One Team: One Vision
“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” - Henry Ford
It takes an inspiring team to make great things happen, and here in the north east we have the most amazing committed team of mentors supporting schools to maximise their play potential.
As a critical friend we will support, challenge and guide you on your journey to amazing playtimes.
Meet the NE Team!
Ingrid Wilkinson, Director and Founder
Contact: [email protected]
Ingrid joined OPAL in 2015 having previously worked as a Senior Development Officer for Play England, responsible for play and health in primary schools across the UK.
Passionate about play throughout her career, Ingrid has lectured, written, delivered and evaluated training courses for the past 20 years. Ingrid is also a qualified counsellor and holistic therapist.
As Director of OPAL North East, Ingrid leads a dedicated team of staff who mentor schools across the region. As a Senior Mentor for OPAL CIC, she tutors and supports new OPAL mentors and is also the area developer for Scotland, working in partnership with Play Scotland.
Ingrid is a mam of three wild and crazy kids who strive for play adventures on a daily basis. Having grown up in a village, Ingrid’s own childhood memories of playing out involve riding round the village from dawn until dusk, playing on a derelict railway line and setting up a brick a back shop on her driveway! Ingrid is passionate about supporting her local community and volunteers as a trust member for Shirmeoor adventure playground in North Tyneside.
Outside of work you might find Ingrid enjoying a regular dip in the North Sea or walking her gorgeous cockapoo Milo.
Andrea Caine, OPAL North East Mentor
Covering: North Tyneside and surrounding areas
Contact: [email protected]
Andrea has worked in the private childcare sector for over 20 years in various roles, with the last 14 years being spent managing a very busy nursery with a workforce of 45 staff caring for 130 children. Andrea’s passion, knowledge and enthusiasm for childcare played a large part in the Nursery achieving Outstanding ratings by Ofsted, a hat trick of Outstanding awards during her leadership being her proudest achievement. Her love for play has always shone through ensuring the children’s experiences are centre of what they do and at the highest standard possible. Andrea’s role was pivotal to ensure her staff team were supported and trained to be the best practitioner they could be!
On a personal level, Andrea is married with two very active young boys who like nothing better than to go on outdoor adventures during weekends and holidays. As a family they love travelling and seeking out new experiences and enjoyment in their campervan.
Lizzie Pringle, OPAL North East Mentor
Covering: Redcar and Cleveland and surrounding areas
Contact: [email protected]
Lizzie is a former primary school teacher, educating many children and supporting the development of families for over 13 years. Lizzie always enjoyed creating playful opportunities within her lessons and saw the difference this made to the engagement and wellbeing of the children in her care. As an advocate for children’s mental health, Lizzie is passionate about sharing the importance of learning through play for children of all ages, and demonstrating the impact and benefits great play opportunities can have on a child’s wellbeing.
Lizzie is of the generation that was permitted to be more adventurous; she knew it was time to go home once the streetlights came on and you would often find Lizzie and her friends playing knock-a-door-run, making tarzees or beck jumping each evening after school.
As a mum of two lively boys, Lizzie recognises the need for great play opportunities and her young family love nothing more than exploring our beautiful country in their caravan – in search for the best adventure playground or pump track.
Kate Gallon, OPAL North East Mentor
Covering: Durham and surrounding areas
Contact: [email protected]
Following a degree in Education at Durham University, Kate worked as a KS1 and Early Years teacher for over 20 years. As Early Years lead, Kate quickly recognised the importance of play to children’s health and wellbeing. This resulted in her transforming the play offer for all children in EYFS through excellent outdoor provision.
Kate began working as an OPAL Mentor at the beginning of 2023 and has never looked back! Having a firm understanding of how schools operate and the challenges they encounter has enabled her to successfully mentor many schools throughout the North East to achieve amazing playtimes for all children. Kate loves supporting schools and seeing the positive impact that the OPAL Primary Programme has on the whole school community.
Kate developed a love for the outdoors from a very young age and has fond memories of outdoor play. Being the daughter of a builder, she spent many happy hours roaming around building sites having an endless amount of fun. Her garden was filled with a wealth of treasure – bricks, cement mixers, pallets, scaffolding posts and sand to mention a few. Predominantly playing with her older brother, she would be outside at the crack of dawn building dens (not always successfully!), digging holes, constructing tree houses, making mud pies and generally exploring the outdoors.
Anna Dutson, OPAL North East Mentor
Covering: Carlise and Cumbria
Contact: [email protected]
Anna embarked upon her career in education as a secondary school English and drama teacher, she then moved with her young family to the remote Himalayan country of Bhutan. Here, she worked as a school teacher, and taught monks in a Buddhist monastery. This fantastic opportunity shaped her desire to work in education in ways that would be most beneficial to young people from diverse backgrounds.
Back in the UK, Anna has worked for many years as a Parent Support Advisor with looked-after children, and across many Cumbrian schools, as a Healthy Schools Coordinator and primary school teacher with a specific focus on art and English. Now an OPAL mentor in Cumbria, Anna loves having the opportunity to share her passion for connecting with nature and the outdoors with other education practitioners. She has a keen desire to promote wonderful playtimes for all children across the county and she is delighted that word is quickly spreading about the positive effect of OPAL within Cumbria.
Anna grew up in a large family living on an estate in a village where children of all ages played together in the fields and woods, staying out until it was dark, or they were too hungry or tired to go on! She now lives on a farm in Cumbria with her family, helping to run a sawmill and forestry business. She keeps a variety of rare breed animals and has a large vegetable patch to keep her busy, and loves walking and swimming in the mountain tarns nearby.
Brooke Bolt, Finance and IT Support
Brooke is a third-year psychology student at Durham University with a strong passion for forensic psychology. Alongside her studies, she works in finance and business support for OPAL North Ease, where she plays a key role in supporting the mentors that work within the schools. She has a love for sports and plays hockey weekly. When she’s not on the pitch or studying, she enjoys traveling and exploring new places, always looking for her next adventure.
David Bolt, OPAL Retail
David worked as a project engineer for Royal Mail for over 20 years, before taking his redundancy in 2020. Several months later, David put his renovation and building skills into practice, undertaking the role of transforming a derelict building into the home of OPAL North East. With that project complete, David now supports the team to deal with ecommerce and school retail enquiries.
Tracey Anderson, Personal Assistant to Director
Tracey is an early years professional with a passion for play! Tracey has a 1st Class Degree in Early Years Professional Studies and previously worked as a nursery nurse, in both private and local authority settings, and as a family support worker. Now, Tracey thoroughly enjoys her work with OPAL North East, supporting with admin and continuing her professional development in all things play.