Team

I have a keen interest in the migration and integration policy areas as well as interest and experience in developing service provision. I am currently head of the migration programme at the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and was previously Social Protection Programme Manager at the Overseas Development Institute and Deputy Chief Executive at Praxis Community Projects, an organisation supporting vulnerable migrants in London, where I led the development of the ‘Challenging Exclusion’ strategy as well as its highly successful youth programme, giving a voice to young asylum seekers and young people with irregular status using participatory arts. I am an experienced trustee committed to promoting good governance.

Having been Chair of Brighton and Hove Freedom from Torture Supporters’ Group since 2016, I have insight into issues that refugees face in the U.K. and have experience of fundraising for Freedom from Torture and the Red Cross.

I have a commitment to humanitarianism and awareness of the principles of humanitarian action based on the Christian faith whilst recognising the legitimacy of other faiths in this. I am currently a member of the Brighton and Hove Interfaith Contact Group. As a supporter of Safe Passage Campaigns I have been able to raise current refugee cases in both a chaplaincy and church context.

I became involved with Voices in Exile back in 2009 when the charity was formally set up, and have acted as the charity’s treasurer since then. In my professional life I am a partner in a local accountancy firm specialising in small business growth and development. We work with a number of charities and community interest companies, which enables me to bring my accounting expertise to Voices.

I first became aware of Voices in Exile in 2007 when my wife volunteered for the group before it was formally constituted as a charity. I was bowled over by the amount of fantastic work that was being done to help people who are all too often marginalised and forgotten, and I wanted to help in any way I could.

I became a trustee of Voices in February 2017 after volunteering at the food bank. I am a barrister practising in social housing law. I previously worked at the Low Pay Unit campaigning for a national minimum wage. I wanted to be part of Voices to help sustain and expand its vital work.

I have been a Trustee since the beginning of 2018. I first had contact with the organisation 14 years ago when I was conducting research into the destitution being experienced by asylum seekers and refugees due to the invidious changes to the asylum process.

I was impressed by the pioneering work that Voices was doing to support people who had been badly let down by the system, and became a trustee to contribute to the development of the much-needed services that the organisation provides. I work as a consultant in the humanitarian sector and am based in Brighton.