OUR TEAM
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Management Team
Chair Helen Gudge
Treasurer Lynn Cranfield
Secretary Karen Harris
Participant's representative Rhada Rajan
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Project Workers
Joint Leader Sonia Tuttiett
Joint Leader Celia Ward
Manager Neonila Grecu
Finance officer Mike Tuttiett
​Fund Raiser Iona Ramsay
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Sonia Tuttiett
Leader
First studied as a violinist before becoming a textile artist, studying at Morley College and working in textile social enterprises making designer clothes and silk screen printing before becoming a leader of East London Textile Arts. With ELTA she has been involved in projects and exhibitions with The Watts Gallery, Tate Exchange, the V&A, Art Workers’ Guild, amongst others with funding from The Arts Council and The Arts and Humanities Research Council and many other funders. She has also illustrated books with her embroideries. In 2015 she won the community section of the Beryl Dean Embroidery Prize and is now one of its judges. She is a member of the Art Workers’ Guild.
Neolina Grecu
Manager
Coming to ELTA first as a keen participant Neo has moved on to become out first manager in the summer of 2025.
She is now responsible for managing the day to day running of ELTA's teaching and exhibiting for all its projects.
She has a history degree and experience in business while all the time being a keen crafter and knowledgeable about the textile culture of Moldova from where she came before moving to Newham.
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Celia Ward
Leader
Began life as a painter with many solo London shows exhibiting also at The Royal Academy Summer shows and other mixed exhibitions. She has painted portraits, murals and illustrated books and has work in the Ashmolean Museum Collection, Between 2002 and 2006 she set up an art centre in Bucharest and her paintings made in Romania where shown by the British Council in Romania and Luxembourg. After moving to East London she founded ELTA in 2007. For ELTA she fundraises, designs booklets, cards, textiles and decorated papers and is in charge of the website and social media. She is a member of the Art Workers' Guild.
Helen Gudge
Chair
​Helen is from East London. She was born in the Royal London Hospital on Whitechapel road. Helen's fascination with textiles as a carrier of culture and connection was shaped by educators at Bangabandhu Primary School in Bethnal Green, Helen went on to have a professional career spanning 16 years in the health and social care sector, working with children and adults with disabilities. Despite Helen's affinity for textiles and metals, it would not be until her late 20s that she would find her voice as a creative. Helen was taught hand, machine sewing, crochet, knitting, weaving and spinning informally in community groups. These community spaces were where she made the connection between empowerment and informal learning, textiles and wellbeing. Helen observed that small organizations struggled to secure funding for their free activities and to obtain space in the community. This experience led her to pursue a BSc (Hons) degree in Community Development and Public Policy at Birbeck College, University of London as a mature student. In conjunction with a placement at ELTA, she completed a thesis detailing the impact of 40 years of neo-traditional policy making in Britain and short term funding cycles. In addition to her role as ELTA's charmen, Helen works part-time for a national helpline and is pursuing a MSc in Advanced Relationship Based Practice with Children and Adults at Lancaster University.
Iona Ramsay
Fundraiser
Since she was a teenager Iona has always been involved in ELTA - making films and helping with exhibitions. She worked as an administrator at the Art Workers' Guild and is a keen re-cycler, darner and dress maker
Now as an academic based at Cardiff. University she keeps her connection alive through working as ELTA's fundraiser.
Rhada Rajan
Pariticpants' representative
Member of ELTA since 2010, with long experience of working in the community. She represents the Malayalee Association for ELTA where she has been an active member since 2000. Before retiring she worked in the civil service. She has been a textile enthusiast all her life and had a solo show of her work at St Mark’s Church, Newham. She was an ELTA tutor at a day course for the V&A in 2014 and has taken part in every ELTA project since joining over 10 years ago.
Kaushika Vaghela
financial planning
Kaushika worked in a finance department for twelve years in a private company in Hackney. She worked for Iceland while her children were growing up. In 2000 she joined the civil service and worked there till 2017, working in finance as Head of Financial Planning.
After retiring in 2017 Kaushika worked as a volunteer in the East Ham Library and there met Sonia and joined ELTA. She have also volunteered in Altomer children centre and Altomer Primary School as a teaching assistant.
When young she studied sewing in Kenya and used to make garments for her sisters. She used to do a lot of embroidery for her mum’s sarees. She has enjoyed helping to make the turtle costume and working on the River Roding project.
Karen Harris
Textile tutor
Karen joined ELTA in 2017 after taking early
retirement from primary school teaching where I was
art co ordinator.
Karen has been involved in several projects with ELTA, including tutoring in a variety of community groups.
She has made many individual and collaborative pieces and is particularly interested in combining embroidery and applique as well as learning new stitches and techniques.
she is a registered volunteer with Newham Council and is currently involved with the Reading Volunteer scheme and Home Library service.
Karen co-runs the Monday East Library Textile Class.
