We employ staff who work for the charity, and make day-to-day decisions. We also have a board of trustees. These people oversee the charity and make sure the charity is doing what it should. The trustees decide the overall direction we go in, and then check that it is happening.

Here is a list of Trustees and staff, so you know who is responsible for what. Staff are always pleased to answer questions about their specific areas of responsibility. There is also an organisational chart showing some of our staff.

Trustees

 

Rodney Clark
Chairman of Trustees
Rodney was a founding trustee and was the Chief Executive of Sense for 25 years before retirement. He now undertakes freelance consultancy assignments within the voluntary sector supporting small charities with their development and is actively involved in a voluntary sector capacity with both deaf and deafblind charities, in the UK and overseas. Rodney has been a Trustee for 22 years and is hearing.


 

Richard Dunford
Vice Chair of Trustees
Richard works as a solicitor and brings a wealth of legal knowledge to the charity. He has been a Trustee for 10 years. Richard is deaf. 

 

Ann Ryan
Treasurer
Anne's background is in high finance making her eminently suitable as the guardian of the charity's funds. Ann is also a Director of the charity's trading company, SignTranslate. She has been a Trustee for 16 years and is hearing.

 

Nick Kitson
Nick is a Consultant Psychiatrist and was for many years the Clinical Director of National Deaf Service in London. He is the charity's medical advisor and was Clinical Advisor to the TEA Panel. He is actively involved in a number of NHS projects. He has been a Trustee for 16 years and is hearing.

 

Liz Wyatt
Liz is parent to a Deaf son and recently qualified as an interpreter. She has worked closely with the charity on a number of projects including the DH report Towards Equity and Access. Liz has been a Trustee for 7 years and is hearing.

 

Tyron Woolfe
Tyron works for NDCS as Deputy Director UK Services Children and Young People. He has a great deal of experience of research work and supports the charity's service delivery. Tyron has been a Trustee for 4 years and is deaf.

 

Monica Wyatt
Monica has been involved in the deaf world for many years and currently supports Deaf students at Reading University. Her background is in journalism. Monica became a Trustee in 2007 and is hearing.

 

Dr Manjit Gahir
Dr Gahir is a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist and Lead Consultant at Rampton's High Secure Deaf Service.  Dr Gahir has had involvement with SignHealth for some years through specialist Deaf services meetings and the TEA-funded Deaf prison In-reach project.  He has a strong drive for advocating for deaf patients.  He became a trustee of SignHealth in September 2008. Dr Gahir is hearing.

 

Philip Gerrard
Philip Gerrard is Chief Executive of Deaf Direct in Worcester, an organisation promoting independence and equality of opportunity for deaf people living in the area.   Philip is deaf and has a broad knowledge of D/deafness.  He is also involved as a trustee and co-founder of UK Deaf Sports and will be out in Taipei for the Deaf Olympics in September 2009.

 

John Kudlick
John Kudlick currently works as Director of Membership and Marketing at the Institute of Biology and has worked at the RNID as their Head of Membership.  John was involved in the RNID’s Access to Health campaign.  He brings many years of experience in marketing to SignHealth.

 

Cathy Heffernan
Cathy graduated from Trinity Dublin with a BA in History and Political Science and has worked for a number of publications in the intervening years.   She currently works as a sub-editor for the Guardian newspaper and still writes for the publication, often on deaf-related issues.

Cathy was on the steering committee for the Guardian's Diversity Week 2009 which aimed to educate staff on equality and diversity issues.  She was a member of the Irish Deaf Youth Association, working with deaf young people developing their confidence and leadership skills.

Cathy is deaf.


Staff

Steve Powell
Chief Executive
Steve has been in charge of the charity from the start. As well as leading SignHealth, Steve is personally overseeing the research programme and the commissioning project with the NHS as well as the charity's wider relationships with Government, health services and the deaf community.

Phil Murden
Managing Director, SignTranslate
Phil has been directing SignTranslate since April 2007 having worked with Steve Powell to develop the project. He is able to answer any questions about the system and its availability around the country.