Following recent spotlights on some staff and counsellors that make us who we are, we wanted to share with you some insight into some of the people that govern our charity, our trustees.
In this blog post we meet Ben Hingham our chair, Nick Heather, David Vail and Claire Stevens who tell us a bit more about themselves and their work at Sue Lambert Trust.
Ben Higham – Chair
I joined the Board of the Sue Lambert Trust in 2010 at the invitation of Sue Lambert and was elected chair in 2011, holding the position till 2018. In 2021 colleagues invited me to take up the role of Chair again as we seek to rebuild the SLT Board post-COVID and support the organisation into its next phase of development. Otherwise I am a full time musician and composer (my childhood passions and training) with very occasional forays into third sector consultancy and social research. Relevant experience for my role at SLT is founding Community Music East Ltd. (CME), a community education charity and social enterprise, in 1985 and where I was CEO until December 2009.
My business experience spans the commercial and not-for profit sectors and informs my expertise in the management areas of strategy, operations, finances and personnel. From 2006-14 I was Chair of the Board of Social Enterprise East of England Ltd. (SEEE), the organisation charged with developing the environment for social enterprise in the region. All my third sector roles involved dialogue and negotiation with local, regional and, sometimes, national politicians, authorities and agencies; strategic and political experiences that hopefully inform a realistic, and not too jaded, expectation of the kind of enthusiasm, investment and support for the work of SLT that we need now and for the future.
Nick Heather
After nearly 20 years working around the world in Banking I moved back to Norfolk and now work from home in Fintech. I joined the Board to help add to the Finance skills of the Trustees having had experience previously at a London based Charity. I have a strong connection with the story of the Trust and its work and am determined to help. In my spare time I likes to walk my 4 dogs, fine food, travel, meet with friends and to enjoy the Norfolk countryside.
David Vail
Five years ago, I moved to an old water mill on the edge of Norwich, with my Canadian wife Juju and two adult children. I am a Chartered Engineer and work for a small “green-tech” start-up company on the Cambridge Science Park designing electronic circuits. I am currently trying to make the world’s smallest laptop charger, while Juju is an artist and has written a number of craft books.
I spend much of my spare time maintaining the mill and manage the local village hall in Keswick. I have stood as a candidate for the South Norfolk Labour Party in local elections, enjoy attending the Norwich Speakers’ Club, am deputy Chair of the parish council and have encouraged the formation of a popular cold water swimming group based at the mill.
My neighbour asked me to apply to join the trustees. She was an SLT counsellor at the time and I think she felt my experience of looking after and maintaining buildings would be useful. In practice, I think my experience of working in small but growing organisations has been more relevant. It’s been a pleasure to be involved with SLT.
Claire Stevens
I was a police officer for 30 years, mostly in Thames Valley Police, retiring as a Detective Chief Superintendent. During my policing career, I was part of, then led, the force response to child abuse investigation, domestic abuse and serious sexual assault investigation and public protection (dealing with high risk offenders). I now provide consultancy support for higher education and other organisations.
I joined the Board of Trustees for SLT in January 2023 and am Co-chair of the Quality and Safeguarding Committee. I joined the Board as I have had a professional link throughout my working life with similar organisations and valued their essential support. I’m still learning about the Sue Lambert Trust but have been impressed by the dedication and skill of those who work there.
In my spare time I like to walk, fish and read. I also love food and cooking (which is why I do lots of walking!).
Interested in joining the board?
If you would like to join our trustees on the board and have skills you think could benefit our charity, find out more about getting involved here: https://www.suelamberttrust.org/vacancies/