Our mentors are interesting and experienced people.

We go to great lengths to select individuals who have run organisations and who have been responsible for growing them. Someone who understands the voluntary sector and has a business head with the ability to let you dig deep into your own resources so that you can come up with the best decisions for your organisation.

Their primary motivation is to support you in your decision making. We have regular meetings with all our mentors so that we can be confident that we are providing a service that is relevant and tailored to the needs of our mentees.

Meet Our Mentors

  • Joanna Dyson OBE

    An experienced Chair, Trustee and Senior Executive in charities focused on supporting social, economic and health inequalities. Joanna is able to draw on 40 years of commercial experience in the food industry, managing both people and organisations.

    Currently Chair of Trustees at The Greggs Foundation, a grant-making charity, Joanna also provides mentoring support to small businesses and individuals.

  • Tina Elder

    A professional management consultant, who has a strong track-record of building relationships and delivering results.

    Over the last 30 years, Tina has worked with the leadership teams of major organisations, in the private, public & charity sectors - both within the UK and internationally. Currently a Trustee for several local charities.

  • Graeme Freeman

    An IT and consulting entrepreneur, who co-founded Freeman Clarke, providing IT directors to industry. Graeme also co-founded On3, assisting large corporates with their talent management strategy; & part of the founding team of social enterprise “Pennies”.

    Former Chief Information Officer of BBC Worldwide, non-executive director of BBC Audiobooks & Chief Operating Officer of ABS (better known as “tradesimple”).

  • Bridget Farrands

    Bridget is an organisational consultant and executive coach, specialising in cultural change, leadership, and executive learning. With a background in manufacturing, she later trained as a psychotherapist, merging personal change with leadership development in her coaching practice. She works with organisations across Europe and the USA in various sectors.

    Recent assignments include coaching leaders in the South African government, fostering collaboration in a global publishing company, and developing leadership at a major UK retailer. Co-author of Leadership Transitions (2012), Bridget also serves on the board of a US leadership centre and is a non-executive director at MyKnowledgeMap.

  • Alison Hill MBE

    30 years’ experience as a senior leader in the NHS. Her last role before retirement was Deputy Chief Knowledge Officer for Public Health England where she provided professional leadership & strategic oversight for a wide range of products and programmes.

    Prior to this, Alison was managing director of NHS Solutions for Public Health, which she built into a £6mn NHS business unit with 80 staff. With a Diploma in Coaching and Mentoring from Oxford Brookes University; she was a board member of Cycling England, and is also one of our trustees, chair of The Bikeability Trust, & chair of Cyclox, Oxford’s local cycle campaign group.

  • Sir Tim Stevenson

    Sir Tim Stevenson is a lawyer with a broad ranging career in industry, the public and not for profit sectors. He has been CEO of a major UK business and sat on the boards of, and chaired, both large public companies and local Oxfordshire charities This has given him wide experience of chairmanship and governance, across the sectors, both nationally and internationally. Most recently he was, until October of 2021, HM Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire which has provided him with strong understanding of the Not For Profit sector in Oxfordshire.

  • Philippa Lyons

    Previously CEO of the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust and a director of WREN, chairing the Oxfordshire WREN County Panel. Having set up Fundraising Central Ltd in 2013, a mutual company wholly owned by seven wildlife trusts, she chaired the company until October 2019.

    Philippa is currently a trustee of Plantlife International, Garden Organic and Peace Partners and sits on on the board of Grantscape, a grant giving charity that primarily administers Landfill Community Funds and Community Benefit Funds from solar and wind farms.

  • John May OBE

    Currently the Chief Executive of the national feline welfare charity, Cats Protection; Chair of Trustees of Oxfordshire Youth; National Trustee of Marine Society & Sea Cadets; Trustee of Oxfordshire Scouts.

    John has previously been Secretary General of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award; Chief Executive of Young Enterprise and Career Academies UK; Director of Community Campaigning at Business in the Community. Previous non-executive roles include Vice-Chair of the World Organisation of the Scout Movement; National Board member of UNICEF UK; Founding board member of Teach First

  • Sarah Mitson

    An experienced executive who has held strategic roles in marketing, innovation and sales for large international companies. Sarah has a special interest in delivering change in organisations, based on her experience of business and digital transformation and her studies in the behavioural sciences.

