Trustees and governance
Avenues is made up of a group of subsidiary organisations, all of which are registered charities and companies limited by guarantee, with the exception of Avenues South (previously known as Welmede) which is a mutual society, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Trustees are non-executive directors who work on a voluntary basis to make sure we have a clear strategy, the right actions are being taken to deliver the strategy and legal and financial obligations are met.
The Group operates an overlapping board structure (also known as a common board). This structure provides the opportunity for all of the boards within the group to come together and focus on the business as a whole, working like a fully consolidated board whilst maintaining a group structure.
The structure enables and enhances governance by streamlining legal arrangements, reducing management time spent on governance, speeding up decision making and facilitating the provision of information to board members.
The structure consists of a group of core trustees who sit on every board within the group, and up to two independent trustees who sit on each individual board
All of the trustees on all of the boards, core and independent, meet together and discuss the entire business of the group and individual subsidiaries. If there is a conflict of interest between the individual entity organisations the independent trustees deal with the matter and make decisions.
The boards operate a shared committee structure, and are committed to following the Charity Governance Code, which supports the organisation’s compliance with the law and regulations, and a culture where everything works towards fulfilling the charity’s vision.
In addition to our trustees, our charity also has Independent Committee Members (ICMs) which bring specialist knowledge, experience, and external perspective to strengthen our governance and decision-making. You can find out more about our ICM’s here.
View:
- our annual reports and accounts
- our risk appetite statement
- our response to the Charity Commission Regulatory Alert – June 2020
Terry Rich
Group Boards Chair (core trustee)
Terry is a consultant in Heath and Social Care who has worked in social care for 50 years, for the majority of that time in Local Government but also in the voluntary sector and the NHS. He is a qualified social worker, has a politics degree and an MSc in Applied Social Studies from Surrey University.
Terry has had a long and successful career in Local Government serving as a Director of Social Services and Housing and Director of Adult Social Care in three authorities over 12 years. In 2011 Terry was Chair of London Region of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services.
Terry’s experience has been in assisting authorities in turning around performance, having led Bromley Council from a zero star rating in 2001-2005. In 2012 Terry steered the return of Adult Social Care from the NHS back to Peterborough City Council, and in 2014, Mental Health social care from the NHS back to Norfolk County Council – in each case establishing stronger partnership arrangements between the council and local NHS.
As a consultant, Terry has supported councils across the country reviewing their commissioning plans and strategies, progressing service transformation and building partnership arrangements between local government and the NHS. He has also worked with the Local Government Association as a Care & Health Improvement Advisor, and for the Association of Directors of Adult Social Care supporting their Learning Disabilities and Autism policy network.
In 2021 Terry led a major review of Building the Right Support funding flows for the Department of Health and Social Care, Subsequently Terry has worked with the LGA and individual councils on learning disability and autism funding and services.
Terry has experience of working with the NHS. In 2011 to 2012 he worked with NHS London in the lead up to the transfer of Public Health to Local Government. He also worked for 10 years with the NHS Leadership Academy delivering sessions for NHS Executives on understanding in Local Government and Politics. Terry has designed and delivered training and authored a number of briefings on understanding and working with Local Government for the Institute of Health Visiting.
Terry was also an Independent Chair of two Safeguarding Adult Boards and a Local Safeguarding Children Board over 10 years between 2013 and 2023.
Alistair Brown
Group Boards (core trustee)
Alistair is a Chartered Management Accountant and a career civil servant who currently works for the Department for Work and Pensions.
From 2011 until October 2019 he was a trustee of the Railway Housing Association and for the last 7 seven years chaired its Audit and Risk Committee.
He is married and lives in Newcastle upon Tyne. In his spare time he enjoys walking (mainly with his dog) and cycling.
Lauren Stoner
Group Boards (core trustee)
Lauren works in the third sector as a Chief Executive and brings a wealth of experience to Avenues. She has spent most of her career working in health and social care with a focus on person centred support, rights, and voice.
Lauren’s leadership career has been externally focused on income generation, public affairs, and communicating charity impact. This has involved developing and supporting partnerships with stakeholders across the statutory, voluntary, and community sector.
Lauren lives in Nottingham with her partner and their pet rats.
Luis Hui
Group Boards (core trustee)
Luis Hui has over 20 years’ commercial and governance experience spanning investment banking, entrepreneurship, and public service. He began his career in European Leveraged Capital Markets at Société Générale CIB, where he structured and executed complex cross-border leveraged buyout financings, before moving into entrepreneurial businesses and advising early-stage ventures.
