Sally brings a wealth of professional and personal experience to the role of Chair. She began her career in retail finance and worked with the Arcadia Group for 13 years, where she became Finance Director for brands within the organisation, before moving to Marks & Spencer in 2012. Following the birth of her daughter, Sally re-trained as an executive coach. Alongside her career, Sally started as a trustee and co-chair for the Fertility Network, before becoming a trustee for RNID, where she has been part of their transformational strategy that’s seen them move from providing care homes to focusing on social change. Sally also brings her passion for fashion to a trustee role at the Fashion Retail Academy.

Ayesha is a Consultant in Public Health Medicine and Head of Population Health at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT). With over 20 years’ experience as a clinical and public health leader, she has worked at national and regional levels with government, the public and private sectors, leading major system changes to redesign NHS services, increase access to novel treatments, improve health outcomes and reduce inequalities.

Ayesha’s clinical background is in paediatrics. She is a Member of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health and has served as a member of the NICE Highly Specialised Technologies Committee.

At GSTT, Ayesha has established a brand new multidisciplinary Population Health team that uses data, evidence, evaluation and insight to work with clinical services to design more equitable, preventative, and person-centred health services.

Ayesha has a Masters in Clinical Education and is an experienced educational supervisor and mentor. She is deeply committed to developing the next generation of clinical leaders and embedding public health thinking into everyday clinical practice.

Darren Webb has nearly 20 years’ of experience in Financial Markets working for a number of international businesses. He currently works for the Bank of Montreal in London.

Despina joined the Board in 2016, having served as a committee member on the Finance and Retail committees for a number of years. Despina is a Chartered Management Accountant and has more than 30 years’ experience working for a number of FTSE100 companies. She has most recently worked in the Retail sector, and has experience across a number of other sectors including real estate, consumer goods and the airline industry.

Duncan is Chief Nursing Officer for England and an Executive/National Director at NHS England. He is also the National Director responsible for infection prevention and control.

Prior to his appointment, Duncan held the post of Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for England and led the maternity and neonatal programme and the children and young people’s transformation programme, as well as nursing workforce policy and infection prevention and control. He delivered the Nursing International Recruitment Programme, which ensured we met the 50k nurse commitment 6 months early, and the Healthcare Support Worker Recruitment Programme, which resulted in the highest number of healthcare support staff employed in the NHS on record.

Duncan has spent his entire career in nursing in the NHS and has held a variety of leadership and executive roles, including Executive Director of Nursing and Patient Experience at Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation where he led the successful development and implementation of the trust’s award-winning dementia strategy.

Duncan is passionate about improving patient care and experience, improving the population’s health, growing, developing and nurturing the workforce, and inspiring the next generation of nursing and midwifery professionals and leaders.

Fidelma has over 20 years’ experience in the non-profit world, starting at Help the Aged in an advertising role. She has worked at several charities including NSPCC, Rainbow Trust and KIDS and consulted for Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Leonard Cheshire.

With a background in Direct Marketing, she has also been a Director of the Institute of Direct Marketing and is a Trustee of Age UK Sutton. She joined the Board in 2023 and lives in Wimbledon.

Guy brings over two decades of senior leadership in the charity sector, most recently as Chief Operating Officer at Walk the Walk. His career spans large-scale fundraising, operational delivery, and digital transformation across some of the UK’s most ambitious charity programmes.

He is currently working as an AI Innovation consultant, helping charities harness technology to raise more money and operate more effectively. He is a passionate advocate for the practical application of AI within the third sector.

Heather is a recently retired GP with 35 years experience. Her practice was in Claygate where she worked closely with the Princess Alice Hospice on behalf of her patients.

Raja joined the Board in 2023.  Raja is an experienced finance leader with expertise in delivering high quality reporting, supporting business strategy and driving change.

As a qualified accountant, he began his career in the audit profession before moving into the Insurance Sector in various senior finance roles.  He is currently working at MS Amlin.  He lives in Surrey with his wife and daughter.

Ros has worked for more than 25 years in business-to-business events, focused on building and growing commercial events businesses running large international conferences on four continents. Ros’s experience ranges from research and content creation, to marketing, sales and operational delivery of events including their risk and compliance and has worked for privately held as well as FTSE250 companies. Ros has a son and a daughter and lives in Esher.

Sanjay Gulati is the CEO of Age UK Croydon, leading the local charity’s efforts in supporting older people. With over 16 years of experience in health, social care, and community services across the UK, Ireland, and Canada, he manages the organisation’s operations and strategic direction. Sanjay works extensively with SWL ICB, AUK SWL partners and is on the Network Committee of Age UK National. Sanjay is also a trustee with Whiteley Homes Trust and Whitgift Foundation.

