Trustee biographies

Lola Barrett

Lola is currently Chief Executive of Grenfell Housing Association, based in London.

She is both creative and innovative, with proven excellence in staff management, leadership and mentoring. Lola possesses a considerable understanding of cross-cultural knowledge.

Having acted as Chair of Merton Citizens Advice Bureau, Founder Board member of Pollards Hill HA, Council member of (London South) Learning and Skills Council and currently Chair of Merton VSC and Merton Unity Network, Lola brings considerable knowledge and experience to NAVCA's Trustee Board.

Lola received a Merton Excellence award in November 2004 for her "Outstanding Contribution to the Community", as well as being recognised in January 2005 for her "Outstanding Achievement within the Borough" (London Borough of Merton).


Sharon Clancy

Sharon has held two posts within the sector over the last ten years, firstly as District Partnership Officer (DPO), and secondly, as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Mansfield CVS. In both of these roles Sharon demonstrated an in-depth knowledge of the third sector. In her role as DPO, Sharon deployed a range of skills, primarily in the area of health and social care. Perhaps more importantly, the role also required high-level influencing skills, an area in which she excels.

During her time as CEO at MCVS the organisation experienced unparalleled growth in delivering to communities within its area of benefit. At the same time, Sharon also took up the challenge of regional and national involvement as a board member of organisations such as Engage and NAVCA. She has proved to be committed and effective both locally and on the wider stage.



Ray Collett MBE

Having served as a trustee of NAVCA for the past two years, Ray now feels in a position to accept the challenge of serving as Vice Chair. Ray has extensive knowledge and experience of voluntary and community sector (VCS) governance, having six years experience as chair of a successful CVS in Bolton Experience has shown him that every local infrastructure organisation (LIO) needs a combination of good management and good governance in order to be effective. Ray feels that governance is a vital, yet sometimes forgotten, essential part of the jigsaw that makes good LIOs even better.

He has closely followed the work of the Governance Hub, and has contributed comments regarding their various codes on good governance. Ray is passionate about issues around sustainable funding and partnership working and believes that NAVCA does, and will continue to, make a significant contribution nationally and regionally to ensure that the voice of members is heard. He feels that he has a contribution to make in this area. Ray believes that chairs and trustees of LIOs are under-represented at

NAVCA, both on the board, and among the honorary officers. He is anxious that a good balance between management and governance experience is maintained



Bernard Collier

An enthusiastic leader, Bernard has experience of developing, refocusing and managing organisations to excel, having a passion to challenge and improve delivery of voluntary and community organisations. A great supporter of voluntary and community action because of its uniquely humanising perspective.

Previously he worked for the Paddington Integration Project, (a small charity teaching independent living skills to adults who have learning difficulties), in a variety of roles but principally as the Director.

Bernard brings a strategic voluntary sector view to the Westminster City Partnership and the Westminster Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership, as well as being the Older People's Champion on the former.

Having served on the Board of London VSC for three years, he is now involved in steering the development of Sub-Regional and Regional structures to support CVS in London.

Bernard currently represents NAVCA on the Unity Trust Bank's 3rd Sector Advisory Group and the National Compact's Community Groups Sub Group. Presently he is researching Capital Asset Transfer for NAVCA

As a Trustee of NAVCA Bernard will use his geographical location as an opportunity to continue to act as a strong advocate for CVS and supporter of local voluntary and community action.



Heather Farley

Heather Farley became the first Chief Executive of West Norfolk Voluntary and Community Action (WNVCA) in 2002. She plays a major role in her Local Strategic Partnership Board where she is Vice Chair and is also Chair of the Management Group. She chairs the Diverse Community Forum which considers the cohesion of West Norfolk and this area of work is a focus for WNVCA. With her trustees she has ensured that WNVCA has a focus on the core needs of the sector.

She believes in the principles of a member organisation, the responsibilities that go with that and ensuring that you stick to your mission. Her previous work includes mental health nursing, mental health and supported housing organisations including MIND and Stonham Housing Association. She is on the board of COVER, the regional general infrastructure organisation, a school governor, and has chaired CVS East, a struggling regional grouping of Chief Executives from the East of England. Personally she lives just outside King's Lynn in Norfolk with her husband and two children and has been in Norfolk since 1995. She comes from Essex and has also lived in East London.