    She has an active portfolio supporting not for profit organisations and has had experience of being a trustee and Chair with Coeliac UK.

    Sarah is currently a trustee of two national charities: Locality UK and XLH UK.

  • Annette Mountford

    Originally a health visitor; her work in mainly deprived areas led her to recognise the huge challenges all parents face in raising children especially if their own childhood had been deprived. In the Nurturing Programme she found a wonderful way for parents to turn their history around and discover new skills, hope and happiness.

    Anette was Chief Executive of Family Links from 1997 – 2015. She introduced the ‘Nurturing Programme’ to the UK in 1992 and led the team in adapting the programme for parent groups as well as for schools, prisons, Muslim parents and parents of teenagers. She has written an ante-natal Nurturing Programme which is now being rolled out nationally. Received an MBE for her work in 2002.

  • Pat O’Shea

    An extensive public sector experience of secondary education, including headship of two comprehensive schools, Subsequently she was an independent consultant in school improvement, providing challenge and support to headteachers and governors, coaching and mentoring school leaders and advising on appointments.

    Pat is a trustee of a local Academy Trust and was a trustee of a charity providing grants to people in hardship in Oxford. Particular expertise in: leadership, coaching and mentoring, team building, strategic planning.

  • Christine Fairchild

    Christine Fairchild served as Oxford University’s Director of Alumni Relations from March 2011 to August 2023, leading a team that strengthened alumni connections through events, services, and communications. Oxford has over 350,000 alumni across 188 countries and an active network of 180 branches and interest groups.

    Prior to Oxford, she spent 20 years in alumni relations at Harvard Business School, most recently as Executive Director of External Relations. She holds a BA in Asian Studies from Connecticut College and has held roles at Harvard Art Museums.

    Christine has also volunteered extensively, served on various boards, and is a Trustee of Malvern College. She is an Emeritus Fellow at Jesus College, Oxford, and a recipient of multiple awards for her work.

  • Jeremy Swainson

    Initially with Oxfam, for the past 25 years, he has been an owner and senior executive of a range of consultancy businesses working in the international development aid sector. He has held primary responsibility for a range of functions including human resources, sales, quality assurance and finance.

    Jeremy has designed and managed grant making facilities ranging from the provision of Oxfam funding to poor communities through grants to NGOs to support their work to risk sharing funding to the private sector. In recent years, as he has stepped back from management & devoted time to mentoring colleagues at all levels in the business. Particular expertise in strategic leadership and organizational development.

  • Jens Tholstrup

    Jens is Executive Chairman of Oxford Innovation Finance, Senior Advisor, Oxford Economics and Senior Adviser, PMB Capital.

    Previously, he was Managing Director UK, Oxford Economics, Executive Director, Oxford Analytica and Executive Director UBS/UBS Warburg.

    He is Chair of Governor of St Clare’s, a trustee of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Director of Advanced Oxford and a Visiting Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford

    Jens holds a MA in PPE and an MSc in Economic History, both from the University of Oxford.

  • Peter Wrigglesworth

    His career has been with the creative industries, building a successful communication agency & advising clients on communication strategy and producing programmes, events and presentations across a wide range of media.. Peter went on to set up Every Sense, a specialist business consultancy helping creative agencies and production companies grow, prosper and achieve their potential.

    Peter works with individuals, management teams & employees to co-create a strong vision for their business and put in place the structures and processes to enable them to deliver that vision. Particular expertise in: strategy, building teams and organisations, embedding vision and purpose within organisations.

Are you interested in becoming a mentor?


Over the life of Charity Mentors we have gradually built a cohesive team of mentors, who are able to take on regular projects and who are involved and enthusiastic about helping us with our mission. From time-to-time, we looking for new mentors so that we have a broad & diverse pool of skills & experiences on which to draw.

Even if there is not an opening immediately, we are always interested to hear from people who have held leadership positions, who have been involved in the growth and development of an organisation at a strategic level, have some knowledge of the charity sector and who have the mentoring skills to help us.

Please click here if you are interested in learning more….


 
The opportunity to discuss the work of our charity with someone outside the organisation but with relevant experience and understanding was a great help with prioritising and preparing an achievable development strategy.
— Red Kite Family Centre