Our people

Stephen has been our Chair of Trustees since August 2017.  

Stephen has wide experience in improving health and care systems in the UK and internationally. He’s an experienced charity trustee and non-executive director in health and commercial organisations, and has a particular interest in aphasia and stroke from family experience. Previously, he served 23 years as an executive director at the Royal National Institute of Blind People and 12 years as a trustee at Sightsavers International. 

Stephen is also chair of IC24, which provided urgent care services to 7 million people, audit chair of NHS West Essex and a trustee of two large pension schemes.

Trustee from July 2014

Martin James is a Consultant Stroke Physician at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Exeter, and Associate Professor at the University of Exeter Medical School. He trained in Southampton, and he completed his research in hypertension in the elderly with Professor John Potter and the late Professor John Swales in Leicester. 

He has led the Stroke Service at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Exeter since 1997. The service was awarded NHS Beacon status in 2000 and Exeter was one of the first UK centres to introduce emergency thrombolysis for acute stroke in 2003. 

Martin is an Associate Director of the Stroke Programme at the Royal College of Physicians of London with responsibility for the national Peer Review Scheme for Stroke Services, and a member of the Intercollegiate Stroke Working Party responsible for the Stroke National Audit Programme and the RCP National Clinical Guideline for Stroke 2012. He is a Past-President of the British Association of Stroke Physicians.

Trustee from September 2018

David worked as a GP in Woodley Berkshire for 30 years. In 1995, he was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of General Practitioners. He later became senior partner and was a GP trainer for many years. In 2000, he joined the local Primary Care Trust Board and that decision started a long career of clinical leadership and then medical management.

Having been a Medical Director for an NHS Primary Care Trust and then a Commissioning Support Unit, David was appointed Medical Director to Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group in spring 2015. In early 2018, David chose to retire from his clinical and executive roles to concentrate on his non-executive and trustee interests.

David was appointed a non-executive for Berkshire Healthcare Foundation NHS Trust in 2015 and he remains on the mental health and community trust board. In September 2018, he became an associate non-executive director for East and North NHS Hertfordshire Hospital Trust.

David has been a member of the Society for the Assistance of Medical Families for nearly 30 years and early this year he was voted president of the charity.

David believes that his clinical understanding of how stroke affects people and his knowledge of primary care and the wider NHS will help strengthen and develop the Stroke Association for the benefit of those in need.

Trustee from September 2018

Katherine Gillespie is currently studying on a part-time Masters Programme in International Development at Edinburgh University.

Katherine has over 15 years’ management experience in the investment banking and commercial training sectors. During this time, she was involved in establishing, and subsequently managed, the Operations team for a new bank based in Dublin, bringing experience of start-ups and setting up internal businesses.

She has extensive experience in service delivery; risk management; building and improving processes and controls for new and existing businesses lines; coordinating groups of people across different functions; and restructuring and developing teams. Katherine had a stroke in 2013.

Trustee from September 2018

Prior to setting up his own business Expense Reduction Analysts (ERA) in 2017 helping organisations to improve cash flows through effective procurement and supplier management, Harvinder Rattan’s career spanned over 25 years in Financial Services, the last 10 years at HSBC. 

He is an energetic business leader and trusted partner, leading finance teams in London and India. He is a change leader with excellent people skills combined with strong commercial acumen and a consistent ability to identify and deliver process and system efficiencies. As Head of Regulatory Reporting for Europe and working at HSBCs Global Finance Shared Service Centre in India, he led large teams to centralize capital and operational risk reporting for multiple regions and businesses.

He created and maintained high-performing function that consistently delivered best-in-class operational performance with capacity to design and execute complex, controlled processes. He also recruited, developed and motivated teams and ensured team skills evolve to match business needs. Harvinder led engagements across functions and geographies in complex global organizations to align organizational structures and systems.

Harvinder is a qualified accountant with excellent technical and financial analysis skills, and uses his experience to rapidly identify challenges and priorities in business support functions. He has driven delivery of change improvements in control, accuracy, efficiency and levels of service through design and implementation of solutions tailored to evolving needs.

Trustee from September 2018

Ed is the Chief Digital and Information Officer for the London Boroughs of Camden, Haringey and Islington (450 staff and an operating budget of circa £45m). Member of the Digital Steering Board for the North Central London Strategic Transformation Programme.

Previous roles include:

• Group Chief Information Officer, Tri-Borough.
• CIO, Lambeth.
• BA programme management role – online travel booking.
• Background in consulting on systems analysis and development in finance and Gove/public sectors.

This experience has covered both IT infrastructure/architecture/systems AND digital transformation and creative approaches e.g. Digital and ICT enable opportunities for sharing information and awareness-raising – both crucial in developing a better understanding of how to prevent and deal with strokes. He is involved in lots of NHS projects and sits on the digital board for health in North London, dealing with care and wellbeing in a community setting and insight into local authority, health care and commissioning.

He sponsored a year-long ‘proof of concept’ project to consider how we can use data, and to understand the implications of data sharing, working across local government, public health and the NHS.

Trustee from June 2019.

Ian is a chartered accountant with extensive experience in public accounting and auditing, and board and audit committee work in the private, public health and charity sectors.

He is a trustee and chair of the audit committee at Erskine Hospital and a trustee of the Endrick Trust. He has recently been vice-chair and a member of the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board, and a non-executive director and chair of the audit committee at Ricardo plc and a member of the audit committee at the Student loans company. He was previously a non-executive director and chair of the audit committee at Clyde Process Solutions plc.

He was a senior audit partner of Ernst and Young with senior client service roles with a wide variety of listed companies, large private companies and universities. He has had various EY management roles and was a member of the UK governing council. He has been convener of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland’s audit and assurance committee, summer conference committee and a member of the accounting standards committee.

