After a professional lifetime in law, and with wide experience in a range of non-executive director, chair, and trustee roles, George’s experience of the challenges that face people with mental ill-health in both his working and family life drives his interest and commitment to mental health and wellbeing. 

As well as chairing Bridge Support, George is a trustee of Careif, an international mental health charity that works towards increasing awareness of mental health conditions and the mental health of everyone across all countries and cultures. 

A member of Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, George is a long-term supporter of several other mental health charities, and served six years as a public governor of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

Sarah is a freelance communications consultant and has held a variety communications and marketing roles, primarily in the transport and energy sectors.

She also has fifteen years’ experience of providing mental health services at a Southwark-based charity aimed at young adults (15-25 years).

Working with a number of different organisations has given Sarah an understanding of the importance of accountability and governance and she’s pleased to be able to extend her skills while in the role of Trustee to Bridge Support.

Dave has been involved in creating a number of Local Authority companies, a Housing Association and a Leisure Trust.

Dave was a school governor for 25 of the last 27 years, and vice-chair of Governors and chair of the Curriculum Committee. He is a member of The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and accountancy CIPFA.

As a Senior Manager in a large public sector organisation, Dave has a wealth of experience which he brings to Bridge as a Trustee, along with his experience in applying good governance as essential for increasing value for money from services. He wishes to assist Bridge as a Trustee to continue to meet care needs and help make a difference to individuals’ lives.

Nicola Williams is a part-time Crown Court Judge, author and NED/Board member. She has been listed as one of the 100 most influential Black people in the UK.  

After a successful career in private practice at the Bar (including as a legal commentator on the OJ Simpson verdict) she served as an Ombudsman both in the UK and internationally, including as a Commissioner at the Independent Police Complaints Commission and as the Complaints Commissioner of the Cayman Islands. She was the first Service Complaints Onbudsnan for H.M. Armed Forces, one of the most senior women and the most senior Black person in UK Defence. 

As well as her Trustee role at Bridge, Nicola is also Chair of the Independent Complaints Panel for the Portman Group, and Chair of the Disciplinary Committee and a Regulatory Board Member of the IFoA. 

It is this experience in governance and accountability as well as concern for and awareness of mental health issues, particularly where they interface with the criminal justice system, that she brings to her role as a Bridge trustee. 

Beez is the founder of Work FA. Work FA creates accessible spaces, places and organisations. They use User Research, Systems Thinking and Service Design to look at services through an Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB) lens in order to improve accessibility.

Beez is a human-centred designer and programmer by trade. He is passionate about the role of design and digital in supporting social and environmental change.

He is the author of the Radical Impact Canvas and regularly delivers workshops and talks to charities, social enterprises and social purpose organisations on using Design Thinking to scale impact.

Beez has a particular interest in working with Bridge as poor mental health has had a direct effect on his family. He much enjoys working with Bridge as a trustee providing governance advice, supporting the charity’s strategic aims and staff wellbeing.

Deborah has spent the last fifteen years in the Public and Charitable sector for Fostering, Local Authorities, Housing, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and now the NHS. She is now looking to be empowered and add value as a Trustee to Bridge.

Working at a Strategic level, Deborah can add value by drawing on her experience and knowledge to date. She has trained and coached many Board members and Trustees over the years which adds to her valuable insight. As a manager, she sets targets for her teams and works with them to ensure that we meet the agreed outcome and allow for creative thinking and different viewpoints.

By joining Bridge, Deborah wishes to raise the profile of mental health and wellbeing as an important issue and add her support to this sector.