Robert Banner OBE – Chairman
Robert is an Australian Chartered Accountant who has been a director and shareholder of a number of private companies in UK, Europe and the USA and is currently Deputy Chairman of a UK manufacturing company. He is a former trustee of Rethink Mental Illness and was Chair of its Board for 6 years. He has also served on the board of several other charities. He cares for a family member with mental illness and has direct personal experience of the issues relating to trust beneficiaries.
Angela Gillibrand – Director
After attending Oxford University, Angela joined a stockbrokers firm as an investment analyst. Following an MBA, she specialised in Finance and worked for Burmah Oil as a senior management accountant. At Cranfield University, she was the Finance Director for the contract to run the Army’s University at Shrivenham. Since 2003, she has combined several non-executive roles in the public and not for profit sectors with some charity trusteeships and a family farming and property business.
Barrie Gray – Director
Barrie cares for a close family member who has a mental illness so understands the needs of trust beneficiaries. He served in the Royal Air Force as a Senior Officer, is a Chartered Engineer by profession and has served on commercial Boards in the recent past. He now runs his own Consultancy Business. He joined the Boards of NSF Trustees Ltd and RTC Ltd in 2010.
Bryan Mills – Director
Bryan Mills is an entrepreneur and company director specialising in Information Technology. His degree is in law and economics. He has supported people with mental illness in his family and has also managed people with mental illness. He is passionate that people with mental illness, their carers, family and friends should get the right care and support.
Catherine Nile – Director
Catherine has first hand knowledge and experience of caring for someone who has a severe mental illness and a great understanding of the needs and problems of those who suffer in this way, and also of the issues and concerns from a carers perspective. After bringing up her family, she spent twenty years doing domestic conveyancing, working for a firm of solicitors in Bristol. For ten years she was a trustee of a charity that provided residential care for people with mental health problems. She has been a trustee of Bristol Quakers for several years.
Simon Wilkinson – Director
After a career as an Engineer Officer in the Royal Air Force, Simon joined the IT industry for a number of years. He is now a Senior Managing Partner in a consultancy firm working across many areas of IT. Simon’s youngest son has a genetic disorder that causes mental and physical problems. This means he needs 24/7 care. He joined the Boards of NSF Trustees Ltd and RTC Ltd to help other people who need long term support.
Mark West – Director
Mark practised as a solicitor in Bristol and London, and thereafter as a barrister in London from 1973. He specialised mainly in property but with early experience in other civil including family and crime. Recent experience has included some Court of Protection work. He has 25 years’ experience as a Recorder of the Crown Court. He is a CEDR qualified and practising mediator. Mark was a guardian of two family minors, and trustee of family trusts. He has experience of caring for someone with a mental illness.)
Tod Merson - Director
Tod managed a mixed farm in Somerset, before becoming an agricultural lawyer at the age of 40. He has been a trustee for several family trusts, as well as for a large estate in Devon. He now volunteers with the Farming Community Network, which supports farmers who find themselves in difficulty. This often involves mental health issues. He has experience of caring for someone with a mental illness.
