Trustees and Ambassadors

Kidz Board
The Kidz Board is our primary group of young representatives who are all beneficiaries of the charity and representative of the key regions in the UK. They are actively involved in the charity’s work and campaign to raise awareness of the importance of mobility and related issues affecting their lives.

  • Katie Mobbs (Chair)
  • Rebecca Farren (Vice Chair)
  • Ryan Thompson (Secretary)
  • Summer Almond
  • Milo Pissaro
  • Kieran Johnstone
  • George Fielding
  • Harri Jenkins
  • Nathan Giles
  • Chloe Gregory

In addition to the Kidz Board we also have a growing UK network of over 200 young people who represent the charity locally and again are actively involved in supporting the charity’s work.


Trustees


Ambassadors

Trustees

David Reid, CA

David Reid was appointed Chairman of Tesco PLC on 2 April 2004.

He joined Tesco in 1985 and later that year was appointed Finance Director of Tesco PLC. From June 1996 to December 2003, David Reid was Deputy Chairman with responsibility for International Operations in Central Europe, Asia and the Republic of Ireland; and also Business Development and Strategic Planning.

He is a Non Executive Director of Reed Elsevier Group plc and the Chairman of the Kwik-Fit Group Ltd. He is also Chairman of SIBAC (Seoul International Business Advisory Council) and a member of IBLAC (International Business Leaders Advisory Council for Shanghai)

David is also Patron of the charity, Caravan and Chairman of the Tesco Charity Trust and Chairman of Whizz-Kidz.

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Brendan Osborne

Brendan is currently Managing Director of “Home Grown”, providing consultancy services to all NHS Sectors. He has over thirty years of NHS experience and was previously Chief Executive of Colchester Primary Care Trust. Prior to this Brendan was Chairman of Mid Anglia Cancer Network and Chief Executive of Learning Disabilities for North Essex Population.

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Dr Sue Proctor

Sue is the Director of Nursing and Patient Care at Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority. This post combines a clinical leadership role with strategic development in a broader agenda to improve health and social care delivery through partnership working. Sue leads on services for children and young people; mental health and older people; reducing health care associated infection; improving patients’ and public involvement in health care; economic partnerships and research and development. Sue has recently been on secondment to the DH as Acting Deputy CNO with a lead on public health nursing issues. Prior to this role, Sue worked in West Yorkshire SHA, and in other Health Authority, PCT and academic roles in Yorkshire and London. She has an MSc in Nursing and a PhD in Health Services Research and is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Huddersfield.

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Alison Reed

Alison was most recently Group Finance Director of Standard Life Plc, where she was responsible for floating the company on the London Stock Exchange. Prior to that she was Group Finance Director of Marks & Spencer Plc. She is a Non-Executive Director of British Airways Plc and was previously a Non-Executive Director of HSBC Bank Plc. Prior to joining Whizz-Kidz, she was a trustee for BBC Children in Need for six years.

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Peter Scott

Peter is Managing Director of Medicentre Developments Plc and Chairman of Medibureau – Healthcare Management Solutions. Co-founder and former Chairman of Hemmington Scott, the financial publisher and information provider.

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Andrew Granger

Andrew read law at Cambridge University and has specialised in employment law since qualifying as a solicitor and joining Taylor Wessing in 1985. He was made a partner in 1991 and, in 1996, he set up the Employment and Pensions Department.

Andrew’s employment law practice now covers many areas of UK and international business. Andrew acts primarily for companies and institutions but he also handles a wide range of work for individuals – particularly senior employees and partners – a field in which he has established a noteworthy reputation over the past 20 years. Andrew handles all types of employment law work and tackles a wide range of human resource issues.

Andrew has a long standing interest in disability issues, having been a trustee of DARE, the charity which helps employees with disabilities, from 2000 to 2008.

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Simon Burne

Simon joined THINK Consulting Solutions from Action for Kids (formerly NCH) where he was Director of Marketing and Fundraising.  Before that, he was Director of Fundraising and Communications at Acorns Children’s Hospice, where he had overall responsibility for fundraising and marketing, doubling income in three years.  He has been involved in voluntary sector management, fundraising, strategy and marketing for fourteen years, first at Intermediate Technology and, subsequently, at The Children’s Society. 

Simon is qualified in both Business Studies and Development Economics and has worked not only in the UK but also in Papua New Guinea, Peru, Guatemala, Mali, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal and Thailand. 

From 2002 to 2005, Simon was Chair of the UK Institute of Fundraising and has written and talked extensively on marketing, PR and fundraising issues. 

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Dr Hilary Cass

Dr Hilary Cass is Consultant in Paediatric Disability at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

After qualifying at Royal Free Hospital, London in 1982, she trained as a general paediatrician, and then went on to develop her higher specialist training in the field of disability.  Over a 15 year period she was Consultant in Paediatric Disability at Great Ormond Street Hospital, where she also held a number of senior management roles including Director of Postgraduate Medical Education and Deputy Medical Director.

She has carried several regional and national roles in medical education and policy development, including Regional Adviser for the RCPCH (North Central London), Registrar of the RCPCH, and Head of School of Paediatrics for London. Most recently, she has been extensively involved with DH and several regional and national bodies in developing new models of integrated paediatric care, and has helped inform NHS London’s plans for the development of the children’s healthcare workforce

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Steve John

Steve joined Bupa in June 2009 as Group Director of Corporate Affairs.  His areas of responsibility are corporate communications, media relations, public and government affairs. 

