Our Board of Trustees

 

Nigel Turner, Chair

Nigel became Chair of the board of trustees of Self Management UK in April 2021.

Nigel has been Chief Executive of charitable providers of social care services for people with enduring mental health conditions, people with learning disabilities and older people. Within the NHS, Nigel chaired a Mental Health Act managers committee and was a lay assessor with the National Clinical Assessment Service (now Practitioner Performance Advice). He has been Vice Chair of a local authority trading company which runs housing and social care services in a London borough.

Nigel is passionate about confronting health inequalities and ensuring that people, whatever their circumstances and wherever they live, have the best possible support to lead life to the full. He spent nine years as Vice Chair of a grant-making charity investing in local people’s ideas to make their area a great place to grow, live, work and age. By funding these projects in the most deprived areas of Great Britain, the charity has been able to influence the social determinants of health inequalities.

Throughout his career to date, Nigel has worked to the principle that each person should be involved in creating care and support that is built around them as an individual. This means that people should be in control of how their healthcare needs are met. It follows that they must be offered the knowledge and skills to manage those needs, and the support and encouragement to be motivated to do so. Nigel himself is encouraged by the emerging evidence that the work of Self Management UK not only leads to better outcomes for the people supported, but also reduces demand on NHS GP and hospital services – a true win-win result.

Nigel holds the Diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors, and is committed to high standards of governance in the charity sector. He has trekked many times to raise funds for a charity working with young people with cancer, and is a patron of Rambert dance company, and Sadler’s Wells theatre.

Erica Cassin, Trustee

Erica joined the Board of Trustees in April 2019. Throughout her career in HR, Erica has been responsible for introducing several employee wellbeing programmes, aimed at empowering and enabling people to manage their own health and wellbeing. Erica has been a champion for those with long-term conditions such as mental health, in the workplace. It is this passion for empowering people to manage their own health that led her to apply for the trustee position at Self Management UK.

Erica has a broad portfolio on NED roles across private, public and third sector organisations, and brings significant experience in leadership and management, strategy development, culture and performance development, as well as experience of corporate governance, compliance and risk management. Erica is a Fellow of the CIPD, holds a Post-Graduate Certificate in Business and Personal Coaching along with a degree in Industrial Economics.

Ava Gallagher, Trustee

Ava joined the Board of Self Management UK Limited in April 2022.

 

Ava is a qualified Chartered Secretary with over twelve years of experience in the administration services industry, dealing with clients across the Private Client, Corporate & Institutional and Alternative Investments sectors, including fund administration, operator and depositary services. She has a proven track record in; management and growth of client services teams; driving projects and managing change; development and implementation of strategies and key operating models; and, forging, developing and leading client relationships.

 

Ava is a member of both the Institute of Directors and Women on Boards. She hopes to use her experience and expertise gained in the private sector to benefit Self Management UK and further their fantastic work in supporting individuals with long-term health conditions to learn and utilise self-management techniques to gain a greater control on both their conditions and the day-to-day quality of their lives.

Eileen Irvin, Trustee

Eileen joined the Board of Trustees in April 2022. She is a social researcher, focussing on random probability patient experience surveys. These have included the GP Patient Survey (GPPS) and CQC’s National Patient Survey Programme. This work builds on her experience in the charity sector with healthcare professionals and health policy for charities such as Bliss, supporting babies in neonatal care and their families.

Temitope Moses, Trustee

Temitope Moses has worked in the public sector for more than eight years and has delivered project and public policy change in policing, education, housing and economic development. She has written Government business cases, administered grant funding and influenced policy decisions within London.

Temitope has been an active volunteer with a number of children and youth charities since 2018. She is passionate about supporting children and young people to reach their full potential. Temitope was an Independent Visitor for Action for Children where she mentored children and young people in care. More recently Temitope was a Freelance Children and young person Advocate for Action for Children, where she delivered advocacy services to promote and facilitate children participating in decisions made about their lives and futures.

Temitope also has lived experience of managing a long-term health condition and raises awareness about diseases prominent in Black and ethnic minority communities. She has led on fundraisers and educational initiatives with charities, hospitals and organisations.

Mary Newman, MA ACMA, Trustee

Mary is a consultant in the public sector, who has a special interest in criminal justice, local government and health.  She has worked in and with central government, Parliament and the NHS for over 20 years. She has helped develop statutory and quality management frameworks that support service delivery and improve clinical outcomes for people with specific challenges; and is expert in risk management, safeguarding and candour. She is also a trustee of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC). She lives in Cambridgeshire.

Our Senior Management Team

Ian Silver, Chief Executive

Our Chief Executive, Ian Silver, has over two decade of experience in the charitable and housing sector. Graduating in 2004 with a BSc (Hons) Health Sciences: Nutrition, Ian has worked closely with communities and organisations designing, developing and delivering innovative programmes and research projects addressing social equalities, particularly concerning health, environmental behaviours and employment in some of the most diverse and socio-economically deprived regions of the UK.

Taking a collaborative approach, Ian has worked with organisations throughout the UK, including Family Action, Age UK, East Thames Housing Group, DEFRA, Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food, NFAP (one of UK’s most influential sustainable food

programmes) and London 2012 in the design and delivery of London 2012 Olympic Games Legacy projects in London.

Ian joined in 2013 as Operations Manager and as Chief Executive brings a clear vision in realising the potential of Self Management UK in supporting more people living with long-term health conditions.

If you would like to know more about our work or discuss how we can work together, Ian can be contacted on email [email protected] or mobile 07500 039713.

Sarah Barker, Head of Sales & Marketing

Sarah joined Self Management UK in 2014 to oversee the organisation's transition to a charity.

With an LLB (hons) degree in Law and a post graduate qualification with the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Sarah's background is in commercial marketing and sales. She worked for the Caudwell Group for 10 years in both the UK and Hong Kong, setting up an office in the region in 1997. Her role as Executive Marketing Manager involved all product management and development, market analysis and through the line activities.

Sarah moved to Yale, part of the Assa Abloy group, in 2005 as EMEA Marketing Manager with responsibility for product, marketing and brand stretch activities across the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

2 years of caring for family coupled with running a local market-produce stall and contributing to a cookbook website saw Sarah move to London in 2012 and seek a new challenge.

Sarah's passion for fighting for the right care for people with long-term conditions comes from personal experience of family members. Her desire to improve their care pathways and ensure they receive personalised care is what drove her to accept the role with Self Management UK.

Our Operations Team

Our operations team consists of administrators, finance and IT, our contract managers and tutors.

Our teams are based across the country, both in locations close to where we are commissioned to deliver self-management services and remotely where we can deliver virtual courses via video platforms.

For more information on our team structure and how we couldn't operate without them, contact us.