Our organisation
Chapel FM Arts Centre and East Leeds Community Radio Station are both projects of community arts organisation, Heads Together Productions Limited. You can find a brief history of Heads Together here together with information on policies and practices.
Meet the Chapel FM Arts Centre Staff
Director – Tony Macaluso
Head of Venue, Tech & Events– Elliott Moon
Head of Radio – Agnes Leonowicz
Business Manager and Director of UNION: The Northern School for Creativity and Activism – Adrian Sinclair
Director of Words – Peter Spafford
Rentals and Project Support – Tony Dawson
Chapel FM Jazz Collective Director – Dave Evans
We also work with a large range of independent artists and media-makers.
Scroll down for staff bios and contact information.
Director
– Tony Macaluso
Overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Chapel FM Arts Centre, Tony came to Leeds from Chicago where he previously worked as director of the WFMT Radio Network, producing arts radio programmes and documentaries for radio stations around the world and served as director of the Studs Terkel Radio Archive a collection of 5,000+ radio programmes made by the legendary oral historian and radio DJ from Chicago. A podcast overview of that project can be found here. He has worked as a performer, director, writer and staff member with a number of experimental theatre companies in Chicago such as Redmoon Theatre, The Neo-Futurists, Theatre Oobleck and Prop Thtr, served as president of the board of Opera-Matic and worked for the Grant Park Music Festival / Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, a free outdoor summer-long music festival running since the 1930s.
He studied Journalism, Chinese and Theatre at university. He is a board member of the Charles Parker Archive and involved in many oral history/radio archive projects. One of his passions is getting to know places through exploring books, films, music by local artists and tramping around neighbourhoods, trying to understand their histories and what makes them unique.
Head of Venue, Tech & Events – Elliott Moon
Elliott oversees most technical aspects of running Chapel FM and is focusing in on most of our live event output for 2020 and beyond. He works with the community on offering them support in learning how to use radio equipment as part of our volunteer tech group training sessions. He is also working with people in our live events groups sessions to make sure we put on as many performances and events that are geared towards the community. Elliott hosts the ELFM radio show Welly’s Nerdy News.
Head of Radio – Agnes Leonowicz
After studying Jazz at Leeds Conservatoire, Agnes began her career running songwriting courses for young people, teaching music and working with artists to explore local Leeds heritage in her role in Studio 12. She then progressed into working with wider communities as Digital Health & Wellbeing Librarian, working across the city to raise confidence surrounding technology through creative ways.
From working closely with communities & travelling across Leeds with her music & arts digital workshops, she found a role at LEEDS 2023 in community engagement, supporting the production of community arts events as a part of the year of culture. Since her start in community music, she has delved into wider community arts & media, creating opportunities & spaces for people to explore their creativity and find their voices.
Agnes is our Head of Radio, overseeing the creation of radio programmes and podcasts for East Leeds Community Radio. She also facilitates courses and workshops on broadcasting to help people from our community and beyond develop confidence, share visions for their community and connect with the wider city and world beyond East Leeds.
Business Manager – Adrian Sinclair
After an early start in rugby and engineering, Adrian trained in theatre and dance and performed throughout this country and in Europe. He was one of the founders of Heads Together Productions back in 1986, the organisation that is behind Chapel FM.
Having overseen both phases of the £1.6 million development of Chapel FM, Adrian is currently Business Manager for the organisation as well as having founded and now directing UNION which is a pioneering professional development and coaching programme for artists and activists across the north of England.
Director of Words – Peter Spafford
Background
Heads Together was originally created as a physical theatre company back in 1986. It wasn’t until 1998 that it launched as a fully fledged community arts company, and as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee—Heads Together Productions Limited.
But the story is about a developing purpose and methods as well as a change in corporate structure—identified in a website we put together in 2011 to mark the 25th anniversary of Heads Together. The website charts three phases of the company:
1986 to 1992 The Early Years The Company was created as Heads Together Physical Theatre in October 1986. Originally founded by Gerry Turvey, Adrian Sinclair and Tamsin Spain–the first years saw the Company develop their own style of performance, alongside a strong belief in finding ways to share the ownership of the work they created.
