Rachel Chiu

Role

Committee Member for the West Midlands

Rachel Chiu has lived and worked across the West Midlands for 25 years.

She has a broad range of interests and experiences including working as a qualified social worker in Sandwell before retraining as a horologist and setting up a watch and clock restoration business with a partner in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham.

Her recent practice is focused on supporting community groups and organisations to develop good governance practice, primarily working within diverse communities to improve access and showcase heritage, arts and culture.

She is actively involved in her local community, chairing the Perry Barr Arts Forum; as a director of the recording studios where the Thunderbirds theme tune was recorded; as a director of Re:Future, a heritage and arts not-for-profit company focused on supporting local communities in bringing local heritage buildings back into use; and as a member of the Friends of Handsworth Park.

Rachel is co-founder and Head of Business Development for a housing charity in the West Midlands providing accommodation to people in housing need.

Rachel is an experienced grant maker who has sat on a number of committees including the Independent Living Fund and the Community Fund (the National Lottery fund distributor prior to the Big Lottery in the West Midlands), and she is currently Vice-Chair for the central region grant-making committee of BBC Children in Need.

She enjoys exploring both urban and rural environments, camping with her family, running, and is keen to meet people and share stories.