Senior management team
Chief Executive
Srabani Sen
Director of UK Operations
Paul Soames
Director of Resources
Cathryn Wright
Director of Policy and Communications
Claire Pimm
Director of Fundraising
Mike Daw
Trustees
Rosey Foster - Chair
Rosey was appointed Chair for Contact a Family Board of Trustees in November 2006. She was previously a Trustee for eight years with Carers UK and Chair for the latter two years.
Rosey’s career in the health sector spans over many years in primary care and she was Deputy Chief Executive of the Institute of Healthcare Management. She is currently serving on the Department of Health Summary Care Records Advisory Group for Contact a Family and the Standing Commission for Carers.
In 2003 she achieved Fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and was awarded Companionship of IHM in November 2004. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine in 2008.
Rosey also undertakes Coaching and Mentoring for those in Primary Care and not-for-profit sectors and holds CIPD accreditation as a Coach Mentor.
Imelda Redmond – Vice Chair
Imelda was appointed to the Board of Contact a family in 2001 and became Vice Chair in 2004.
As Chief Executive of Carers UK, her day job is highly relevant to the work of Contact a Family. Before joining Carers UK, where Imelda has worked for 11 years, she was the Director of The Markfield Project, an organisation that provides services to families with disabled children and young people.
Imelda is passionate about ensuring that families with disabled children receive the right type of services and support so that they can live their lives to the full.
Peter Phillips – Treasurer
Peter Phillips is a chartered surveyor by profession. Having advised Contact a Family in regards to lease renewals at their former premises in Victoria, he was co-opted onto the previous Finance Committee by Harry Marsh in 1990 and served on that committee for many years before becoming a trustee in 2001. He now chairs the Business Affairs Committee as trustee/treasurer.
He has assisted running a local PHAB club since the mid 1980's. His wife's young nephew died from a rare liver related leukaemia in the early 1990's. Peter is also trustee to two other smaller charitable trusts.
Phil Conway
Phil is the father of an 11-year old disabled boy Shaun. The experience of being Shaun’s dad compelled Phil to seek to get involved in the disabled children’s sector.
He has a professional background in international business, having worked for IBM for 20 years in various international roles, in particular management, strategic planning, marketing and business transformation. He spent four years working in IBM Asia Pacific HQ, based in Tokyo.
Phil leads a new social enterprise "Cool2Care", aimed at supporting families with disabled children. The organisation was established in 2007 and helps families find support. He campaigns regularly on behalf of disabled children via public speaking engagements, newspaper and radio.
Phil has a BA in Mathematics from Oxford University, and an Executive MBA from London Business School. He is married with two sons and lives in Surrey, UK.
Bradley Theobald
Bradley Theobald became a trustee of the Lady Hoare Trust in 1998 and subsequently joined the Board of Contact a Family following the merging of those two organisations in 2004. Bradley has personal experience of disability and the issues that this may raise in the family context by virtue of having an inherited disability which resulted in using a wheelchair. Bradley's interest and enthusiasm for the work of the organisation and his role as a Trustee arises from his first-hand experiences as a member of a close-knit family navigating the trials and successes of incorporating disability into day-to-day family life.
Bradley works as a solicitor, specialising in corporate law in the London office of a large US law firm. In this role, he has advised numerous Boards of Directors in relation to a wide variety of commercial situations and offers this experience and legal outlook to Contact a Family through his work as a Trustee.
Jo Tanner
Jo Tanner has been a trustee of Contact a Family since its merger with the Lady Hoare Trust in 2004. She brings to the board her experience of public affairs and media relations. Jo is currently Director of Communications with the Freight Transport Association and was previously Chief Executive of the Coalition for Medical Progress.
Robin Hindle Fisher
Robin Hindle Fisher was originally a Trustee of the Lady Hoare Trust and joined Contact a Family on when these two organisations merged in 2004. Robin has personal experience of disability and the issues it can create for families as he was affected by the drug Thalidomide. Robin’s interest in being involved with charities that support disabled children and their families stemmed from his experience as a disabled person and the understanding this brought of the issues his parents had to deal with when he was a child.
