OUR TEAM
Elizabeth Anderson
Founder
Dr Elizabeth Anderson trained as a research psychologist, specialising in dementia in the late 1990’s when she completed her doctorate at the University of Oxford. Prior to founding The Memory Tree she worked as a Lecturer in Dementia Studies at the University of Bradford (2002 – 2008) and then as a freelance Dementia Care Trainer (2008 – 2011). Elizabeth was motivated to leave her professional work because she felt there was a lack of knowledge in local communities that was contributing to people feeling under-confident when it came to supporting their neighbours or friends living with dementia.To find out whether she could use her knowledge to help Elizabeth worked voluntarily in her local community during 2011 to meet people with dementia and their carers, find out about their needs and the gaps in local service provision; the main gap was for what we have called a Memory Club – a place where the person with dementia and the carer could go together but still get some time apart.
Bob Hutton
Director
Bob is a plumber by trade but, having had to take early retirement for health reasons, has been working with older people in the Bradford area for over 10 years. Bob met Elizabeth through his voluntary work in 2011 and helped to build our community work enabling us to found the organization in 2012. Bob is ‘Bradford born and bred’ and loves his home city and the people who live here. Bob’s extensive knowledge of life in Bradford is the foundation of our reminiscence work. Bob has undertaken a number of other voluntary roles with older people in the Bradford area, including the Home from Hospital scheme run by Carers’ Resource, befriending and being a volunteer driver for the Volunteer Centre Bradford and the Alzheimer’s Society and running activity sessions and visiting people at Holmeview in Holme Wood.
Andrea Peakall
Director
Andrea joined the Memory Tree team in 2014 and agreed to become our third director in 2015. Andrea’s main role is to help with fundraising and governance and to provide practical help at our Clubs as and when she is needed.
Peter Wightman
Director
Peter is a retired mathematics teacher who joined The Memory Tree as our Treasurer in 2021. He taught at Woodhouse Grove School for over 20 years and has been a Deacon at Idle Baptist Church since 1985.
Susan Collins
Director & Lead for Memory Tree @ Burley-in-Wharfedale
Susan is a founder member of the Burley Dementia Action Group (BDAG). The Memory Tree @ Burley-in-Wharfedale is one of a range of activities undertaken by BDAG to make Burley-in-Wharfedale a Dementia Friendly Community. The work of BDAG was recognized in 2018 when the group won a national award from the Alzheimer’s Society. Susan joined the Board of Directors for The Memory Tree in 2023 so that all our Memory Clubs can benefit from her wisdom and experience.