Trustees
What do the Trustees do?
Trustees are guardians of Prospects` values and business practices and as such have a crucial role in the Charity. Trustees are responsible for providing strategic and godly direction to the Charity and for advising senior managers on operational issues and wider areas relating to disability. The Trustees take seriously their responsibilities for setting the future direction of the Charity and for its effective governance. Day to day operations are delegated to the directors. With their wealth of different experiences and backgrounds the Trustees are able to bring different perspectives that allow them to ask hard questions and act as critical friends. Not being involved in the daily running of the whole organisation, they are able to take a rounded view of what is happening in the Charity.
The Board of Trustees are responsible for ensuring the Charity takes all reasonable steps to protect people, property and the Charity. Risk assessment is the process of assessing what can go wrong. Risk management involves taking steps to reduce the likelihood of the risk happening, minimise the negative impact if it does happen, and protect the Charity through insurance and in other ways. The Board of Trustees are also responsible for ensuring that the Charity develops and maintains good links with stakeholders and those with an interest in the Charity.
The Trustees
Chairman Graham Beckett has a background in business. After extensive engineering and commercial training with BT, he spent a few years in management consultancy. In 1998 he formed a fledgling Telecommunications business which has grown considerably over the years, bringing with it all the staffing and infrastructure issues of any growing organisation. Graham lives with his wife Lindsey and two children in Pangbourne, Berkshire. He is actively involved both in his local Church and as a member of the Reading branch of Gideons.
Vice-Chairman Sheila Stephen was involved as a volunteer in supporting Prospects services in Reading for over 18 years. Sheila followed her academic studies in Biblical Studies, Social Policy and Administration with a career in NHS Management. This culminated in Strategic Planning for a London NHS Teaching District in mental health and learning disability services. Sheila supports her husband who is a Principal of a Theological College, her son through 18 operations, started voluntary organisations and held office in a number of Charities. She works as a Counsellor, Supervisor and Trainer and has been involved in the development of a parenting Course for Parents of Children with Special Needs. Sheila is currently serving on the UK Council of AIM International.
Liz Tilly has extensive experience working with people with learning disabilities and joined the board of Prospects in July 2004. Liz works freelance as a trainer and consultant, and facilitates Building Bridges; a training group of people with learning disabilities, in topics such as communication, leisure, health and person centered approaches to students and professionals. She founded the voluntary organisation Options for Life, in Sandwell which provides a wide range of services and opportunities for people with learning disabilities in 1988, and was the Chief Executive until 2008. Prior to this, her career was in special education.
Liz’s learning disability qualifications include a B.Ed. and M.Med.Sci. and she has a M.A. in Applied Social Research. She is currently researching the needs of and support to people with mild learning disabilities who fall through the net of statutory provision and funding.
She lives in the West Midlands and is active in her local church. She is strongly committed to the full inclusion of people with learning disabilities in all aspects of life, and is involved with a group of local parents with learning disabilities. Liz is also actively involved in developing initiatives for people with learning disabilities in Eastern Europe, is a member of the International Prospects group, and spent two weeks at Casa Silvia in 2003.
Keith Watson is Emeritus Professor of Comparative and International Education at the University of Reading, having previously worked in the Metal Box Company and the British Council in various countries. Keith is married with four children, the youngest of whom has severe learning difficulties and attends Prospects Day Services in Reading. Keith has written or edited 14 books, written over 120 academic papers and has been involved in consultancies for the Common-wealth Secretariat, the British Council and the World Bank. He has remained involved in some way with Prospects since its inception in the early 1970s. Keith is President of Reading Mencap and is involved with CARE, the Association of Christian Teachers, and the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. He attends Greyfriars Church, Reading and sits on the International Missionary Committee, the Social Action Group and the Centre Management Committee.
Tim Adams has been a Board Member of Prospects since 2003. He is experienced in fund raising, marketing and communications. Tim is currently employed as Director of Fundraising & Communications for the Relationships Foundation and Jubilee Centre and was formally Head of Development for the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. His input will help the Board in the future as it secures funding to enable continued growth. Tim holds a number of qualifications including an MA in Managing Change and Organisational Learning, Oxford Brookes University (2005); BA (Hons) Theology from London School of Theology (1996); and a Post Graduate Certificate "Winning Resources & Support" Open University (1999).
Thomas Cordrey is currently working as a Public Policy Analyst with the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship (LCF). The LCF motto is to "Seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God". Thomas read Law at Cambridge University and then qualified as a barrister at a London Law School. From October he will be training to be a full-time barrister, specialising in Employment and Personal Injury law. Thomas and his fiancee Victoria attend St Simon's church in Shepherd's Bush.
David Kratt is Director of a marketing and corporate communications agency. He is contributing to the development of the work of Prospects and helping to increase awareness in the Christian community. David has worked as consultant to a wide range of organisations, assisting them with marketing and communications. He lives in Surrey and is active in his local Church.
Mark Featherstone is married with two children and he attends an Ecumenical Church in Milton Keynes, where he sits on the church Council and is actively involved in running the Junior Church. He brings to Prospects his background in Commercial property, having joined a leading London firm of Chartered Surveyors in 1977. He later founded his own private practice in 1987, and during the last four years has been a director of a commercial property development company focusing on the educational and medical sectors of the market. Mark is a member of Christians In Property and has recently been involved with the development of a new office building for Youth For Christ.
Graham Worsfold has been a Board Member of Prospects since 2006, and is Chairman of the Finance Sub-committee. He is a chartered accountant by profession, working in Surrey. Graham has had an interest in supporting people with learning disabilities for over 15 years, being the Causeway Prospects Group leader at his home church in Woking, Surrey, and Coordinator for Woking Mencap Society where he organises social clubs and holidays for adults with learning disabilities. For 7 years until 2006 Graham was a non-executive director for an NHS trust.
Derek Polley graduated from Queens University Belfast with a BA and entered a career in teaching. He completed a MED in Guidance and Counselling and has taught Geography for 36 years until taking early retirement in 2006. Apart from two years in a mission school in Sierra Leone he has spent his career in Northern Ireland teaching the 11 – 16 age group. He is the author of several textbooks on Northern Ireland Geography. Derek is married with two grown up sons and is an elder in Bangor West Presbyterian Church. He and his wife have been joint leaders of the Bangor (Co Down) Causeway Group for more years than they care to remember. They also serve on the Northern Ireland Regional Committee of which Derek is Chairman. Derek is also on the Management Board of Aaron House - a residential home for adults with a severe learning disability.
Chief Executive Officer Paul Ashton has been with Prospects since April 2000. Prior to joining Prospects he was working in the National Health Service as a chief executive in a NHS Trust. He has a MBA and holds a registered nurse qualification. He is a non voting Board Member and Trustee and has had extensive professional and personal experience of learning disability issues. Paul is involved in leadership in his local Church, is also a trustee of three other charitable boards not related to Prospects, and lives in Devon.
