Trustees

Our Trustees are all volunteers from the local community who have gained considerable skills, knowledge and experience in their working lives. They work with the Chief Executive and other staff to guide, govern, shape strategy, and give direction.

These are our current Trustees:

	Yvette Ball Chair Yvette’s professional career was with the Probation Service culminating as Chief Officer of Gloucestershire and then of Surrey. With retirement her voluntary career has included Chair of Faith in Action Merton Homelessness Project and then of Refugees at Home before joining Citizens Advice Epsom & Ewell. In these roles Yvette led the organisations to achieve success, changing dysfunctional groups into high functioning teams and enabling the charities to thrive. She gained good knowledge of governance from experience as an Honorary Secretary. She understands disadvantage and brings her passion to tackle it to CAEE. She loves reading and initiated a Prison Reading Group in HMP High Down.
	Simon Culhane Vice Chair Simon's previous roles include Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment and during his tenure the Institute grew to be a global body with over 40,000 members and delivered over 40,000 qualifications. He has worked with several blue-chip financial companies including Lloyds Bank, Deutsche Bank, in Central Government where he was deputy director of the Prime Minister’s Efficiency Unit, and the NHS. He has lived in Ashtead with his wife for over 30 years and has four adult children. Simon is one of our lead trustees for fundraising, business development and partnership working, and shares with the Chair the lead role for service delivery and performance.
	Sarah Noak Treasurer Sarah is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years experience and since 2019 has been the CFO for a global humanitarian charity which works to bring education to marginalised children. Having qualified with Deloitte, Sarah has also worked in finance at the Wellcome Trust charity involved in the development of large UK science initiatives and supporting oversight of overseas research centres funded by Wellcome. Sarah lives close to Epsom and has two teenage children. Sarah joined our Board in 2023 and chairs our Finance committee.
	Shaun Jones Shaun is a retired tax director. He was an Inspector of Taxes before joining oil major BP in 1985. After 20 years with BP in senior leadership roles in London, Glasgow, Brussels, and Singapore, Shaun took early retirement in 2005. He has been a trustee since 2006, Chair from 2007 to 2013, and was our company secretary from 2008 to 2015. He is also a trustee of Carers of Epsom and vice chair of Epsom Parochial Charities. Shaun is our lead trustee for mental health and he also manages our website.
	Andrew Heffernan Andrew’s career was initially in brand marketing roles for a number of blue-chip organisations, following which he took a break from the corporate world to qualify as a teacher. Andrew then worked for an educational charity before taking on the role of Membership and Marketing Director for a leading membership body in the social care sector. Andrew has lived in Epsom for over 25 years and is married with three children. Andrew is our coordinator for fundraising, business development and partnership working, and is one of our lead trustees for research and campaigns.
	Hardik Trivedi Hardik is an experienced consultant with a track record in delivering transformation projects across different industries in government and commercial organisations. Prior to consulting, he was a systems engineer within the UK MoD. Hardik holds an MBA from University of Warwick and a MEng in Aerospace Engineering from Queen Mary University of London. Hardik is our lead trustee for money and debt advice.
	Barry Nash Having started his working life in the Royal Marines, Barry moved to Surrey in 1982 and has lived in Epsom & Ewell since 1994. Barry has previously worked in mobile telecoms, before moving into education and charity work, currently supporting disengaged teenagers. Barry served as a Borough Councillor from 2015 to 2023. He is married with two children.
	Sam Denning Sam has a robust background in advertising and media, with significant experience in media planning, especially for not-for-profit organisations. Her career trajectory has seen her take on various agency management roles, including Commercial Director, Operations Director, and Head of People. She has a keen interest in Behavioural Economics, which she integrates into her strategic approach. In 2024, Sam joined our Board and now chairs our HR committee.
	Andrew Keith Andy has over 25 years of management operations experience gained firstly in the Royal Navy and then in the legal sector. His most recent role was as COO for international law firm DAC Beachcroft in London and prior to that as COO for Deacons based in Hong Kong. In both these roles, he was a member of the Executive Board of the firm, and was responsible for all operational matters covering HR, IT. Facilities, Risk and Marketing.
	Vanessa King Vanessa's career includes 30 years experience in people related issues and projects gained through working in Human Resources and on many people related projects. Vanessa FCIPD (retired) worked for a local engineering consultancy for 18 years before setting up her own consultancy which provided support on large transformation projects to various organisation. These include organisations in private, public and charity sectors. She volunteers at a local drop-in centre which provides support to the disadvantaged and is also a Trustee for Leatherhead and Dorking Gymnastic Club. She has lived most of her life in the Epsom and Ewell area and has two sons and three grandchildren.
	Barnaby Hopson Barnaby has spent most of his career working in the charity sector, specialising in grant making with organisations such as the lottery, Children in Need, Princes Trust as well as public sector and corporate funders. In addition he spent 15 years as a consultant advising non profit organisations on areas such as fundraising, governance and strategic development. He is very involved in the local community and is currently a volunteer with Leatherherad & Epsom Samaritans, the Epsom Food Bank and is a Surrey Magistrate.
Our Company Secretary is:
	Clare Brooks Company Secretary Clare is a qualified chartered secretary and has worked in governance roles for a variety of organisations, including a large pension scheme, city fund manager and, most recently at St George's, University of London. She lives in south west London, is married with two children, and in her spare time enjoys playing tennis and learning foreign languages.