NottinghamLIFE: CHIEF EXECUTIVE TO LEAVE MALT CROSS TRUST

Jo Cox-Brown, chief executive of The Malt Cross Trust, has announced that she is to leave after eight years in the role.

The Malt Cross Trust is a charity which acquired The Malt Cross music hall on St James’ Street, Nottingham in 1996 with the aim of restoring and preserving the unique building for the city of Nottingham and was entrusted to a consortium of churches in 2002.

Jo Cox-Brown joined the Trust at a time when it faced many challenges, in particular the upkeep of an historic building, and she worked hard to secure a £1.38 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Funding as well as match funding to help restore the Malt Cross to its former glory.

Under Jo’s leadership, The Malt Cross Trust has gone from strength to strength and today it is a diverse innovative charity and social enterprise.  The Malt Cross is home to a vibrant cafe bar; modern gallery space; heritage, arts & crafts workshop and a pop up craft consortium.  It is part of Nottingham’s cave network with newly opened caves now accessible to the public.  It is also home to the Street Pastors and Safe Space, enabling the Trust to do outreach work in the city.

During her time, Jo has been responsible for reinstating and overseeing the Street Pastors, a scheme funded by the Nottingham Business Improvement District (BID) and Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Paddy Tipping.

More than 80 volunteer Street Pastors go into Nottingham city centre on Friday and Saturday nights to provide valuable on-street support to visitors to the city centre. They help to look after vulnerable people who have enjoyed a night out in the city, taking pressure off the police and the medical services who are then able to devote their time and resources to more serious incidents.  Their support is highly valued by the people that they help as well as by businesses that operate in the city in the evening and the emergency services.

Safe Space is a project that has grown out of the Street Pastors work, providing a safe place in the city for anyone who might need it on Friday and Saturday nights. This can be anything from someone wanting a safe place to wait for a taxi or a discreet place for someone to receive first aid.

Through its work, the Malt Cross Trust has helped Nottingham to secure Purple Flag status for seven consecutive years signifying that Nottingham is a great and safe place for a night out.

The Street Pastors also run the Malt Cross Christmas Food Bank which supports a number of Nottingham charities such as Women’s Aid, Base 51, NGY and The Friary which enables Malt Cross to directly support communities at Christmas when otherwise they may receive nothing at all.

Colleagues have paid tribute to Jo who will be leaving at the end of this year.

Chair of the Trustees, Christina Baxter, commented: “Jo’s energy and commitment have been second to none and we owe Jo an enormous debt of gratitude for the way she has managed a complex but significant contribution to the life of our city. Jo has helped to develop a skilled team of people who are poised to continue the great work that she has started. Jo will be sorely missed but we wish her all the very best for her future.”