He currently serves on the Court of the Worshipful Company of Gold & Silver Wyre Drawers and as an Independent Member of the Standards Committee at the London Borough of Newham. His broader governance experience spans civic, charitable, and professional bodies, including the Independent Monitoring Board at Gatwick IRC, the Rotary Club of London (President), the Imperial Business School Alumni Advisory Board, Imperial College Union (Deputy President), and committees of the Chartered Management Institute and LIBF (formerly the Institute of Financial Services).
Luis holds an MSc in Finance from Imperial Business School and an MEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Imperial College London. He is a Freeman of the City of London and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Rich Hodgson
London Independent Trustee
Rich is a finance consultant and portfolio CFO who advises and leads several SME organisations.
After becoming a Chartered Professional Accountant and Certified Internal Auditor, and starting his career with KPMG Canada, Rich moved to the UK and has worked with professional services companies at the director level for over 10 years. Combining a broad range of skills, including finance, law, HR, and risk, his experience spans high-growth multinational corporations to local and national charities, where he volunteers as a director/trustee.
At Avenues, Rich chairs the finance committee and sits on various special interest groups including digital transformation and mergers and acquisitions.
Rina Pandya
Group Boards Independent Trustee
Rina has over 15 years’ HR experience in the NHS with broad skills involving strategy, leadership and talent development and EDI and wellbeing. Rina’s expertise lies in transformational change and driving business performance across complex environments. In her current role as Head of People Transformation & Culture at NHS Property Services Ltd she’s leading the implementation of their new ‘Customer at the Heart’ operating model. Rina previously worked at the Department of Health & Social Care and Centrica Plc.
“The work of Avenues Group is really close to my heart, my young brother has a learning disability and autism, I understand how good person-centred support can genuinely make a difference to quality of life, so I’m very passionate about supporting people to live their best lives in their community.”
Peter Hepburn
South Independent Trustee
Peter Hepburn is a consultant who advises charity trustees and management. He has spent many years in the sector, including a period in housing as a local management committee member, and also as a senior manager. He is currently trustee of two charities and works across the UK and the rest of Europe. He also spends time with his family including children and grand-children.
Emma Keegan
South East Independent Trustee
Emma has 25 years experience working in the housing sector, most recently as Managing Director of Rochford for Sanctuary Housing. She currently works as a customer services manager for an electrical company.
Emma is an experienced board member and has been chair of a small London-based housing association since 2019 and a trustee with Citizens Advice Colchester since 2020. Emma holds postgraduate diplomas in housing, management studies, and systems thinking and practice, and is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing.
Emma lives in Essex with her husband and daughter.
Sireesh Nallanthighal
South Independent Trustee
Sireesh has worked for 16 years in retail, having had a successful career at ALDI Stores Ltd working across Operations, IT, innovation and transformation. Having been a National IT Director for the retailer he has extensive experience of shaping IT to enable and support the wider business. More recently Sireesh has been appointed the Chief Technology Officer for TheCarCrowd a financial services business that is growing rapidly. He joins Avenues with a passion for the services we provide and a desire to use his experience to make a difference to the organisation.
Sireesh lives in Nottingham with his wife and two daughters (9 years old and 6 years old) where they enjoy weekends filled with activities, in particular trying to improve their Parkrun times!!
Jeff Boateng
South East Independent Trustee
Jeff is a Digital Consultant who currently works for Genesis Digital which is his own business.
He has been within the public sector for 20 years. His most recent appointments were at Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust as the Executive Director of Digital Services from 2019-2022 and Interim Director of System Transformation at Kent & Medway NHS & Social Care Partnership Trust between 2022-2023.
He is married with a toddler and lives in Thanet, Kent. In his spare time he enjoys cycling the coastal paths and attending theatre shows.
Jayne Turnbull
Autism Hampshire Independent Trustee
Jayne has over 40 years experience in direct management and strategic development of health services across hospital and community elements with a period at the Department of Health and Social Care. Her time working within services for people with Learning Difficulties in her early career, secured a passion to support and encourage those less advantaged, to reach their individual potential.
Since leaving the NHS full time Jayne became a Trustee and subsequently Chair of a local social housing association for a number of years and currently remains Trustee of Autism Hampshire (now part of Avenues Group).
Jaynes interest and commitment to health and social care continues through her role as Lay member to NHS England (South) Medical Directorate Professional Standards, involving oversight of performers covered under GP, Dental and Ophthalmology local regulations.
Helen Norbury
London Independent Trustee
Helen has 20 years’ experience working in business development and is currently Head of Business Development at the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE). Helen’s skills include stakeholder engagement and income generation. As a member of the leadership team Helen contributes to strategic planning and organisational transformation in a charity setting.
Through her role with SCIE, Helen has developed an in-depth understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing social care organisations and an appreciation for the importance of co-produced, person-centred care. Helen is passionate about innovation and improvement, working with individuals’ and organisations to identify what works.