Board of Trustees

With four children, including Fraser who has Cerebral Palsy and a large amount of daily care needs, Craig has first-hand experience of the challenges facing families caring for a child and young adult with complex health needs. As a WellChild Parent Ambassador, Craig has spoken about his experiences at a number of conferences, events and was part of the team that spearheaded the #notanurse_but campaign, shining a light on the reality of life behind closed doors for thousands of families. Craig is UK President at global technical consultancy firm, Tetra Tech. He is a Chartered Surveyor and a Fellow of the RICS, APM and CIOB.

Enjoying a business career spanning four decades Nick brings a wealth of experience to the WellChild board of trustees. Nick is the owner and CEO of Venture Studios, a nationwide family photography business. He has a PLC corporate background and is used to working in a disciplined and compliant structure. He is a member of the WellChild audit committee and in 2018 was appointed vice chairman of the board of trustees. He is a founder member of the corporate development board and also an advisor to the senior management team in his specialist area of marketing and fundraising.

Rosalind became a WellChild Trustee and Treasurer in 2018. Rosalind is a chartered accountant with nearly 20 years’ experience in practice and industry working for companies such as Andersen, PwC, Reuters and BT. She is currently Commercial Finance Director for Landsec, the UK’s the largest commercial property development and investment company. In addition to her role as Treasurer, Rosalind also chairs WellChild’s Audit Sub-committee.

Huw joined WellChild as a Trustee in 2017 having been a member of the WellChild Advisory Panel. Huw was a consultant in child health for 30 years based at the Children’s Hospital for Wales in Cardiff and has a wealth of experience in the clinical aspects of healthcare for children and young people. He was seconded (half time) for seven years to the Welsh Assembly Government as the first National Director of Clinical Services for Children and Young People and adviser to three Health Ministers. One of the specific responsibilities was the production of the National Service Framework and the policy for Specialist Services for Children & Young People. Huw is a passionate advocate that children’s services should be central to UK healthcare priorities.

Leanne is mum to three daughters, Erica, Sophie and Kyla. Sophie has cerebral palsy and multiple complex needs. Leanne has worked at regional and national levels to improve services for children and young people living with serious health needs and is the driving force behind the parent-led #notanurse_but campaign. Through the campaign, Leanne has shared her experience through a powerful series of video diaries, which have been viewed widely online and used to educate child health professionals and decision makers across the sector. As a WellChild Parent Ambassador and campaigner, Leanne has spoken at many conferences and events, sharing her experiences caring for her daughter and her passion for making a positive change to services and helping raise awareness of WellChild’s work.

Simon is a Partner and Solicitor and the head of the Court of Protection and Deputyship team at Kingsley Napley LLP solicitors. He acts as a professional deputy or as a professional trustee for a broad range of clients, all with a multitude of differing needs and requirements including lacking mental capacity, specialising in property and financial affairs. Many have suffered catastrophic injuries as a result of medical negligence or personal injury, some have a mental illness or dementia, others have a learning disability. He has particular experience of working with young children and adults who have cerebral palsy and their families.

Simon is a member of the Law Society, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), the Court of Protection Practitioners Association (COPPA) and the Professional Deputies Forum (PDF).

Jayne joined the Board of Trustees in 2023. She is an accomplished Senior Clinical Leader who has extensive experience both in children and adult nursing. Jayne is currently an Associate Director of Nursing Quality for a large national charity. She is responsible for all quality and governance issues across the North East and Scotland.  She also has the remit of Clinical Education for the whole organisation. Jayne has worked for a number of different Clinical Trusts in the South of England including Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. She was awarded a Florence Nightingale Children and Young People’s Leadership Scholarship in 2011 and has had a number of additional roles, to include Visiting Professor for Surrey University, NMC reviewer, SHA professional advisory lead for Children’s nursing.

Anna joined WellChild in 2023 as a Trustee. Over 25 years her nursing career has spanned the acute, community and voluntary sector. Anna has a passion for caring for and improving services for children living with clinical complexity and those living with life limiting and life threatened conditions. Anna is currently working as the director of children’s services at a children’s hospice. She has led several projects to develop service provision and to ensure the workforce can meet the clinical complexity of children and young people. Her work has been recognised on a national level including being an RCNi finalist for her work in long term ventilation. Anna has completed a Florence Nightingale scholarship and now mentors new scholars. Anna has a love for education and has completed a BSc in professional practice and a BSc in community practice and enjoys lecturing at local universities.

Claire has recently joined WellChild as a Parent/Carer Trustee. She is the mother of Emily & Christopher, twins with profound medical needs and physical disabilities. She has extensive lived experience of some of the most complex NHS Services, from Special Care Baby Unit, Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, and other multiple paediatric departments at the Newcastle RVI, to Community Paediatricians and Nursing Teams within Gateshead through to Personal Health Budgets with the ICB.

Claire has completed the NHS England Personalised Care: Peer Leadership Foundation Courses, steps One and Two which explored the changing demand on the NHS, what personalised care is, where it came from, the difference it can make and how it enables culture change in the NHS. This included shared decision-making, social prescribing, patient choice, supported self-management, personalised care and how to help others to benefit from personalised care, along with support planning and personal health budgets.

Claire is a qualified Nutrition, Lifestyle and Stress Management Coach.

Amanda joined WellChild in February 2024. She brings 25 years of experience of working within the voluntary sector, holding a variety of senior leadership positions, with particular expertise in income generation, strategy development, building and driving financial growth and sustainability. She has been CEO for Motivation, a Bristol-based international disability development charity and social enterprise, since the start of 2017 and since then has been driving the organisation to maximise its impact and global reach. She is driven by a passion for social justice and her work experience has seen her advocate and fundraise for a range of UK and international organisations focussed on health, disability, children’s wellbeing and mental health.