Our Trustees
Andrew Newell
Chair
Andrew became Chair in 2013 having joined the Trustee Board that year.
With a huge amount of Trustee experience, being a Trustee at Crisis UK, and Langley House Trust, a member of Council at the University of Kent, and Chair of the IMB at Heathrow IRCs.
Andrew explored an executive career in UK Personal Financial Services, and also has over 10 years’ experience in a variety of non-executive positions.
Andrew is a committed Christian and a member of the PCC at Holy Trinity Church.
Nick Mourant
Vice Chairman/Treasurer, Chair of Resources Committee
Nick became Vice Chairman in 2013. He served as a Trustee since 2010.
Nick was previously a Treasurer of YMCA England and a trustee of a couple of local charities in Hertfordshire. Previously Nick worked for Tesco PLC as Group Corporate Treasurer and is a qualified Accountant.
Jane Cotton
Member of Governance & People Committee
Jane has served as a Trustee since 2017
After 20 years in the Civil Service, Jane spent 15 years as HR Director and a Deputy CEO of Oxfam. She has volunteered as a charity trustee with Canal and River Trust, WWF and the Wildlife Trust. She worships at St Pauls Church, Bledlow Ridge, Bucks.
Nicola Lucas
Member of Governance and People Committee
Nicola has served as a Trustee since 2015
Nicola is a Company Commercial Solicitor currently employed by Kodak Alaris
Ben Johnson
Member of Resources Committee
Ben has served as a Trustee since 2015
Ben has worked in the social housing sector for 13 years for housing associations and private practice. He is a chartered surveyor and currently works for Watford Community Housing Trust as Director of Operations.
Clare Hearnshaw
Member of Governance & People Committee
Clare has served as an adopted Trustee since November 2016
Clare is a registered nurse with over 30 years’ experience, most of which has been within cancer and palliative care services in NHS and hospice organisations.
John Ball
Chair of Audit & Risk Committee
John has served as Trustee since November 2016
John is currently Chief Executive of the Church of England Pensions Board. An economist by background, John held senior executive roles at Transport for London specialising in strategy, business planning and asset management.
From 2011-2018 John was Chief Executive for the Chelmsford Diocesan Board of Finance. John worships at Chelmsford Cathedral and is also a Trustee of St Mellitus College, one of the largest theological colleges in the country.
Simon Box
Member of Resources Committee
Simon has served as a Trustee since March 2018
Simon is an engineer by background, was trained by Rolls-Royce and has a masters degree in Manufacturing Leadership from Cambridge University. Following a career running operations and supply chains around the world for organisations including Novar, MK Electric and Honeywell, he is now an independent management consultant. Simon was previously a trustee for East Herts YMCA and worships at Bishop’s Stortford Baptist Church.
Max Beddard
Member of the Audit and Risk Committee
Max has served as a Trustee since March 2018
Currently on sabatical. Previously Group Finance Director of Bauer Magazine Media and prior to this Chief Financial Officer H. Bauer Publishing. Max was a trustee of East Herts YMCA where he also served as the Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee.
Javier Uriarte
Member of Audit & Risk Committee
Javier has served as a Trustee since July 2018
Javier is currently a Director of Internal Audit at a US listed multinational technology company based in Slough. He has over 13 years’ experience in external audit with Deloitte in Spain and has also worked in Canada and Ireland. Javier has an Economics Degree and is a fully qualified Spanish Registered Auditor, and has passed his CPA exams in the state of California.
Sal Thirlway
Chair of Early Childhood Partnership (ECP)
Sal has served as a Trustee since 2018
Sal has over 20 years experience working in local government Children’s Services, and has held Head of Service and Assistant Director roles in a number of authorities. Sal’s experience is in securing improvement and developing early intervention and prevention approaches. Sal has experience of the voluntary sector through his role with Barnardo’s and is now the Director of his own management consultancy.
John Knight
Member of Resources Committee, Chair of Peartree Working Group
John has served as a Trustee since 2018
John has worked extensively as a senior manager in local authority housing services, mainly in inner London. He is currently the Strategic Lead, Housing Management for Lambeth Council’s housing company Homes for Lambeth.
John’s work on single homelessness in Hammersmith and Fulham included a rewarding partnership with West London YMCA.
Alan Victor
Member of One YMCA and ECP Trustee Board
Alan has served as a Trustee since 2020
Alan is a retired corporate executive with over 30 years’ experience improving business performance by delivering computing solutions as part of a 35-year career in the automotive industry.
He was General Manager of a European computing department and led a large team, which was responsible for the operational computing services for all of the Nissan subsidiaries in Europe, including Russia. He also led international cross-company teams tasked with delivering mutually beneficial synergies for Renault and Nissan.
Alan was a trustee of Families First Bedfordshire, which merged with the One YMCA subsidiary, Early Childhood Partnership.