Scott joined the Board in 2023 and has over 20 years experience within the Banking Sector as both a Finance and Business Transformation leader with expertise in strategic financial management and planning, supporting and enabling business strategy through transformational investment portfolio management and evaluation.

Scott currently works for NatWest Bank in London and is a qualified accountant. He lives in West Byfleet with his wife and two daughters.

Tim joined the Board in 2021. Tim is a solicitor and a partner at Simmons & Simmons LLP where he specialises in M&A and Private Equity. He was previously a trustee of Walton Charity and the RG Foundation. He has two children and lives in Walton-on-Thames.

The Finance and Resources Committee, chaired by Scott Thomson, is responsible for overseeing Hospice finances, investments, capital expenditure, estates and infrastructure, HR and volunteering and marketing and communications activity. It monitors performance against budget and forecast during the year, reviews and recommends to the Board the annual budget and financial strategy. It oversees the investment of the Hospice’s funds, recommending on the appointment of an investment manager and reviewing them annually.

The Clinical and Community Quality Assurance Committee, chaired by Heather Patel, is responsible for overseeing clinical strategy, education and research and community engagement and support. It provides assurance on the development, implementation, safety and effectiveness of the services delivered by the Hospice. It monitors activity, performance and risks against the annual business plan, raising issues to the Board where appropriate. It also oversees relationships with our health and social care partners regarding grants, contracts and service level agreements. The Committee monitors health and education policy and regulation and keeps the Board informed as appropriate.

The Income Generation Committee, chaired by Fidelma Hatton, oversees all income generation activities (except for NHS grants) including the Hospice’s retail portfolio. It reviews the development, implementation and effectiveness of fundraising and retail plans and strategies. It monitors compliance with all regulatory requirements impacting the Hospice’s income generation activities

The Remuneration and Nominations Committee, chaired by the Board Chair, has a membership of the Committee Chairs, the Vice-Chair of the Board, and is attended by the CEO and Company Secretary. It meets twice a year to consider the skill mix of the Trustees, Committee membership and succession planning. Once a year it reviews the performance of the SLT and the CEO and makes recommendations on their remuneration. The Committee also oversees the recruitment process for Trustees, Advisory Members and the CEO.

Nigel’s passion for charity started at university when he chaired the Raising and Giving (RAG) committee. 23 years later he has worked for national and international disability and health charities, developing and leading income generation and marketing programmes. He joined the Hospice as Fundraising Director in 2007, before becoming the Deputy Chief Executive leading on change delivery for the charity, as well as its digital transformation. After Nicki Shaw stepped down in December 2023, Nigel took on the interim role of Acting Chief Executive. He was appointed Chief Executive of Princess Alice Hospice in March 2024.

Outside of work Nigel enjoys learning more about social issues affecting communities and society in general, especially around health, education, work and skills. Nigel lives in Richmond with his husband and twin boys.

Emily had extensive experience and a proven track record working within palliative medicine for 20 years, as a consultant for 13 years, Medical Director at Woking Hospice for 4 years and most recently as our Deputy Medical Director.  Her specialism and interest within community care, research, frailty and transitional care will undoubtedly contribute to the ongoing delivery and evolution of our care and our overall success in the implementation of our strategy.

Lesley joined the team in April 2021. Lesley is a nurse by professional background and has held a number of leadership roles in the acute and community sectors, mostly in Hampshire although her first nursing role in England was just up the road in Ashford and St Peter’s.

Lesley has experience at director and executive director level in the NHS, undertaking Chief Nurse and Chief Operating Officer roles, before joining Princess Alice Hospice.

Lesley lives in Farnham, with her husband and 3 dogs.

Jane worked as a community palliative care Clinical Nurse Specialist in mid Wales before moving into education as a health care lecturer for Bangor University.

She has Masters degrees in Health Sciences and Professional Practice (Health and Social Care).

Having worked at Princess Alice Hospice since 2010 she is passionate about the power of education and research to support health and social care colleagues to improve the delivery of end of life care for all.

She lives in Hampshire with her husband and has two adult sons, one in South Wales and one in Birmingham.

James joined Princess Alice Hospice in 2025 as Director of Finance and Resources, bringing extensive expertise in financial leadership and operational strategy. A chartered accountant, qualified through Deloitte, he has 15 years of experience in the healthcare sector. With a background spanning both the private and not-for-profit sectors, he has a proven track record of driving efficiency, innovation, and sustainability across organisations.

Outside of work, James is kept busy with his two young daughters but enjoys staying active and getting out and about with the family.

After leaving Sheffield University, Fran spent 18 years in product marketing within the financial services and retail sectors, before making the move to Princess Alice Hospice in 2017. She has since held various roles in our Marketing & Communications and Fundraising Teams, joining the Senior Leadership Team in 2026.

Fran lives locally with her family and spends most of her free time trying to keep up with her two teenage sons.