Anna Corry Expand Anna is an experienced commercial finance leader. She is currently Head of Finance for Global LEGO Retail, having previously spent over 20 years in various commercial finance roles, including over 15 years at Procter & Gamble. Anna has an MA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and has served on their Professional Standards Board since 2013. Anna’s key strengths are in strategic/business development, process improvement and organisation development.
Anne Shevas Expand Anne was born in Leicester and worked as a reporter for the Leicester Mercury before becoming a government press officer. For more than 20 years she worked in senior communications positions at the heart of government; at 10 Downing Street for two Prime Ministers: John Major in the post-Thatcher era; and Tony Blair, as Chief Press Officer and Prime Minister's Spokesman; and in the Scottish Office before and after devolution and the creation of the new Scottish Parliament. Latterly, she worked as Head of Media Relations for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
Barbara Firth Expand Barbara has a background in health and social services organisations as a practitioner, manager and educator. For the last thirty years she has been an independent trainer and consultant with a focus on safeguarding and the development of policy and practice in child welfare. Barbara’s work has included the design and delivery of training courses for a wide range of managers and practitioners; audits; service evaluations and supervision and consultancy for senior managers in Health Services and Children’s Services. She also undertakes Serious Case Reviews and has helped to develop new approaches for reviewing cases of serious child and adult harm. At a local level Barbara is active in the voluntary sector and is a founder member of Aylesbury Women’s Aid.
Deborah Bennett Expand I joined the Board of Home-Start UK three years after becoming a Trustee of Home-Start South Leicestershire. I had supported the organisation in my last full time housing role as Executive Director of the local housing association. I saw at first hand both professionally and personally the difference the support of Home-Start can make to a family. I have had a long career in housing, 20 of these as a Senior Manager, running housing services in the public sector and leading social business enterprises. I bring these leadership skills, and extensive experience as both an executive and non-executive board member, to my role at Home-Start UK. I believe there will be a strong mutual benefit in having a Trustee role at both the local and national level, sharing understanding and knowledge from both an operational and strategic perspective. More than ever we need to support the work of Home-Start and the difference it can make to children, their parents and our communities.
Elizabeth Hill-Smith Expand Liz is an experienced management consultant, coach and facilitator having worked with blue chip companies and most Government departments. Liz's speciality has been in designing and leading development programmes to drive change and build leadership and management capabilities. Liz currently works for KPMG as a Senior Executive Coach. Liz has also worked in the voluntary sector - primarily as a school Governor, and Chair of Governors for a junior school for three years. Liz has been a volunteer for Surrey Family Links delivering parenting skills workshops, is a mentor for Surrey Cares Trust and volunteers to support families in her local Home-Start scheme. Liz has an MA in Engineering from Cambridge University and an MBA from Cranfield, is an APECS (Association of Professional Coaches and Supervisors) qualified executive Coach, and a Fellow of the Institute of Business Consulting.
Felicity Clarkson CBE: chair of trustees Expand Felicity trained at the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations as a clinical psychologist and spent several years working with disturbed young offenders in the Prison Service, before moving into senior policy roles in the Home Office. She was introduced to Home-Start while working on policies relating to juvenile crime and families and became a trustee of Home-Start, Richmond-on-Thames, shortly after she retired in 2006. She was chair of trustees from 2008 - 2016. She joined the English National Committee (ENC) in 2012, and was active with others in establishing a consortium of Home-Start schemes in London. On becoming chair of the ENC in 2015, she became a trustee of Home-Start UK.
Joanna Dennis: treasurer Expand Joanna is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and has held a practising certificate since 1998. She won a national award, Finance Director of the Year, Growing Business in 2005. She is a highly experienced and versatile finance director with extensive board experience in both the private and public sectors, particularly in organisations embracing change. She co-founded a drinks company and managed finance, investment and risk and international exposure of a range of products which remain widely available and more recently co-founded and built a bookkeeping franchise, now in the top 35% (by volume) of all franchises in the UK.
Prof. Karen Graham Expand Karen is Director of multi-award winning daycare and work-based learning provision. She is currently working nationally as consultant to numerous agencies and partners across the children’s sector. With experience in early years, teaching and Higher Education, Karen’s work spans: work-based learning, parenting and family work, early years care and education. Karen has been a regular contributor to Welsh Government Boards and to national agenda. She is: an Emeritus Professor of Childhood and Family Studies at Glyndwr University, Wrexham, the World Forum Foundation National Representative for Wales, member of the World Forum Foundation Children’s Rights Group and an invited member of the World Forum Foundation International Advisory and Action Committee.
Prof. Philip Sugarman: vice-chair of trustees Expand Philip Sugarman is Vice-Chair of Home-Start UK, a retired hospital Chief Executive and previous NHS forensic psychiatrist with expertise in risk management and specialist service development. As medical director and CEO of St Andrew's Healthcare, he moved into senior healthcare management, and the rapid commercial expansion of a charity sector provider into the UK's largest secure care group and its only major independent teaching hospital. His academic record covers collaborations with King's College London, Oxford University and McKinsey's, amongst others, with award-winning dissertations, publications and books on offenders, secure care, performance indicators, outcomes and care governance. In 2014 he was elected President for Psychiatry at the Royal Society of Medicine.
Sheena Bolland Expand Sheena has over 30 years’ experience working in social care, both in the voluntary and statutory sectors. Her work has been recognised by government organisations and she has been a member on several advisory committees. She is currently Head of Service for Public Health nursing working for Medway Community Health in Kent. Having worked alongside Home-start for many years, Sheena was delighted to take up the post of a trustee of Home-start Medway when the opportunity arose approximately ten years ago. For the last three years, she has served as Chair. During this time, the Project has been successful in securing funding by expanding and diversifying service delivery. As a member of the national Board, Sheena brings direct experience of local Projects and a current working knowledge of issues being faced by children and families in the current climate. Sheena has a degree and Masters from the University of Kent and post graduate diplomas in child and adolescent mental health from the Tavistock and Portman Trust.