THE PEOPLE BEHIND WESTON ARK

The people behind the welcome

Weston Ark is a new Christian charity dedicated to bringing God's love to life through practical support for the Weston-super-Mare community. Our team, including trustees, staff and volunteers rooted in local church life, combines diverse expertise to lead with faith and compassion. Get to know us and explore ways to join in the journey!

Our day-to-day team

Welcoming you, caring for the centre and keeping things running.

Matt Luft

Centre Manager

Part-time

Matt helps keep the Hughenden Centre welcoming and running smoothly, bringing practical maintenance skills, problem-solving and a caring approach to hospitality.

Matt Luft serves as the Centre Manager for the Hughenden Centre, appointed in June 2025, bringing experience in practical maintenance, problem-solving, and hospitality to Weston Ark. His caring approach aligns with the charity’s goals of aiding those on low incomes and enabling Christian witness.

Matt’s vision includes hosting community gatherings, partnering with local groups, developing a community café, and supporting volunteers to expand services like affordable meals and workshops.

His leadership ensures the Hughenden Centre operates as a welcoming hub, promoting connection and self-sufficiency while reflecting Weston Ark’s faith-driven mission to provide practical support and hope to the community.

Lin Thomas

Ark Café Team Leader

Volunteer

Lin leads the café with a heart for a safe, caring place where people can meet and build friendships. She brings experience in church leadership, education and community care.

Lin came to faith in her early thirties after attending church for much of her life. As Ark Café Team Leader, she hopes to offer a safe, caring place where people can meet, build friendships, share experiences and help one another.

Her Christian service has included work with children and young people, and serving as an Assistant Pastor alongside her husband in an inner-city church in Wolverhampton. They also led a church in a socially deprived part of the city, work she found both challenging and highly rewarding.

Lin has been a founder and trustee of charities in the Midlands and North Somerset. Her work in schools, colleges and community care has also been an important part of her life.

Lin has been married for 47 years. She and her husband had three sons; one died of cancer eight years ago.

Our trustees

Guiding the charity’s vision and looking after its future.

Clive Bodley

Trustee

Clive brings experience in housing, business and community regeneration, with a vision for the Hughenden Centre as a place of practical support and lasting connection.

Clive is an active member of a local church and has particularly enjoyed working on community regeneration projects across the country. His background is in business management, planning, housing and economic development. Clive has held leadership roles with charities, community enterprises and commercial companies at local and national level. Within North Somerset his roles have included Chief Executive of the Alliance Homes Group for ten years, member of the North Somerset Partnership and chairing Weston-super-Mare Foodbank for six years.

Clive's vision for Weston Ark centres on the Hughenden Centre becoming a vibrant community hub. He sees initiatives like the Ark Café providing safe social spaces, while practical programs such as budget cooking sessions and debt advice help people move toward self-sufficiency. Clive recognizes that the charity has known God's blessing in giving them the capacity to purchase the historic Hughenden Road building, establishing a permanent base for community ministry.

His approach emphasizes Spirit-led growth that builds genuine connections while maintaining financial sustainability. Clive believes strongly in identifying people whom God is calling to be part of this work, emphasizing that involvement should come from divine prompting rather than human pressure. His leadership ensures the charity's work remains both compassionate and sustainable, always seeking God's guidance for each step forward.

Mary Jeremy

Trustee

Mary brings years of Foodbank and community service experience. She helped shape Weston Ark’s name and its vision of warmth, friendship and practical support.

Mary was appointed to the board on 30 May 2024, bringing years of community service experience from her involvement with Weston-super-Mare Foodbank, where she has been a respected member for seven years. Her collaborative spirit and organizational skills, developed through various committee roles, have proven invaluable in developing the charity's work.

Mary inspired the charity's name "Weston Ark." Initially envisioning Noah's Ark as people being saved from overwhelming pressures, her understanding deepened during a day of prayer in February '25 when she and Clive shared a revelation about the Ark of the Covenant. This transformed their vision: through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, Weston Ark carries God's presence into the community, offering people direct access to transforming power and freedom.

