Chair of Trustees

Mac Cheema

Mac Cheema currently leads a real estate organisation in the UK.

He is an internationally experienced business executive with progressive supply chain and procurement experience.

Mac has over 30 years of experience with large global organisations at the executive level in property, automotive, aerospace, and medical devices.

Mac was appointed Chair of Trustees for ellenor in December 2022

Manjit Atwell

Manjit Atwall is a Chartered IT Professional with over 35 years’ experience within Finance and Insurance, running large-scale IT Service Management Change Management programmes and functions.

Manjit has delivered complex global change management, regulatory risk, and process transitions in challenging environments.

Ann Barnes

After a  long career  teaching in Kent secondary schools and over 25 years serving as a magistrate , many in the Family courts, Ann entered the  world of police governance, firstly locally then on the regional and national stage. She was Chair of the Kent Police Authority  for many years before deciding to stand  for election, as an independent, for the position of Kent’s first Police and Crime Commissioner. The role  of PCC is to  hold the Chief Constable to account, on behalf of local people, for the level of policing the force gives to the people it serves, with appropriate  structures and procedures in order to do so effectively.

Amongst other things, as PCC, Ann set the police budget, set local objectives of the county , worked with local agencies on joined up crime strategies, appointed the Chief Constable, whilst contributing  to regional and national policing priorities. Nationally, she was Deputy Chair of the Association  Police Authorities, Chair of the employers’ side of the Police Negotiating Board, advised the Home Office on senior police appointments and served as a trustee of the College of Policing. Regionally, she worked with colleagues in Kent and Essex to establish and oversee the very successful collaborative work that takes place between the two force areas. 

Throughout her 15 years in the policing world, Ann was a relentless champion of the rights of victims of crime (often the forgotten people in the Criminal justice system) eventually establishing, with Kent Police and Victim Support, Kent’s victim centre at Compass House, which is held up as a blueprint for the delivery of care to victims and witnesses. She remains a patron of a charity that provides counselling for victims of crime. 

It was as PCC that Ann first came across the excellent and compassionate service  that ellenor Hospice gives to local people in North Kent and she took active steps on her retirement from the policing world to do what she could to help. She chairs the Property Committee, which oversees the governance arrangements around the exciting development that is about to take place at the hospice, to enable it to expand the range of support offered to those who need it.

Shaminder Bedi

Shaminder Bedi spent over 25 years of his career working in Social Services for Kent County Council specialising in developing Day centres for Older People. He has also served as Chairman for The Police Liaison Group, Executive member of the charity Mind and held a position on South East Arts Board. Shaminder is the Co-Founder and Ex Chairman of Jugnu Bhangra Group founded in 1970. Jugnu are Europe’s most established Bhangra group, performing all over the World and supporting the youth of Gravesham’s community.

In recognition for his services to the community, Shaminder was rewarded with an MBE on the Queens Honours list in 2005.

Karen Griffiths

Karen Griffiths is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner and has 40 years’ experience working in various hospital trusts and GP practices.

Karen currently works in a GP surgery where she works with GP’s, nurses and health care assistants to ensure that National Service Frameworks are being delivered. Karen works within a multi-disciplinary team within the Practice, and across the wider CCG, to promote integrated and seamless pathways of care.

Bryan Harris

After training as a journalist, Bryan moved into public relations for a commercial consultancy and then local government. In 1990 Bryan became a freelance editor, managing several newspapers for the Church of England, keeping very busy with just the one after semi-retiring.

Bryan is also a Reader (licensed lay minister) in the Church of England attached to St Peter’s Church, Ightham; a member and Past President of Swanley and North Downs Lions Club and a member of Darenth Valley 41 Club (ex-Round Tablers). 

Victoria Heath

After achieving her chartered accountancy qualifications with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Vicky has had a varied career within finance covering a number of different industries including charities, manufacturing, retail and construction.

As the current head of external reporting at Laing O'Rourke, Vicky is responsible for all compliance and guidance relating to new accounting standards, reporting to lender groups as well as managing a group wide audit reporting process.

Vanessa Jeans

Vanessa is Dartford born and bred.  Working as a biology and chemistry teacher at Dartford Girls Grammar School before retraining as a medical doctor, she has worked at Gravesend North Kent, Joyce Green, The Brook, Greenwich District and Stone House Hospitals, before becoming a GP partner at The Orchard Practice, West Hill, Dartford in 1991.

As part of that practice, for several years, she helped provide medical cover for in-patient care at ellenor.  After retiring in 2007 she started hosting annual ellenor Open Garden events and hopes to continue doing this.  She is also a long-standing member of the charitable organisation Dartford u3a, of which she is currently chairman.

Vanessa joined ellenor's Board of Trustees in November 2022 and is a member of ellenor's Care Committee.

Jess Kuller

Jess joined the Board of Trustees in May 2023 and is a member of the People Committee.

Peter Shotter

Peter is 65 and spent the last 22 years of his executive career in healthcare, with Boots the Chemists Ltd as Director of Healthcare Businesses and subsequently Director of Stores; and with Merck, as Managing Director of Seven Seas and then President/CEO of the global over-the-counter medicines Division, based in Germany. Since 2012, he has been non-executive Chairman of BioFilm Ltd, a Scottish B2B supplier of thin, dissolving film products.

Peter joined ellenor’s Board of Trustees in June 2019 and sits on the Finance and Investment Committee and the Voluntary and Income Generation Committee.

Nigel Springhall

Nigel has had a varied career in business. After graduating, he started work in in the Abbey National Building Society as a trainee manager in Liverpool in 1977 before becoming an Assistant Manager in St Helens, then Kirkby and finally Ipswich which was one of the largest Branches at that time.

Nigel joined IBM in 1986, working on designing, building, marketing and selling computer solutions to Banks, and Building Societies in the UK and Ireland. While at IBM Nigel won a prize for leading the campaign that led to the largest sale of AS 400 machines in Europe.

In 1993 Nigel Joined BT and worked in the international division for 10 years, in a role that included buying and selling companies for BT and developing its international partnerships in Europe and occasionally other parts of the world. In 2004 Nigel moved to the Mobile Phones part of BT Global Services and ended up running the UK Corporate Mobile business, providing Mobile services to a large business in the UK, looking after 100000 end users and responsible for the P&L. Nigel retired from BT in December 2014.

Outside of BT Nigel was a School Governor at Crook Log School for 8 years and he was a Non- Executive Director of Queen Mary’s Hospital Trust Sidcup from 2006 until 2009 when the Trust merged with the PRU Bromley and QE Woolwich to form the ill-fated South London trust. Nigel was also Chair of the Audit Committee from 2006 -2009.

Nigel was Treasurer of Dartford CAB from 2014 until its merger with NW Kent in 2017 and is currently Treasurer of Bexley CAB. Nigel is also a volunteer adviser at Swanley CAB.

Roger Wedderburn-Day

Roger is in his mid-50s and spent most of his working life as a solicitor with a major law firm based in London. His clients included governments, international organisations, major financial institutions and other leading companies around the world. Roger worked part time from 2011 to 2015 while writing a legal handbook and retired in 2015. Since then, Roger has sought to become more involved in the community and joined Knole Academy as a governor in September 2014 and ellenor in late 2016. 

As a retired lawyer, Roger has nearly 30 years’ experience of building up and managing a substantial legal practice and has worked with, analysed, described and investigated a wide range of businesses. His skills include the ability to assimilate and analyse large amounts of data, to identify problems and to find solutions. Roger is also a trustee of his firm’s charitable foundation and a volunteer with the Institute of Advanced Motoring.