Trustees and patrons

Sara Thornton was the UK’s Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and previously the first Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council. She is currently Rights Lab Professor of Practice in modern slavery policy at Nottingham University.

Sara joined the Metropolitan Police Service in 1986 working in operational postings in West London and strategic roles within New Scotland Yard. She served with Thames Valley Police as Chief Constable for eight years until March 2015 and has also been Chair of ACPO Intelligence Portfolio, Vice-Chair of ACPO Terrorism and Allied Matters, Director of the Police National Assessment Centre and ACPO Vice-President.

Sara is a member of the Royal College of Defence Studies, the Advisory Board for the Oxford University Centre for Criminology and the International Advisory Board for the Cambridge Executive Police Programme. She has also been recognised with a Career Achievement Award from the Police Training Authority Trustees and the Sir Robert Peel Medal for Outstanding Leadership in Evidence-Based Policing.

Mary Calam is an external advisor and self-employed consultant at McKinsey & Company, providing expertise and advice in areas of crime, policing and national security. She has a significant range of experience from across both public and private sectors and has held senior positions within the Home Office for several years.

Navnit Dholakia is Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. He is also President of the National Association for Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO), Vice-Chairman of the Policy Research Institute on Aging and Ethnicity, Vice President of the Mental Health Foundation and a member of both the House of Lords Appointments Commission and the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments.

He has previously held appointments with the Commission for Racial Equality and the Police Complaints Authority.

Nick Fyfe is the founding director of the Scottish Institute for Policing Research, a strategic collaboration between Scotland’s Universities and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland. He is also Professor of Human Geography at the University of Dundee, Fellow of the Scottish Police College, and co-chair of the Police Working Group of the European Society of Criminology. His research on policing spans a range of areas including work on community engagement, witness protection, wildlife crime, and missing persons investigations. From 2008 to 2009 he was Special Adviser to the Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament for their enquiries into community policing and the effective use of police resources.

Sir David is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and was knighted in 1993 for services to Charity.

Following a career advising International Banks and Governments, David founded Minerva Plc in 1989, taking it public in 1996 as Chairman until his retirement in 2005. Since then David has focused his energies on supporting children’s charities both through the Garrard Education Trust and personally. Amongst other positions he has held and holds is Co-Chairman of Trustees of the International Centre for Child Studies; Counsellor and Director of the Business Division of the Prince’s Trust; Director and Trustee of Community Security Trust; Patron of Lifeline4Kids and Member of the Development Advisory Council of the University of Birmingham.

In 2003 David sponsored and developed the first new ‘all through’ seat of learning – the ‘flagship’ of the City Academy Programme, Bexley Business Academy for disadvantaged, deprived and special needs children, currently housing over 1600 pupils.

Martin Innes is Director of the Crime and Security Research Institute at the University Cardiff and Director of the Universities’ Police Science Institute. His work has been influential across the academic, policy and practice communities in the UK and globally.

Stephen Rimmer has been an independent Non-Executive Director of the Sandwell Children’s Trust since 2017, and was a Director of Barnardo’s UK until November 2019. He was previously responsible for a range of civil service, police and criminal justice roles – including five years as Director General of the Crime and Policing Group at the Home Office, two periods on the executive Board of the Metropolitan Police, and as the Governor of Wandsworth and Gartree Prisons. Stephen has been deeply involved in public service, police and criminal justice reform at both strategic and operational levels.

Hugh Sherriffe has been Director of Children’s Services for Barnardo’s since 2013. He is currently Director for Central Region which was formed in 2019 where he oversees approximately 80 services with an annual budget of £31 million. Within Barnardo’s Hugh is the Lead Director for People and Culture Strategy, Volunteering as well as Children in and Leaving Care. Hugh has been involved in many projects and initiatives involving vulnerable young people, initiating strategic management systems, winning contracts and establishing projects quickly and efficiently. Hugh has a passion for equity and equality, and is currently an equality diversity and inclusion scrutineer for a Local Authority children’s trust. Starting in electronic engineering, Hugh is youth and community work qualified, has a degree in community education, a level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and a Prince 2 Foundation qualification in project management.

Andrew Tivey is the Chair of Victim Support, the UK’s leading independent charity which supports victims of crime. He oversees the governance, strategy, financial management and performance of the charity. Andrew is also an non-executive Director at the National Crime Agency.

He is a chartered accountant and experienced board level advisor to a wide range of international organisations and government agencies. Andrew has a career background in finance, strategy, business transformation and change programmes.

John Wheeler is Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London.

Formerly Deputy Secretary of State, Northern Ireland Office, John was knighted in 1993. Prior to his appointment he served as a Member of Parliament 1979 to 1997. He has also held positions as Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, Chairman of the British Security Industry Association Inspectorate and Chairman of the National Criminal Intelligence Service and National Crime Squad. Since leaving parliament John has been Chairman of the Government Review into Airport Security and policing within the UK and headed a review into Airport Security and Policing for the Australian Government in 2005.