Through her years of service with Weston Foodbank, Mary developed a heart for additional community support programs such as cooking classes and signposting to debt advice, budgeting support, and local support agencies. She was instrumental in the charity's formation as a complementary initiative to expand community outreach opportunities. Working collaboratively with fellow trustees, she supported the acquisition of the historic Hughenden Road building, trusting in God's timing despite the lengthy process.

Mary helped prepare Ark Café for opening through food hygiene training, registration and the creation of a welcoming space. She continues to support the café and its community connections, including the developing relationship with Men’s Shed. Her hope is for people to find warmth, friendship and practical support, with Christ’s love shared naturally through the life of the centre.

Paul Salmons

Treasurer

A Chartered Management Accountant, Paul supports the charity’s finances, governance and volunteer coordination so its work can grow sustainably.

Paul joined the board in May 2024, bringing essential financial expertise as a Chartered Management Accountant with 13 years of experience managing a Christian charity. His service as Honorary Treasurer at Milton Baptist Church and trustee roles with organizations including the Sunrise Foundation CIO and West of England Baptist Network demonstrate his commitment to faithful stewardship.

Paul's expertise extends beyond financial oversight to include volunteer coordination and compliance matters, where he leads efforts on DBS checks and other regulatory requirements. His passion for mission and evangelism aligns perfectly with the charity's vision, ensuring that financial planning supports sustainable expansion of community initiatives.

Working alongside Clive, Paul helps ensure that practical support programs - from budget management advice to food initiatives - reach those who need them most while maintaining the financial integrity that enables long-term ministry impact.

Emma Wotton

Trustee

Emma is a school teacher whose experience in education and family support helps shape Weston Ark’s work with children and low-income households.

Emma joined the board on 21 June 2025, bringing fresh perspectives from her work as a school teacher. Her professional insights into education, child welfare, and family support enhance the team's ability to serve low-income households with children effectively.

Emma's educational background complements the existing community programs, particularly in developing initiatives that could support families and children. Her active participation in Milton Baptist Church activities alongside fellow trustees strengthens the collaborative approach that characterizes the entire team.

As the charity continues developing community-focused projects at the Hughenden Centre, Emma's commitment to Spirit-guided action helps ensure initiatives provide genuine hope, connection, and empowerment for the families served.

Diana Thomas

Trustee

An artist with decades of community outreach experience, Diana brings creativity and a heart for helping people discover their worth and belonging.

Diana joined the board in August 2025, bringing a unique blend of creativity, compassion and decades of experience in community outreach. A gifted artist with a calling to use her skills in ministry, Diana has been involved in a wide variety of projects serving people of all ages and backgrounds, from young children and teenagers to those experiencing homelessness.

Her professional background includes tutoring art and history to students who had been excluded from mainstream education, where her patient and relational approach helped young people rediscover their confidence and potential.

Over the years she has been involved with various church-based outreach projects, some of which she has initiated and led, including youth drop-ins, Messy Church and community events designed to bring people together and share the hope of the gospel in accessible and creative ways.

Diana's faith is central to her life and work, inspiring her to seek Christ in each person she meets and to affirm their true worth and value. She sees her involvement with Weston Ark as the culmination of many threads in her Christian journey, a place where her heart for the marginalised, her artistic gifts and her commitment to Spirit-led service come together in one mission.

Technology & Systems

George Bradley

Technology & Systems

Volunteer

George supports Weston Ark’s website, Hallmaster booking platform and Microsoft 365, helping the charity’s digital systems work smoothly.

George joined Weston Ark in April 2025 and supports the charity’s technology and systems. He looks after the website, the Hallmaster booking platform and Microsoft 365, including the charity’s @westonark.org.uk email accounts.

His role brings together a degree in Applied Computing and experience in church technology and music ministry.