Cllr Ray Gooding

Trustee, Active Essex Foundation

Ray Gooding was first elected in May 2005 as the County Councillor for the Stansted division. In 2012 Ray took up the position of Cabinet Member for Children and Families.

Ray took the position of Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning in May 2013. This portfolio covers all aspects of education from cradle to grave encompassing early years and preschool, schools and school improvement, special educational needs, youth services, careers advice and Adult Community Learning.

Rays own experience of education saw him become an apprentice design engineer for a ship repair company in east London, where he went on to gain a Higher National Certificate and become an Associate of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers. This experience has made Ray passionate about promoting the variety of educational routes available to people including apprenticeships.

Ray has worked as a design engineer for a variety of companies and for the past 23 years has been the senior partner in an engineering consultancy firm.

Ray has held school governor positions in a number of schools and has also taught guitar at evening classes in the north of the County.

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