Board of Trustees

Daphne Pullen - Chair

Daphne Pullen joined CLIC Sargent as Chair in April 2006. A retired local authority lawyer by profession, Daphne is no newcomer to the voluntary sector. She completed a three-year term as chair of Samaritans and she continues to be a helpline volunteer, something she has done for more than 20 years. Daphne has also been vice chair of a branch of Victim Support.

Daphne is married and lives in Wiltshire. top of page

Alison Arnfield
Alison is a registered sick children’s nurse by background with many years of experience in the NHS and outside. She worked at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London as a nurse then manager and latterly as Clinical Director of the children’s cancer unit. For the last 14 years she has run her own management consultancy working exclusively in children’s services across a wide range of areas of care from policy and practice to strategy and service improvement in both the UK and overseas.

Alison is also a magistrate with a particular interest in family work. She is married and lives in West London. top of page

Rachel Billsberry-Grass
Rachel Billsberry-Grass has almost 20 years experience in fundraising and management, working for a variety of voluntary and arts organisations. A specialist in corporate fundraising, Rachel has secured and managed numerous charity / corporate partnerships. Notably, Rachel was responsible for initiating and leading award-winning partnerships between the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign and Tesco and Mencap and Transco, each worth in excess of £1 million.

Rachel is a contributing author to the CAF series on corporate fundraising and delivers fundraising training for a variety of organisations. In the past 8 years, she has worked freelance, offering strategic consultancy, management support and hands-on fundraising input, for charities including Age Concern England, Alzheimers Society and Dreams Come True Charity.

Rachel is married to Richard and they have three young daughters, Mathilda, Betty and Jemima. top of page

Jane Burt
Jane Burt brings to CLIC Sargent considerable strategic and operational business experience, principally in the field of human resources. She is currently HR director for BP Exploration and was previously HR director for Santander/Abbey. Prior to that she has was head of personnel at the London International Financial Futures & Options Exchange (“LIFFE”). Jane has significant trustee experience at the charities bss and Mental Health Media. Also, she was a volunteer at Samaritans for a number of years. top of page

Will Carter
Will Carter is an experienced managing director/ CEO who has worked principally in the food business at organisations including Premier Foods and United Biscuits, where he has gained extensive experience in brand building and strategic marketing. Will has experience as a trustee, having been treasurer and then chair of a charity in support of the Royal Berkshire Hospital's Special Care Baby Unit and wishes to participate more in the not for profit sector. top of page

Graham Clarke - Treasurer elect
Graham Clarke is a qualified chartered accountant and has a wealth of experience in the healthcare sector. Much of his work has been diagnostic, relating to the treatment and management of cancer, including managing the world’s first MRI clinical trials, CT scanning systems, chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Graham has worked for GE Healthcare and SmithKline Beecham as well as being a partner at PA Consulting and a principal consultant at Deloitte, and is currently CEO of a vaccine biotechnology company.  top of page

Michael O’Connor
Michael O’Connor is currently strategic director for children and young people at Westminster City Council, a statutory role with responsibility for all education, social care and young people’s services with a budget of approximately £50m, from which he will be retiring at the end of 2011. He has held both operational and strategic social care roles at various levels for more than 30 years at Westminster Council and previously at Hammersmith and Fulham Council

Michael is currently a member of the Association of the Directors of Children's Services and has been involved in the development of practice in safeguarding of children, the prevention of serious youth violence, adoption and fostering work and also led the work to implement child protection standards in licensing on behalf of the association.  top of page

Keith Exford
Keith Exford is group chief executive of the Affinity Sutton Group, one of the largest providers and developers of affordable housing in England.
During a career in housing spanning over 30 years, previously Keith has been chief executive of The Affinity Homes Group, Broomleigh and Wandle Housing Associations. He has also held senior positions at South London Family HA and the Housing Corporation as well as a spell in local government. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and vice chairman of the G15 Group of London’s largest housing associations.

Outside of housing Keith has held non executive roles in a number of charities and other bodies including Croydon’s NHS Primary Care Trust where he was chair of the audit committee. Until recently he was a trustee for Preset, an organisation which helps young people achieve their potential.

Married with a grown up son, Keith lives in West Sussex. top of page

Ian Gibson  
Ian Gibson is vice chair of the NHS Highland Board and a self-employed consultant to both charitable and private clients. He was director for Scotland and Northern Ireland, and later deputy CEO during his nine years with Macmillan Cancer Relief and prior to that he spent a number of years in health service management in Scotland. He has past experience as a trustee and, as a former Scottish parliamentary candidate, has extensive political knowledge and contacts. top of page

Dominic Grainger  
Dominic Grainger is CEO of Group M Europe, Middle East and Africa, the world’s leading media communications group and the media division of WPP. Dominic qualified as a chartered accountant at Price Waterhouse and has spent the last 14 years at senior management levels in the media communications sector. Dominic brings with him extensive commercial and general management experience as well as contacts with a large number of businesses. top of page

Tim Holley
Tim spent 30 years in the computer and communications industry where in the 1970s he built the largest computer services business in Europe. Later he created a data communication service business from scratch which was subsequently sold for one billion pounds. He became the first Chief Executive of Camelot Group plc where his achievements included leading the successful bid against seven other competitors to run the UK National Lottery, setting up the new company and supervising the implementation. top of page

Meriel Jenney
Meriel undertook her medical training at Sheffield University and her subsequent postgraduate training in Sheffield, Australia and Manchester. She was appointed to a consultant post Paediatric Oncology in Manchester in 1993 and moved to Cardiff in late 1996 as a consultant paediatric oncologist. Meriel was awarded a Harkness Fellowship to the United States and spent 12 months in Minneapolis undertaking research into the Assessment of Quality of Life in Children. top of page

Henry Kenyon - Treasurer
Henry was appointed Treasurer of CLIC in 2003. A chartered accountant by profession with board experience in accounting and finance, IT and risk management, he is a partner for PricewaterhouseCoopers and has worked in many parts of the world. Henry has been an active supporter of a number of charities in the South West including CAFOD and Action Research. He is also a treasurer of the Bristol Music Suzuki Group. top of page

Jonathan Plumtree
Jonathan is Head of Zurich Corporate Risk, a dedicated unit within Zurich's UK Life business providing life and income protection insurance to employers for their staff. He was previously the Finance Director for another insurer, UNUM, having begun his career working for Coopers & Lybrand in the UK and USA. Jonathan is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Jonathan first became involved with CLIC Sargent as a service user when his son was diagnosed with Leukaemia in 1999. top of page