Richard Gutch

Richard Gutch has worked in the voluntary and community sector for over 20 years, having previously worked in local government in Camden, South Yorkshire and Brent for the first 15 years of his career. He has been assistant director at NCVO, chief executive of Arthritis Care, director of England and Strategic Programmes at the Community Fund and chief executive of Futurebuilders England.

He has published a number of reports on the impact of contracting on the sector and has championed the importance of local voluntary action throughout his career. He hopes to bring a national policy perspective to his role as a NAVCA Board member.



Sajid Hashmi

Sajid has been working as a Chief Executive in the third sector for over 10 years, currently as the chief executive of VAST (Voluntary Action Stoke-on-Trent) which is one of the larger local infrastructure organisations (LIOs) with a turnover of more than £5m. He has been a member of NAVCA's board since 2002 and honorary treasurer for the last year.

Sajid started life in the private sector as a finance manager and undertook several stints of voluntary work in Bosnia, Mali, Nigeria and Kenya. He has worked as a field Operations Manager for Bosnia Aid Committee, Chief Executive of KYP and as Chief Officer of Voluntary Action Calderdale (VA-C).

He developed KYP from a small community into a robust social enterprise and one of the largest organisations of its kind in the UK. At VA-C Sajid was instrumental in developing a derelict building into a resource centre providing a sustainable freehold base for VA-C and subsidised office space for VCS.

Sajid has served on several boards and committees both locally and nationally. He is very passionate about the sector and feels that he has a lot to offer.



Mike Martin

Mike has 23 years experience working for CVS, five of them in a London Borough and 18 in his current post as Director of Reading Voluntary Action. He served as a trustee of the Community Council for Berkshire for eight years. He was a founding trustee of RAISE, the regional infrastructure organisation for the South East and served as its Chair in the period prior to the engagement of the first staff. He has been a trustee of NAVCA for four years and has taken a lead in the development of the strategic role of the Board. Mike is now in his second year as chair.

Mike believes that NAVCA is much stronger than it was five years ago. Its strength lies in listening well to members and partners whilst striving for the highest quality services in support of the sector. As Chair he aims to build on this. His other priorities for the future are a clear and robust stand on the independence of the sector, demonstration beyond doubt of the value of our work and supporting the local sector to become more effective in tackling inequality and discrimination. He aims to use his thorough understanding of our network to lead a strong and above all strategic board of trustees.



Steve Phaure

Steve Phaure has been Chief Executive of CVA since 1997, having worked previously at LVSC and Merton Race Equality Council. He is a former Chair of the South London CVS Partnership and of the Wandsworth Association of Voluntary and Community Organisations.

Steve has presided over CVA becoming one of the larger London CVS, with over 40 staff and £2million turnover (CVA also distributes over £1.5million in grants each year). Steve is now planning CVA's centenary year programme, to include the opening of a flagship resource centre, a borough-wide charity fair and the launching of a new CVA exhibition.

As well as celebrating CVA's history, Steve is planning for the future, having started a service-development review that will culminate in the presentation of CVA's 2007-12 Strategic Plan, setting out the organisation's vision of how it can remain fit for purpose over the next crucial phase of voluntary action. Steve is keen to share his views and experiences with colleagues nationally through membership of the NAVCA Board.




Sally Pickering

Sally has been the Chief Executive of GAVCA, which works at both district level in Gloucester and Cheltenham, and also across Gloucestershire, since 2004. She has over 20 years' experience in the sector, ranging from community development work in rural West Africa, to homelessness, mental health and domestic violence work in Gloucestershire.

Sally brings to the NAVCA Board her ability to learn quickly, understand complex issues, grasp the 'bigger picture' and think strategically: She has been told that she is very logical, a clear thinker and brings 'clarity' to sometimes difficult and confusing debates. She has considerable experience of front line work in the third sector and, consequently, first hand experience of the issues faced by the sector. Decades of political activism and four years as a town councillor have given Sharon a good understanding of the wider national political agenda.

It is Sharon's strong belief that NAVCA needs to remain a firmly membership-led organisation and develop in whatever way is required to continue to meet the needs of its members. She is committed to do all that she can within the trustee role to represent the views of other NAVCA members.



Caroline Schwaller

Caroline is very proud to have been at the heart of NAVCA's emergence as a highly respected national partner with a more diverse range of functions. She believes that we must now balance strategic influence with supporting and motivating our members to ensure that third sector organisations throughout the country have equal access to high quality local infrastructure services.

