The Citizens Advice service helps people resolve their legal, money and other problems by providing free, independent and confidential advice, and by influencing policymakers.
Every Citizens Advice Bureau is a registered charity reliant on trained volunteers and funds to provide these vital services for local communities.
Chair
John retired as Bishop of Chelmsford after a long career in the Church of England during which he always championed issues of justice and equality as they affect the most vulnerable people in our society and in the world.
As a member of House of Lords he has spoken often on the issues that affect CAB clients and, despite facing some personal attacks, has argued passionately against all forms of discrimination and has spoken in support of civil partnerships.
He has significant governance and voluntary sector experience from working at the grass roots with homeless people in Sheffield to chairing a major international development charity. In 2008 he stood down after eleven years as Chair of Christian Aid, which he led through a period of great change. He was the founding Chair of Traidcraft, which is now the largest fair trade social enterprise in the UK
Treasurer
Jonathan Tross was a career civil servant, working mainly on social policy issues. In the forerunners of DWP he dealt with the income related benefits and was in charge of the operational strategy and resource management at Board level. Brought in after its difficult start he spent two years as Chief Executive of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service till August 2004.
He is currently working for the Local Government Association. He is Chair of Governors of a diverse 1700 strong girls' secondary school in Tooting. He is Chair of the Performance Review and Audit Committee.
Gerald has been part of the CAB service for a long and his roles have included a term of office on the North West Regional Committee. Gerald is currently Chair of Bolton CAB
Sacha Deshmukh has over 15 years' experience in the media relations and political lobbying industry, spanning the private, public and voluntary sectors. He was part of the team that grew Mandate PR into one of the largest UK public affairs consultancies. He currently advises some of the UK's largest businesses on the management and development of their corporate reputations and has advised political parties and Ministers on the successful presentation of public policy.
John Devine is a journalist/commentator, is the chair of Citizens Advice Northern Ireland and is in his second term on the Trustee Board. He was bureau chief in Northern Ireland for Independent News and Media for 20 years covering the sectarian conflict and peace process years for a large part of that time he was chair of the management committee of Bangor bureau in Co. Down (now North Down)and a member of the executive committee and the board of Citizens Advice in Northern Ireland. Following a constitutional review he became chairman of the new Trustee Board in Belfast. In a previous life he was president of the National Union of Journalists and hon. general treasurer.
Details to be confirmed
Dr Annie Hedge is the joint founder and joint owner of Equality Works and set up the company with her partner, Jane Farrell, in 1992. Her primary role is to oversee product development and quality assurance. She was also the lead consultant on our work with Transport for London which led to them achieving Level 5 of the former Equality Standard for Local Government.
Craig is Operations Manager at Newport CAB, where he has worked for 11 years. Craig started in the Citizens Advice service as a volunteer. In his current role, he is responsible for delivery of a wide range of advice, casework and representation services.
Prior to joining the Citizens Advice service, Craig trained in accountancy and held a research post at the University of Glamorgan, Craig is chair of the Wales Social Policy Strategy Group and a member of the Court Board for South East Wales.
Craig has been appointed to the Trustee Board by the Equal Opportunities Committee.
Belinda Leathes is currently Deputy Chair of Merton CAB, having joined the service as a volunteer adviser in 1990. She became a member of their trustee board in 1999 and was Chair of Merton CAB from 2001 to 2005. Belinda has experience of both fundraising and organising events for a number of charities locally in Merton and has been on the Boards of an old people’s home, schools and on various fundraising committees.
David Livesey has been Chair of Cambridge and District Citizens Advice Bureau since September 2004.He is a Mental Health Act Manager for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust and was a trustee of the Bedford Charity from 2004 to 2009. .
In his professional life, as an academic, he is Vice-Master and a Life Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He was Secretary-General of the League of European Research Universities from 2005 to 2009. Previously, from 1992 to 2003, he was the Secretary General of the Faculties at the University of Cambridge, i.e. the University's principal adviser on academic policy. He spent the year 2000 on secondment as the initiating Cambridge Director of the Cambridge-MIT Institute. Prior to that, he taught economics in the Cambridge Engineering Department as part of their Management Studies Group, out of which grew the Judge Institute of Management Studies.
Jane has worked within the Citizens Advice service since 2000 when she became Chairman of the Buckingham Winslow and District CAB. Her previous career included 15 years at the University of London, four years as Secretary General at the Law Society, as well as four years as Chair of Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority.
Jane is elected to the Trustee Board by CAB in the South East region, she is also Chief Executive of the Comparative Clinical Science Foundation which encourages the sharing of health research between doctors and veterinarians, represents Citizens Advice on the board of the Gangmasters’ Licensing Authority and is also its vice chairman and chairman of its Audit and Risk Committee.
Martin Mosley worked for Barclays for 35 years before his retirement in 2006. During his varied career, Martin held a number of key posts including Operations Director for Wales, Deputy Managing Director of Barclays Life Assurance Company and Head of Service Development for Retail Banking. In his last role at the bank, as Consumer and Community Affairs Director, Martin was responsible for issues such as money advice, financial inclusion, corporate social responsibility, implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act and charitable support. He was also responsible for Barclays' financial support to the Citizens Advice service.
Since leaving Barclays, Martin has built up a small portfolio of appointments with several charities, including The Passage which helps homeless people from its base in Victoria and Charity Bank where he is a Director and sits on the Credit Committee. He is also a school governor
Details to be confirmed
Gordon Pankhurst started at the bottom as a trainee Computer Programmer in the late 1960’s after joining GPO Telephones in London. He moved to Wales in 1978, when BT opened its Systems Development Unit in Cardiff. He survived privatisation in 1984 and subsequently became Deputy Head of the unit as it grew to some 500 people. In the 1990s as a member of the company’s Senior Management Group, he took on a UK wide role leading large scale Systems Development Programmes covering a range of Business functions from Sales and Marketing to Motor Transport Fleet Management.
After taking early retirement in 1998, he started at the bottom again as a trainee CAB Volunteer Advisor, became Volunteer rep at the Bureau Trustee Board, and later a Trustee. He joined the National Committee of Citizens Advice Cymru in 2001, and is currently a Trustee of Caerphilly County CAB.
His other interests include growing orchids, and fruit and vegetables.
Steve has been involved in the CAB service since 1996. He was a volunteer with East Dorset CAB, developing and supporting the bureau's IT infrastructure as well as advising on strategic business development and funding. Steve has also worked for Citizens Advice as a CABnet Adviser and CASE Implementation Adviser.
From 2005 to 2006, before moving to the Midlands, Steve was the Citizens Advice trustee elected by bureaux in the South West. In that role Steve also served on the Equal Opportunities Committee and the Rural Bureaux Network Steering Group. He was elected as the Midlands Regional trustee in 2007, and is a member of the Performance Review and Audit Committee. Locally Steve is a trustee of South Kesteven CAB, Lincolnshire.
Details to be confirmed