Before joining Bupa, Steve was the Director of Corporate Affairs at PepsiCo in the UK, one of the world’s leading food and drinks businesses, where he led the company’s external facing activity.  Before that he ran the media relations and government affairs practice of DLA Piper, the global law firm, advising a large number of blue chip companies, public bodies, trade associations and foreign governments.  Steve holds a PhD in political science from the LSE.

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Adrian Pitts

Adrian is a founding partner of Lydian Asset Management, a global hedge fund specialising in convertible bonds and credit. He manages international trading activities and is based in the London office. Until July 1999, Adrian was a managing director at Bankers Trust, an American investment bank. He held various trading-related roles at Bankers Trust including managing the risk and distribution of international convertibles in Hong Kong (1997-1999) and London (1995-1997); senior trader of the International Convertible Bond Arbitrage Group (1992-1995); and equity derivatives (1990-1992).

Adrian was awarded a BSc (Hons.) in Banking and International Finance from the City University Business School, London, in 1989.  He is married with three children.

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Paul Weinberger

Paul is a partner of The Red Brick Road Company which he co-founded in 2006 after working at
Lowe Howard-Spink since 1984 as a Creative Director and, eventually, Chairman.

Paul holds a degree in social anthropology from the London School of Economics

He quotes the highlight of his career as working with Tesco for 21 years.

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Ambassadors

Charlotte Grobien

After graduating with a degree in Business Studies, Charlotte joined British Airways and followed a career in Marketing, Management and Sales Promotion. She then spent two years in the European Commission in Brussels returning to London to work in conferences, exhibitions, events and corporate communications. Charlotte became involved in voluntary work in Wandsworth organising the Borough’s Young Enterprise initiative in schools and running an education business programme in Wandsworth prison.

After a successful domestic building project Charlotte decided to look at property development as a way of making money with the sole purpose of “giving it away.” Charlotte formed the company “Give it Away Ltd” in 2006 undertaking to build three new houses from scratch. The final profits were in excess of £700,000 and this money was given to local charities involved in the care, help and welfare of children and young people who do not receive Government funding.

Charlotte was delighted to include Whizz-Kidz in this project and provided powered wheelchairs for a significant number of children. Charlotte remains actively involved in the work of the charity and the welfare of its beneficiaries.

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Bob Wigley – Business Ambassador

Bob is a member of the Court of the Bank of England, a member of its Audit and Risk Policy Committee and a Non-Executive Director of LCH.Clearnet and of Euroclear PLC. He is Deputy Chairman of Business in the Community (the UK corporate social responsibility organisation) and Chairman of BITC’s Education Leadership Team.

He is a member of the Senior Practitioner Commitee of the Financial Services Authority, a member of the Chairman’s Comittee of the London Investment Banking Association, a member of the panel of Takeovers and Mergers, a member of the Chancellor’s “wise men” group, representing key financial stakeholders in London, the EU Advisory Board of the London Corporation, the Advisory Council of Buisiness for New Europe and Chairman of Oxford University’s Centre for Corporate Reputation.

Formerly the Chairman of Europe, Middle East and Africa at Merrill Lynch, he chaired their EMEA Region Management Commitee and sat on Merrill Lynch’s Global Operating Committee and Client Coverage Council.

He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and is a member of the Court of the Guild of International Bankers. He is Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and has a business degree from Bath University, He is married with three children.

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Mike Hammond – Business Ambassador

Mike is the Executive Chairman of Lockton International, the largest privately held, global insurance broking and risk management consulting firm, based in London. Lockton International’s operations span UK and Europe, Latin America, Middle East and Asia.

Mike began his insurance career with Sedgwick UK in October 1980, having previously obtained a BA (hons) Economics from the University of East Anglia in Norwich. At Marsh he held several senior executive and board positions including: responsibility for Marine, Energy, Aviation and Finpro; CEO of the UK and Ireland Retail businesses; he was previously a member of the European Board of Sedgwick’s Corporate Risk Solutions business. He also led the formation of Sedgwick Global (North America).

Mike has also held positions at Alexander Forbes; on the Group Executive Committee of Jardine Lloyd Thompson plc; as CEO of JLT Risk Solutions; and on the Board of Jardine Lloyd Thompson plc.

Mike is married to Gwen and has two children.

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Michael Sanzone – Business Ambassador

Michael Sanzone is a Managing Director within financial sponsor coverage at RBS, one of the largest financial institutions in the world. Michael is responsible for originating and supporting the execution of leveraged and structured finance, merger and acquisition (“M&A”) advisory, equity capital markets, and debt capital markets transactions for private equity firms and their respective portfolio companies.

Michael has over 15 years investment banking experience, and has advised on over 40 M&A transactions worth in excess of USD 60bn, and has assisted clients raise over USD 100bn in the equity and debt capital markets in more than 80 transactions. Prior to joining RBS, Michael was an investment banker covering the global media sector at Lehman Brothers in London. Michael also previously worked within the Media team at Deutsche Bank in London and at Deutsche Bank Alex Brown in New York. Michael graduated with Honours from Dartmouth College.

Michael has dual American-British citizenship, and is married to a British citizen.

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David Francis – Business Ambassador

David is a management consultant with over 20 years experience consulting to the Health Care and Life Science sectors around the world. Previously a Partner with Accenture the Global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, now an independent consultant, David began his career in 1990 having completed a BSc in Computer Science from Exeter University. He has worked with many of the top 10 Pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, GSK, AstraZeneca, J&J, Takeda as well as both private and NHS healthcare provider organisations guiding and supporting major organisational change initiatives.

Throughout his career David has also taken an active interest in advising 3rd Sector organisations within the Health and Social Care environment including Whizz Kidz, Macmillan Cancer Support.

David has 3 boys and is married to Antonia.

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