Trustees

The Funding Network has always been a member-led organisation, and our Trustees are all TFN members and givers who want to help shape the organisation. Please read about our current Trustees below:

Michael Maynard (Chair)

I joined TFN right at the beginning because I was looking for a way of making sure my charity giving made as much impact as possible. I was previously a member of Network for Social Change so I knew the value of having direct contact with small charities committed to making a positive change in the world. I also like the fact that my small donations get magnified and make a larger impact. I wanted to become a trustee to contribute to sustaining such a well-run organisation. I felt I could add value and support its growth over the next few years. I’m proud of TFN. I’m always interested in projects that unlock people’s potential and, therefore, add to the benefit of society. Members seem to be able to find some really inspiring projects that always make me feel I’m contributing in a really powerful way. I also learn a lot.

I run a management development company that specialises in interpersonal skills. We run workshops to enable culture change in organisations and improve the way people communicate and work together. I used to be an actor, writer and presenter.

Lesley Garner

I first read about TFN in the Financial Times and I thought it sounded like an interesting and sociable way to make a contribution. I liked the idea of hearing directly from charities instead of just putting a cheque in the post and it is the pitches from inspiring projects that I enjoy most about TFN meetings. I’ve lived in the aid community in both Ethiopia and Afghanistan so I have an understanding of overseas aid but my personal interests are in the arts.

I believe passionately in the power of art, music and drama to change lives. I have had a long career as a newspaper journalist, latterly as a columnist on the Daily Telegraph and I am currently writing a novel. I love to sing in choirs and I once earned an MA in design and illustration by designing a ghost train.

Alan Hodson

I first became involved in the funding network through Fred Mulder when he was awarded a Beacon Fellowship and I was then a Trustee of the Beacon Fellowship. I was intrigued by the fund raising model and attended a meeting and then joined TFN. I became a trustee after Fred asked me about 5 times and, finally, my resistance was broken down …. and, I like the TFN model and was happy to spend some time trying to help to organisation to expand.

My interest in the charitable sector was really sparked when my daughter, Olivia, was diagnosed with cancer. Sadly, Olivia died in 1996, and my wife and I founded the Olivia Hodson Fellowship Fund at Great Ormond Street Hospital, in her memory. We are very pleased that the OHFF has funded a number of successful projects relating to childhood cancer, all based at Great Ormond Street and the neighboring Institute of Child Health. I am very proud to now be the Chairman of the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity. I like supporting individuals (and groups) who are trying to make a difference, particularly when a relatively small amount of additional funding can really enhance their impact.

Shuna Kennedy

I originally discovered The Funding Network by chance, came to a couple of events, enjoyed them, put my hand up for the selection panel and – possibly the result of saying too much! – joined the trustee board in 2007.  My professional background is commercial advertising and marketing, and over the last twenty years I’ve been increasingly involved in the charity sector, since co-founding the children’s charity Whizz-Kidz in 1990.  The exciting part of TFN is that it both supports social change projects and is one itself.  The connections people make at events inspire them to join causes they’d never otherwise have heard of and sometimes provide significant long term help and money as well.

As a trustee I find that enormously motivating: this tiny charity with 3 staff is creating huge impact. Other than TFN I advise companies and philanthropists on their charitable giving and act as interim director for charities when interesting opportunities come up. As a direct result of TFN and contacts made there, I’ve visited fascinating NGO’s in India and my daughter is part of the core Youth TFN group.

Alexandra Gibbons

My interest in the TFN model of funding stems from a career in financial services, in risk management, in particular in banking – where the impact of how money is used is so direct – transaction-based, that it leaves you asking the question, “what is done with it all?”, that I suppose it is a logical extension for me to have asked myself “what am I doing with it all?” 

I first learnt about The Funding Network whilst working at an ethical bank.  I am impressed by how empowering it feels to attend one of TFN’s events and see the power of a group of people fully engaged towards positive social change.  The spirit and values that are apparent in TFN are rightly energetic and optimistic, and it rubs off on you – your attitudes and your decisions.  The growth, diversity and ongoing success of many of the (to start with) very small charities and organisations which TFN has funded over the recent years is a testament to the rigour with which these organisations are reviewed for funding.  TFN has an entrepreneurial spirit, which fully engages you.  Many recent studies on happiness refer to giving as creating a good feeling for individuals, and I can only concur!

Nick Merriman

I was told about TFN by a friend who was one of the founding Trustees of TFN.  I was somewhat reluctantly persuaded to attend an Event 9 years ago but I found it such an exciting and interesting and enjoyable way of finding out about charities and giving to them that I have been a regular attender ever since. I was a member of TFN for 8 years and I wanted to do more to support it and, if possible, expand it - so I volunteered to be a Trustee.

The two most important aspects to me of TFN are (1) that I get to hear of inspiring people and charities that otherwise I would not have heard of.  (2) At the Events you meet the people of who work for the charities so you can ask what you want about their work and you can form your own judgement about them on a personal level. I was a Barrister for 40 years but am now retired and I spend part of my active retirement in trying to be find out how and where my giving can make a real difference.

Simon Wheatley

I’ve spent the bulk of my working life in either retail, corporate or investment banking and now specialise in lending to companies owned by private equity firms. TFN has transformed my charitable giving. Everyone wants their donations to make a difference and, at my level, I think I can best achieve this by giving to smaller, younger charities. TFN’s reputation means it attracts numerous such organisations, the most appropriate of which are presented to members. The format of TFN’s collective giving enables me to meet inspiring people who I would never otherwise come into contact with. Supporting people who have invariably sacrificed much in the struggle to establish and build their charities gives immediate gratification.