1993 to 2002 The Street Years Having lost touring money, the big performance-based residencies became a thing of the past. But there was still a great demand for Heads Together’s participatory work. In this phase of the Company’s development, we really focused on our education work: both in a formal setting in schools and colleges, and in more informal community settings: On the Streets.
2003 – 2010 The Digital Years As digital possibilities increased, Heads Together was in the forefront of looking at the creative possibilities… in a community context. For us that meant finding appropriate uses for the new technologies, often linking the digital to the analogue eg using mobile broadband to broadcast a digital radio station from a 1980s Marauder caravan! If you follow the links you will find a lot more detail…
And if we carried on the theme then 2011-2019 would be the Chapel years—developing a beautiful arts centre from a derelict Methodist Chapel and looking at how best to support a thriving community resource.
Current organisational structure
As mentioned, the responsible organisation is Heads Together Productions Limited; a not-for-profit company which has recently been awarded charitable status. The company is run by a voluntary Board of Directors. If you want to contact the Board directly then please either write to the Chair of the Board at Chapel FM, York Road, Leeds LS14 6JB or email board@headstogether.org The Board is responsible for the future direction of the organisation as well as overseeing policies and practices regarding the day-to-day operations of the Company and it’s staff and operations. 
The following documents might be of interest:
- The most recent annual accounts: Heads Together 2024 Accounts
Current policies Below are a few of Heads Together’s key policies and procedures. Please contact us directly if you would like further information or details of other policies.
Theory of Change
When we moved into Chapel FM we worked with consultant Liz Firth to develop a plan of what we were trying to achieve—a Theory of Change. We are currently involved in two research projects that are testing whether aspects of this theory are indeed changing anything! 
Heads Together Productions—A Manifesto
Heads Together believes in:
- the transformative power of involvement in significant creative processes
- the power of creativity in effecting positive changes in social and community settings
- providing opportunities to develop everyone’s creative potential
- active creative collaboration between artists and other professionals, particularly people with significant lived experience
- achieving the highest quality of both processes and outcomes
- productive partnerships with other professionals and agencies to effect long-term results
- the continued development of our own skills, understanding, and practice
Heads Together respects:
- the equal importance of artistic and social aspirations
- the particular contribution people in communities make to the process,
- the need to understand the importance of the political, social, cultural and economic context within which we work
Heads Together will:
- develop imaginative, inspiring and meaningful creative work with people
- set up inclusive frameworks for involvement in creative work
- value individual identity and diversity of lived experience
- maintain, along with project participants, a clear understanding of the purpose and aspirations for any programme of work
- exercise a duty of care regarding the impact a project may have on participants, communities, workers, and partners
- support the potential for individual and group progression
- develop learning pathways for people with lived experience and professionals working with people at the intersection of arts and activism and achieving a reflective, progressive community of practice
With acknowledgement to Jennie Hayes
Heads Together Productions—Values
- Inclusive and Anti-Racist
We recognise the historical prejudice and exploitation of people of colour and believe that taking a truly inclusive approach in all our work will act against all kinds of prejudice.
- Safe and Brave
We believe in creating safer spaces for people to work in individually and collectively. At the same time, we recognise the need for our work with people to be brave, to take risks, and to challenge.
- Identities
We will respect people’s lived experiences and their range of intersecting identities, both personal, collaborative and community.
- Communicating and Listening with Transparency and Generosity
Our work focuses on the power of open, honest communication and that includes the power of active listening and being generous to all.
- Participatory
Our work is always participatory. That might be in encouraging people to take part in cultural activities, but it is always giving agency to people in democratic processes
Some photos from Heads Together's history
Photos by Lizzie Coombes, Tamsin Spain and Mike Davidson
