New appointments strengthen Newton-le-Willows Neighbourhood Board

Article date: 15 May 2026

The Regeneration Plan and the 4-Year Investment Plan priorities were developed following extensive community consultation and utilising socio-economic data and strategic insights, to inform how £20 million of Government funding will be invested in Newton-le-Willows over the next ten years.

The Investment Plan for the first four years of funding (from April 2026) sets out four priority investment areas:

• Regeneration, High Streets and Heritage (20% of the public vote) 
• Education and Opportunity (19.5% of the public vote) 
• Health and Wellbeing (16.7% of the public vote) 
• Cohesion (identified as a priority by the Neighbourhood Board to allow for community capacity building)

Following an open recruitment process the Neighbourhood Board has appointed Catherine Twist as Education & Opportunity Representative and Claire Glover as Health & Wellbeing Representative.

Catherine is a resident of Newton-le-Willows and started her teaching career in 1991 at St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic High School. In 2006 she joined St Cuthbert's Catholic High School in Parr as Science Department Leader before becoming Head teacher in 2015 where she remained up until her retirement in 2024. She is now an independent member for admissions and exclusion appeals in St Helens, bringing a wealth of knowledge from across the borough.

On joining the Board, Catherine said:

"I am delighted to have been invited as a member of Newton-le-Willows Pride in Place board, in particular, for Education and opportunities. 

A St Helens' girl, through and through, the whole of my professional career has been in two St Helens' Secondary schools spanning from lab technician to Science teacher to, eventually,  an extremely proud Headteacher whose drive was to improve the outcomes for young people and their families across St Helens, but particularly in areas where need is most. 

We have a duty to encourage everyone in our community to aspire to be the best they can, to be inspired and to inspire others and I hope that by being involved in this exciting project, I will be able to offer my knowledge and support to all stakeholders in the Newton-le-Willows community and I look forward to working with the existing board and other members of the local area."

Claire lives and works in Newton-le-Willows and brings over 25 years in health and wellbeing prevention and promotion services. She is currently the Operations Manager at St Helens Wellbeing Service, with her career focusing on improving health outcomes, developing interventions, and empowering individuals and communities to make sustainable long-term behaviour changes.

Speaking of her appointment Claire said:

"I'm proud to have been appointed to the Neighbourhood Board, bringing 25 years' experience in public health and prevention through my role with St Helens Wellbeing Service. Living and working in Newton-le-Willows, I'm deeply committed to its future, championing inclusion, empowering communities, and fostering long-term healthy lifestyle changes. I look forward to working collaboratively, listening to views of local people, contributing my expertise, and supporting positive, sustainable outcomes for our town." 

Chris Hickey, Chair of the Newton-le-Willows Neighbourhood Board, said: "We are delighted to welcome Catherine and Claire to the Newton-le-Willows Neighbourhood Board. Their knowledge and expertise, alongside their passion for the town, will help us to drive forward change in areas that really matter to residents. I am looking forward to working together collectively to continue to deliver real, meaningful change and to make Newton-le-Willows an even better place to live, work and visit."

The Newton-le-Willows Regeneration Plan and the 4-Year Investment Plan priorities were submitted to Government in November 2025 and approved in March 2026.

Additionally, in March 2026 three early delivery projects were approved to take forward in Year 1 - the installation of a new playground at St Johns Park in Earlestown, the installation of professional, high-quality Audio-Visual and lighting infrastructure in the main hall of Earlestown Town Hall and the delivery of an Arts on Prescription programme. The Board are now developing projects in line with the priority themes to take forward over the coming years.