Keith Smith is one of the original founders of the Ferry Project in 1998. He has managed the charity since then. He was born in Salford and grew up on Oldham but have lived in Wisbech for nearly 40 years. He has a BSc in Chemistry and Food Science from Reading University and a PGCE. He worked as a secondary school teacher for 16 years and was a pastoral head and head of subject when O left. He has an Advanced qualification in counselling from The Open Colleges Network and practised as a counsellor for 5 years. He has been involved in charity work for over 35 years both as a trustee and employee. He was chair of governors at a local primary school for 7 years and a director of Social Enterprise East of England for 3.  He was voted Inspirational Leader of the year in 2012 by the Chartered Institute of Housing for his work with the Ferry Project.

 The charity was founded by local people who saw a need and wanted to do something about it. Founded in 1998 as an independent charity to help homeless people, we became a housing association subsidiary from 2005 to August 2021, to facilitate access to housing, first with Luminus Homes and later Places for People (PFP). Ferry Project has always adapted to meet the needs of our own local community and it became clear by 2020 that independence from a very large organisation, would better place us to innovate and develop our services. Ferry Project has always maintained its own board, staff team and management, so, with PFP’s blessing, they embarked on an ambitious development plan to transform our accommodation and support services. We have now been independent for 18 months.