His personal interests include skiing, sailing, tennis, French language and opera.

Avril Drummond is a Professor of Healthcare Research in the School of Health Sciences, University of Nottingham. She is an occupational therapist with a longstanding clinical and academic interest in the rehabilitation of people with stroke and has published widely on clinical services and specific rehabilitation interventions.

Avril is a past Chair of the UK Stroke Forum, a member of the Royal College of Physicians Intercollegiate Working Party for Stroke (which produce the clinical guidelines for stroke care in the UK and Ireland), Fellow of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, and currently chairs the Scientific Committee for the European Life after Stroke Conference. Avril is Editor-in-Chief of ‘Clinical Rehabilitation’ which is a highly ranked, multi-professional journal.

As a trustee of the Stroke Association, Avril is keenly interested in issues relating to both rehabilitation and research.

Ceri has 25 years’ experience working in the third sector and with healthcare systems across the UK; in consultant, executive and non-executive roles. She is currently a management consultant supporting third sector organisations in strategic and transformational projects.

Ceri, who is based in Cardiff, will also take on the role of Chair of the Stroke Association’s Wales Advisory Committee, working closely with the charity’s senior leadership team in Wales.

Ceri said, “It’s a privilege to take on this role with the Stroke Association at what is a pivotal time for stroke in Wales; with the imminent end of the Government’s Stroke Delivery Plan and the upcoming appointment of a new Wales Clinical Lead on Stroke.

The Covid pandemic has had a huge impact on stroke survivors’ recoveries and wellbeing, and I look forward to supporting the charity as it holds the Government and health systems to account as we recover from Covid and beyond.”

George was born in Canada and became a British citizen in 2003. His financial career has involved senior management positions at alternative investment companies (Brevan Howard, Cheyne Capital) and investment banks (Societe Generale, Nomura).

He earned an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of British Columbia and an MBA in Finance (Beta Gamma Sigma honours) from the University of Denver. He was Chairman of the CFA Society of the UK and is a former member of the Board of Governors of CFA Institute. He is a Trustee at The Tapscott Learning Trust and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee.  

In recognition of his contributions to the investment profession, he was made a Fellow of the Society of Investment Professionals (FSIP) by the CFA Society of the UK.

George has two daughters, Raine and Alexandra. His interests include reading, travelling, chess, ice hockey and baseball.

Andrew is Commercial Director at the MDU, a medical and dental mutual dedicated to supporting clinical professionals in the medico-legal sphere. He's responsible for leading the organisation's strategy, product development and sales and marketing. Prior to joining the MDU, he worked in senior customer experience, marketing and operational roles across a diverse range of industries, including finance, healthcare and travel.

Andrew’s greatest strengths are his creativity, drive and leadership. He thrives on the challenge of bringing an 'outside-in' approach to traditional organisations and is passionate about how organisations can use digital and data technologies to provide rewarding experiences to customers and colleagues.

Andrew is an active volunteer and dedicated to supporting his community. He's the head coach for the girl's section at Matlock Juniors Rugby Club and was a Non-Executive Director for Ashgate Hospicecare, north-east Derbyshire’s largest end-of-life care provider, for six years.

Formerly an Independent Advisor to the Audit & Risk Committee since October 2021, Hannah (she/her) joined the Board as a Trustee and Chair of Audit and Risk Committee in June 2022.

Hannah is a partner and Head of the Not-for-Profit sector at RSM, one of the leading global accounting firms, working with local and national charities and educational institutions. She advises on assurance, financial reporting and governance. Hannah sits on RSM’s Partnership Council, looking out for partner wellbeing.

Hannah is also an executive sponsor for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and chairs the Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group for RSM, joining the Stroke Association Board with an enthusiasm to make a difference. 

Hannah holds the ICAEW Diploma in Charity Accounting as well as an MSc in Voluntary Sector Management from Bayes Business School.

Hannah’s personal interests include cooking, yoga, walking and cycling. She is also a Trustee of a young people and families charity in the East of England where she lives.

Rustam was appointed as a Trustee in October 2023.

Rustam is a professor of clinical neurology at The University of Edinburgh and an honorary consultant neurologist in NHS Lothian. He trained in Cambridge, and after completing his general medical training in London, he moved to Edinburgh in 1998 as an MRC clinical training fellow, subsequently completing his training in neurology and progressing to MRC patient-oriented clinician scientist and senior clinical fellowships.

He leads the Research to Understand Stroke due to Haemorrhage RUSH programme, which is dedicated to improving the outcome for adults who have diseases that may cause, or have caused, intracranial haemorrhage. He cares for people with neurological conditions including stroke in-hours and out-of-hours, he audits care, and he helps undergraduate and postgraduate students to develop and address clinical uncertainties within the RUSH programme. He is the Past President of the British and Irish Association of Stroke Physicians.

Niamh was appointed as a Trustee in October 2023.

Niamh is a Senior Lecturer in School of Psychology in Ulster University. Her research specialises in stroke recovery and life after stroke, she has published widely in these areas. Niamh had a stroke at age 14; she had significant upper limb and speech impairments following this but has since fully recovered. This experience has led her to a career trying to understand the brain post-stroke better and to explore aspects of stroke recovery. She believes this experience has also given her insight into life post-stroke and made her passionate to work collaboratively with stroke survivors to help ensure better recovery.

Niamh who is based in Belfast, will also take the role of chair of Stroke Associations Northern Ireland advisory committee, working closely with the Northern Ireland team.

Niamh said: 'I'm really looking forward to working with all those affected by stroke, to help improve stroke care within Northern Ireland and across the UK.'