside and developing Groundwork’s asset portfolio, which includes the One Trinity Green business centre in South Shields and The Beacon Enterprise Centre in Newcastle. He is also an active board member of a voluntary sector organisation in South Tyneside.

• Appointed by Sponsor: 23.03.15

    Mrs Helen Watson

Helen Watson held the position of Corporate Director for Children, Adults and Families at South Tyneside Council for seven years until she left to become Director of Strategy at Cafcass (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) in September 2015. Her other previous roles include Head of Children’s Services at North Tyneside Council, which she held for over four years, from 2003. Helen has an MBA from the Open University, a Master’s degree in sociology and social policy from the University of Durham, a BA in history from Kings College London, and gained a postgraduate qualification in social work after studying at University College Cardiff. Helen’s volunteer experience and causes cover several areas including animal welfare, children, civil rights and social action, economic empowerment and education.

• Appointed by Members: 04.07.17

Mark Overton is a retired Consultant in Public Health who spent much of his career working in South Tyneside.

He combines vast professional expertise, including that of strategic planning, with an intense interest in Further Education, and combines both within a single focus directed towards removing inequalities in health and education.

Mark is dedicated to using his skills and role of governor to progress the education of all young people who attend the college.

The married father-of-two, who lives in Monkton, South Tyneside, is also a governor at a secondary school and at a primary school in South Tyneside.

In 1991, he studied for a one-year Certificate in Management at South Tyneside College, a qualification he used as a foundation course and from which he began his successful and rewarding career.

• Appointed by Members: 01.09.18

Mr Colin Seccombe MBE

Member

Colin is a chartered accountant having qualified with KPMG in London; after a two year secondment to Canada with them he returned to his native Devon and became a partner in their Plymouth office in 1987. The main focus of his work was audit - particularly of financial organisations - and business advisory. In 1997 he left KPMG to become Finance Director of Newcastle Building Society and in 2006 took over as Chief Executive. He retired in 2010.  He was a trustee of the Community Foundation serving Tyne & Wear and Northumberland
for 9 years being Treasurer for six. Subsequent to that he became a trustee of UK Community Foundations and has been Treasurer for five years. He has been a governor of Tyne Coast College (and one of its predecessors Tyne Metropolitan College) for eight years and is currently the Chair of its Finance Committee.  He was awarded the MBE in 2019 for services to the community and business in the north east.
 

Tyne Coast College

Mrs Susan Wear

Representative

• Appointed by the Sponsor: 28.03.2018