As Vice Chair for a second term, Caroline will continue working with staff and trustees to ensure this happens. She offers enthusiasm and a good understanding of the way NAVCA operates, gained from many years as a member, and as a trustee for six years. She is committed to active involvement in driving up and sustaining NAVCA's strategic direction, external relations, profile, delivery and governance. Caroline possesses combined governance, management and leadership experience gained from 20 years in the third sector.

Caroline is Chief Executive of Keighley Voluntary Services, working closely with other LIOs to deliver partnership-based services throughout the district, including management of the BASIS programme and LINk. Her other roles include LIO Consortium Chair, third sector representative on the new LSP Board, a key role in developing the compact and relationships with the tPCT, and representing NAVCA on BURA awards panel.



Caroline Shaw

Caroline is Chief Executive of Voluntary Action West Kent and has been a trustee of NAVCA for the past three years

She began her career in HR in Canada with the Hudson Bay Trading Company, having studied for a postgraduate diploma at the University of Calgary. After a brief spell in California, she returned to England and worked for a major property and financial services company, and subsequently for a leading firm of city lawyers as Director of Human Resources.

In 1997 she was awarded a master's degree in training and development from the Centre for Labour Market Studies, University of Leicester, where her research considered the impact of private sector management practices on voluntary sector organisations. She is currently a Governor of West Kent College.

Before joining VAWK, she spent 12 years undertaking freelance management consultancy assignments in the voluntary sector for a variety of clients, including several LIOs. Her expertise centres on leadership, management of change and organisational development.

She is passionate about the voluntary sector and believes she can continue to offer the NAVCA trustee board a wealth of strategic and operational experience to help shape both the current and future policy debate.



Nick Warren

As a member of the Trustee Board since 2005, Nick has supported NAVCA's work to raise the profile of local infrastructure with central and local government at the same time as helping to build capacity and raise standards within member organisations. Both of these are critical issues, as Nick believes that flying the flag for LIOs must be of critical importance to all of us at this time of competing demands for resources and the attention of policy-makers.

Although NAVCA has a strong and effective management team supported by able staff, Nick believes the experience of those working in the local front line does much to add value and focus to its work and welcomes the opportunity of continuing for a second term.

In his other life, Nick is the Chief Executive of Voluntary Action Sheffield. He is a permanent member of his local LSP Board and an active member of a number of sub-regional and regional third sector partnerships and task groups. Nick is a great believer in the value of collaborative working and thinks that we must learn to work together more effectively if we are to remain relevant.



Duncan Wood

Duncan has worked for Involve - Voluntary Action in Mid Devon, since 2001, as the organisation was expanding into a comprehensive local infrastructure organisation, developing the full range of CVS functions.

Duncan plays an active role in the County Consortium and the Devon Association of CVS (DACVS). He is a board member of the South West Foundation, a director of an MCTi implementation body and Chair of the Mid Devon LSP.

Duncan began his career in the Civil Service gaining a good understanding of the benefits and pitfalls of organisational structures, policies, procedures and protocols. He has worked in the third sector since 1990, in health; information; youth and education-based charities. He has also worked with a wide variety of third sector organisations in an advisory and supportive capacity as a Rural Development Commission grants assessor.

Duncan believes strongly in the value and independence of the third sector and the value comprehensive infrastructure support (CVS functionality) plays within it. He seeks to ensure that as NAVCA expands, the significance of the core membership's CVS functions continues to be prominent.

He welcomes the opportunity to bring both his strategic and LIO operational experience to the NAVCA board.



Sarah Wood OBE

Throughout her adult life Sarah has maintained an involvement in the voluntary sector. That interest has ranged from being a volunteer member of the Children's Justice System in Scotland, a trustee of Turning Point, to a director of Social Care Education Trust. The experience she gained has influenced her in her work and life.

Sarah worked for ten years in social care moving on to become Deputy Chief Executive of Glasgow City Council. She then worked for Birmingham City Council as Director of Finance/Deputy Chief Executive for seven years. For the last two and half years she has been Director of Policy for the Local Government Association. Working with ministers and senior civil servants has given her an invaluable insight into the workings of Whitehall.

She welcomes the opportunity to use her experience, skills and knowledge to promote NAVCA. This is an exciting time for the third sector and NAVCA has an opportunity to lead the debate for the benefit of its members and the communities they serve.