Meet our team

Emma Merrick - Director, Play ranger, first aider, Safeguard lead officer.

I have lived on Gleadless valley for over 45 years, and raised my own child on the estate. I started out by running the playgroup back in 2000 at the Holy cross church, and volunteering for Sure start being one of the parent support board for the area. I then set up my own entertainments business which I have been running now since 2007, bringing children's entertainment to parties and schools all over south yorkshire.

I was hired by our local Tara to do there christmas, halloween and easter parties which I have now been providing this service for over 5 years. The Tara then put me intouch with the sheffield city council asking me to provide more services around the area for the children as their doesn't seem to be much for the 6 to 16 year olds, which started me off down the path of Haf funded provisions in the area.

In July 2024 I was approached by sheffield play partnership asking if they could support me making our activities more perminant in the area, and help me thrive to bring as much as possible to the children of the estate. With the very exceptional help from a lady called Sarah Wilson who is a brilliant consultant, I set up Valley youth hub, to bring the forgotten age groups of children more provisions in the area.

This is proving hard due to the lack of buildings upon the area, but I am not letting this deter us from our major goal.

Tony Hazlehurst - Director and Financal administration lead

Tony has worked in and around different buisnesses for 30 years, running 2 sucessful businesses in the past. Tony lives in Rotherham and has family over here in sheffield. His input into bringing a business brain and financal outlook to valley youth hub is needed to drive Valley youth hub forward.

Tony has dedicated his time and effort to steering the ideas in the right direction, helping plan and strategizing the forward movement of Valley Youth Hub.

Sally Pedley - Committee Member

Sally has lived in Gleadless valley and recently moved off, but her legacy lives on in the estate. Sally was the head of the local Tara, always pushing to make sure the area and the people in the area are looked after in any way possible. No task was to big for Sally to tackle.

Sally has a wealth of knowledge of the area, and a great repour with local people, community leaders and different people that work in and for Gleadless valley area.

Sally is an amazing addition to Valley youth hub and we look forward to everything that she can bring to the business from her years of experience within the community.

Niesha Bell - Committee member

Niesha Bell is a dedicating member of the committee with years of experience

Liam Norton - Play Ranger

Jade Merrick - Play Ranger, Safeguard worker and first aider.