Our Trustees

Mandy Wearne

Interim Chair of the Board of Trustees

Mandy is a Non-Executive Director at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and has an extensive background in NHS leadership, management, clinical practice and public health, working in a variety of health and social care settings. She has held a number of executive director roles, including health care strategy, performance, and provider and market development, as well as being policy advisor to the Department of Health (DH) on the development of social value led provider models. She was previously Non-Executive Director at Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

As the first Regional Director of Service Experience in England in 2008, she led the DH Patient Experience Policy Programme working on the development of national indicators and a review of the national survey architecture. Acclaimed as a passionate and practical force for change, she was nominated for the NHS Inspiration Leadership Award in 2010. She is committed to supporting NHS leadership and service experience improvement through her own independent company and as an executive coach and mentor to many aspiring and future leaders.

Nigel Lemmon

Nigel is a Board Executive with over 25 years’ experience of exploiting digital information technologies to create customer value, organisational effectiveness and employee engagement. His career has spanned several executive roles in both national and global companies in digital technology, strategy and as a managing director. It includes an MBA from Cranfield School of Management as well as living and working on three continents.

He began his career with the British Armed Forces, after which he worked in manufacturing and supply chain roles before completing a full-time MBA at Cranfield School of Management in the UK. He spent nine years with BAT plc in HQ, occupying regional and executive board roles in the two largest business units. He joined Centrica upon his return to the UK in a CIO role. He then followed two divisional Managing Director roles in UK business services companies before joining SABMiller as CIO for Europe and then as Group CIO at Nando’s.

He is currently Global Head of Technology & Digital at Do&Co and a Governor at St George’s College Weybridge.

Keith Rhodes

Keith has held a number of roles throughout his career in financial services, primarily focused on treasury activities, risk management, oversight and prudential regulation. This has included establishing appropriate frameworks and policies for the management and oversight of risks.

Teresa Fenech

Teresa is Director of Nursing & Quality Assurance for the National Specialised Commissioning team at NHS England, with responsibility for the establishment and delivery of quality assurance systems and processes for a range of diverse nationally commissioned services; some that are rare and complex and others that will be familiar to most, including secure mental health services and cancer services such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Teresa has held a number of Executive Director posts across various NHS Hospital Trusts including Director of Nursing & Deputy Chief Executive roles. Teresa has a passion for patient safety, patient engagement and driving quality improvement through individual, team and organisational development.

Shaun Gallagher

Shaun Gallagher is currently Director of Strategy & Policy at the General Medical Council. He was previously Director-General, Strategy Delivery, in Defra and prior to that he worked in the Ministry of Justice and for most of his career in the Department of Health, including several years as the Director responsible for social care policy.

Amanda De Ryk

Amanda is an elected Councillor for Blackheath, London, and is Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources at Lewisham Borough Council. She has extensive experience in the political sphere, combining public service with community engagement and management expertise. As a member of the political executive in Lewisham, she provides leadership, strategic advice and policy development.

Amanda is also a Trustee of Age Exchange, the reminiscence arts charity that specialises in working with sufferers of Dementia and their careers.

Wallace Dobbin

Wallace Dobbin is a senior Director with over thirty years’ experience in corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, governance and risk management. He is a qualified Barrister and is currently Chairman of The Exeter, a Non Executive Director of FNZ and Helix Resilience. He is also a presenter on local radio.

Wallace was a founder of Intrinsic Financial Services, one of the most successful start-ups in financial services distribution. He was formerly a main Board Director of Zurich’s UK, Southern African and Asia Pacific business and Strategy Director of BAT Financial Services.

His public-sector experience includes being a former Vice Chair and Senior Independent Director of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and a Trustee of Sir Steve Redgrave’s Charitable Trust.

Janet Ryan

Janet is a qualified accountant with broad international experience working for global chemical and food processing businesses. She has held roles in finance, business leadership and strategy. Originally from the North West of England she has also lived in Asia, USA, Latin America and Belgium.

Janet’s past experience includes roles such as Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee for Illovo Africa, Director of Cabot’s Office of Compliance and Director of Cabot’s charitable foundation.

She is currently an independent member of Cancer Research UK’s Audit Committee, a ‘Women of Influence’ mentor for Cancer Research UK’s senior female scientists as well as a mentor for the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Sue Tunmore

Sue Tunmore is an experienced People Director who has held a variety of leadership roles focused on business transformation, change management and organisation effectiveness. Sue is the Vice President for People Operations at Asda, one of the UK’s leading retailers who employ more than 145,000 colleagues and serve over 18 million customers every week. Sue has previously held Director roles with The Co-op, Britvic Soft Drinks and Deloitte.

From 2020 – 2022 Sue held other Board and governance responsibilities as a Director for the Co-op Legal Services Board and as Chair of Governors for Co-op Academy Clarice Cliff, which provides nursery and primary education to over 400 children in Stoke-on Trent.

Sue was also a volunteer governor with the Co-op Multi Academy Trust from 2016 – 2022 and chaired sub-committees focused on finance, risk and student wellbeing. Co-op MAT is the most diverse in the country, supporting students aged 3-19 across 28 primary, secondary and special academies in the North of England. Their aim is to change the lives of young people through a great education and give children the skills & experiences they need to succeed no matter where they come from.

Jon Akehurst

Jon is currently Chief Financial Officer at renowned boutique confectionary brand, Hotel Chocolat, joining in 2023 and having overall responsibility for the Group Finance function and investor relations.

Jon has held a number of senior roles throughout his career, including senior appointments at General Mills, Mars, Aggreko and Terumo Corporation. Jon has extensive expertise across a range of industries, including branded consumer goods, manufacturing and international development.

His passion for the care sector stems from his own personal experiences of caring for his daughter, who has complex needs.