Introducing your National Chairman:
Lynda Mitchell
A LACA member since 1998, Lynda was elected on to LACA’s South West Committee in 2005 and in 2007 went on to take the Region’s Vice Chair role followed by the Chair’s position in 2008. She joined LACA’s National Executive Committee in 2008, became the Chair of the Communications Group in 2009 and then LACA’s National Vice Chair in 2010.
Lynda has broad industry experience having been born into the catering trade having grown up in a hotel and subsequently attending a catering college. Her first experience of school meal provision was as a trainee working in a boarding school, catering for 600 pupils a day.
Commencing work in local government school meals in 1991, as a school meals monitoring officer for Wiltshire County Council, Local Government reorganisation resulted in a move to a Swindon Borough Council, a unitary authority, becoming the client manager for both catering and cleaning services. After 11 years in the client role Lynda moved to the Direct Service Organisation (DSO), eventually heading up the service before moving to her current role in 2005.
Now working for North Somerset Council, Lynda heads up a contracts team responsible for managing both school food and building cleaning services which are all contracted externally. She has recently taken responsibility for commissioning a range of other Children’s Services contracts and services. This diverse role includes contracts management, the development of new kitchen facilities and the maintenance of kitchen equipment. Her duties also include working with the Primary Care Trust (PCT) and other agencies on health and well being issues, the management of the free school meal process and school meal standards compliance.
Lynda is a passionate believer in the school meals service and is working to ensure the service continues to improve the health and well being of our children and young people.
Commenting on her appointment as LACA’s new National Chairman, Lynda says:
”I am privileged and honoured to be chosen to be the LACA National Chairman and am committed to driving forward the three key strands of the Association’s Future Directions programme”.
“A major element of this future work will be a focus on further raising the profile of LACA, both inside and outside of the industry. We will be aiming to forge stronger links with politicians and other industry bodies in order to ensure that the school meals agenda is at the core of the future health and well being of our children and young people”.
““Currently Academies and Free Schools are exempt from the nutritional legislation and the controls which all other Primary and Secondary Schools adhere to. LACA wants to see a consistent approach to ensure the same standards apply across all schools whilst recognising the need for flexibility in the approach between Primary and Secondary Schools. If this does not happen, it will inevitably lead to a significant negative impact on the school meals service, potentially wiping out the years of effort by our Members as well as the considerable investment that has been injected into its improvement by government”.
“My personal aim for LACA will be to take our organisation into a new era of development, growth and influence”.
