Mary Edwards

Mary trained and worked as a nurse in London, before moving into research management and clinical audit roles at regional and national level in the NHS. She spent 21 years in Hampshire, first as Director of Nursing, then Chief Executive of Hampshire Hospitals, retiring from that role after 13 years.  She has been Chair of a specialist medical charity since 2018 and Chair of the University of Winchester since 2021. Mary lives in the Royal Docks area in East London. 

Chair

Amanda Hallums

Amanda is a registered nurse and midwife. Currently Amanda is working as an interim hospital director, and is also a Trustee at the children's hospice, Havens House. 

Interim Vice Chair

Peter Adams

Peter is the retired Head of Technical & Operational Services for the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. He qualified as a Structural Engineer in 1972 and qualified as a Manger in 1986.

Trustee since 2002

Paul Gwinn

Paul Gwinn was Deputy Managing Director and Publisher for Greater London & Essex Newspapers for 30 years. Paul has been a Magistrate for 10 years and sits at Romford, Barkingside and Waltham Forest Courts and Snaresbrook Crown Court. He is a Director of Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club. 

Trustee since 2014

Ian Gunn

Trustee

Dr Gurdev Saini

Dr Saini is a qualified physician with teaching experience. Special interests include Palliative Care, Dermatology, Medical Politics. Other lead roles have included MacMillan GP Facilitator for Havering and Chairman of National ME Charity.

Trustee since 2010

Anne Bender

Anne worked as a bank staff nurse in the IPU and Hospice at Home for 11 years. Since retirement from clinical duties she has volunteered in many roles. This was alongside her permanent role as Director and joint owner of a large manufacturing company producing garments overseas for major UK retailers.

Trustee since 2022

Malcolm Hines

Malcolm has spent over 40 years in the NHS, 30 of these have been as a Chief Financial Officer, in roles across Essex, East London, and South East London. He has been a lead director on Governance, Estates, Information Technology and HR. He has chaired groups tasked with developing NHS finance staff across London.

Trustee since 2023

Esther Marshall

Esther qualified as a Solicitor in 2002 and has practised in the local area since then. She is now a Member of a leading firm in Havering, where she specialises in Employment Law and Commercial Litigation.

Trustee since 2023

Angela Sharma

Angela has been practising as a Family Solicitor for over 25 years in the local area. She was a partner in a local firm for over nine years and involved with its‘ management and compliance with regulations. Angela also worked as a Non Executive Director with the North East London Mental Health Trust.

Trustee since 2023

James Pepper

James is a qualified accountant with an MBA from Henley Business School and has worked as an independent business consultant for 9 years. He has organisational management and change experience from the facilities management industry including within a large NHS Trust. Previous board experience includes Homes in Havering, the former social housing company for the London Borough of Havering's circa 12,000 housing stock.

Trustee since 2024

Amanda Casson Webb

A freelance registered BSL interpreter, Amanda provides consultancy services to charities and is a director of Hear Art, a CIC within the creative arts industry. Having previously been joint chief executive at the Royal Association for Deaf people, she has spent the majority of her professional career working within the Deaf Community. 

Trustee since 2024

Mimi Lau

A qualified pharmacist, Mimi has held various senior commercial and operational roles across corporate and independent community pharmacy, NHS Trust and pharmaceutical and dental wholesale. She is currently Chief Executive for Pickfords Pharmacy Group, located across the Midlands.

Trustee since 2024