Robin has worked in the investment management industry for over 25 years in a variety of different roles. In that time he has been responsible for the investments of many large institutions, including charities. He holds a BA Hons degree from Durham University and a Sloan MSc in Management from London Business School.
Dr Kay Caldwell
Dr Kay Caldwell worked for many years as a nurse in the NHS (and now as the Head of the Institute of Nursing and Midwifery at Middlesex University). She saw at first hand the impact of a disabled child on the lives of families, both in terms of the challenges faced by families but also by the contribution that disabled children can make to their family and society. Kay joined Contact a Family as a Trustee to try and make a difference by enabling families to be heard and their needs to be met to ensure that disabled children and their families are full participants in their communities.
Jolanta Lasota
Jolanta Lasota’s career began in commercial marketing. In the voluntary sector, she has worked for Shelter, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, I CAN and the Governance Hub. At I CAN she worked with children with communication disabilities and their families. She was the founding Chief Executive of the charity Turn2us, for people in financial need, and is now a consultant in the third sector. She has a passion for enabling disabled people to live a happy life and has personal experience of supporting a child with special needs.
Lynne Hill
Lynne Hill is a Policy Director at Children in Wales. Her areas of responsibility are disabled children, including the young disabled persons network, early years and childcare, young carers, parenting, including the Children are Unbeatable campaign, and information services.
Lynne has represented Children in Wales on the development of the Play Policy, the Childcare Advisory group, the National Service Framework for Children and the Parenting Action plan. Recent work has included the development of a Quality Assurance scheme for 0–5 year olds, and securing the contract to develop Early Support in Wales.
Caroline Vaughan
Caroline comes from a science and business background working in bio-technolgy and small company development. For the last fifteen years she has been a non executive director or Trustee of a number of organisations in the private, public and charitable sectors. In the charitable sector Caroline has been involved with several Trusts ranging from a Helpline for family problems in Surrey, to a grant giving charity for people with health or financial problems in London and an educational grant giving body, as well as Contact a Family. She is also a member of a medical research ethics committee. Her expertise is many at the overall financial and corporate governance level.
Sheila Messider
As the mother of a disabled child she says she found support from other parents and the information available from Contact a Family invaluable. These are the main reasons why she wants to support the work of Contact a Family.
Her daughter is now 18 years old, and as a family they are using direct payments to pay for the support she needs so that Sheila can study for an MA in Social Work. She hopes to then return to working with families of disabled children or disabled young adults in the often challenging transition period into adult services.
John Phillipson
John has worked as Chief Executive at the North East Autism Society since August 2005. His experience in child care is wide and varied, having worked as a care worker and social worker before moving to manage an extensive range of services. John was an Assistant Director of Child Care with Barnardos for eight years, managing services for children with disabilities, educational projects and youth work. He was Manager for Special Education Needs in North Tyneside Council before becoming Head of Children’s Services in 2000. In 2002 John became Director of Social Services in North Tyneside, where he remained until joining the North East Autism Society.
John enjoys his current role and the diversity that it involves. He has been a trustee with Contact a Family since 2005 and is very proud to be associated with the organisation. He is passionate about the rights of children with disabilities and about support for them and their families.
Reuben Parkinson
Rueben is a long-standing member of Contact a Family Ealing and has served on their Management Committee and was Chair for three years. He has extensive knowledge of policy issues such as education and short breaks. He is the father of four children, three of whom have disabilities.
Lady Susanna Crawford
President
Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green, Children's Commissioner for England
Patrons
Nick Crean
Georgina David
Henry Hoare
Francesca Martinez
Lady Morris of Kenwood
Nigel Nicholls
Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne
Roy Noble MBE
Vivienne Parry
Lord and Lady Rix
Jane Root
Philippa Russell OBE
Dr Richard Smith CBE
Claire Tomalin
Elinor and Dafydd Wigley AM
Professor Lord Winston
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