Board of Trustees

Guideposts is led by a board of Trustees; this board has overall responsibility for governing the organisation, overseeing and controlling its management. Day-to-day management of Guideposts is then delegated to a Directorate of three, each with its own area of responsibility:

• Services
• Fundraising and Development
• Finance & support functions

The Director of Finance also holds the role of Managing Director and is directly responsible to the board for ensuring that the directorates decisions are compatible with the Organisational Purpose and Strategic Plan and ensuring that the Trust meets all it regulatory and legal obligations.

 The Directorate are supported by a Senior Management Team of six, drawn from each directorate. The Senior Management Team contributes and leads in the development and implementation of GT policies and strategies.

The current Board of Trustees are:

Dr Raymond Flood – Chair

PhD

Appointed in 2008.  Appointed Chair in 2011.

Raymond Flood spent most of his academic life promoting mathematics and computing to adult audiences, mainly at Oxford University, in the Continuing Education Department and at Kellogg College. In parallel he has worked extensively on the history of mathematics. He has been Vice-President of Kellogg College, Oxford and President of the British Society for the History of Mathematics. From August 2012 he will be Professor of Geometry at Gresham College. The Gresham Professorship of Geometry was founded in 1597 to provide free public lectures in mathematics. He has been a trustee of Guideposts since September 2008 and Chairman of Trustees since September 2011.

Lydia Hirst – Vice Chair

BA, MA, Performance Coaching Dip, IIP adviser

Appointed in 2009

Lydia Hirst has worked with Guideposts Trust for over 10 years, originally as a management consultant developing strategy and Quality systems, and since 2009, as a Trustee. She is now Vice-Chairman. She strongly supports the ethos of the charity in working with the vulnerable in society, whether they are old or young. Recognising the changes in funding, she is working with fellow Trustees and senior managers to ensure the on-going financial stability of the organisation and its transformation to a social enterprise – continuing to deliver highly valued services both face to face and on line.

Gerry Bowen Thomas

MA, BA

Appointed in 1998

Lecturer University of Oxford; Assistant University Director Department of Continuing Education; Chair of the Southern Region of Citizen Advice Bureau for three years; Member on the National Council for Citizen Advice Bureaux; School Governor.

Dennis Edwards

C&G Advanced Management for Care, C&G Registered Manager

Appointed in 2009

Chief Executive Officer of Viewpoint Mental Health Charity.  He was formerly a Project Manager of Turning Point Mental Health Rehabilitation Project and Learning Disabilities Project.

Martin Gallagher

MA

Appointed in 2001

Chief Executive of People in Action registered charity working with people with disabilities in Warwickshire; Director of Services and board member for Mencap national society; Member of Health Authority;  Chair of Community Health Council; On the board of Mencap Housing Authority, Golden Lane.

Dr Catherine Oppenheimer  

MA, BM, BCh, FRCP(UK), FRCPPsych

Appointed in 1990

Dr Catherine Oppenheimer is a Consultant Psychogeriatrician in the Oxfordshire Mental Healthcare NHS Trust’s Department of Psychiatry of Old Age in Oxford.  She is a Senior Clinical Lecturer in the University Department of Psychiatry; a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and of the Royal College of Physicians; and at present is Regional Advisor in Psychiatry for Oxford region.  She was formerly Psychiatric Tutor for Oxford and Co-ordinating Tutor for the Oxford Regional Training Scheme in Psychiatry.  She is co-editor (with Dr Robin Jacob) of the textbook ‘Psychiatry in the Elderly’, published by Oxford University Press, and writes on ethical issues in old age and sexuality in old age.

Mr Barry Phillips

FCCA, CIPFA

Appointed in 1994

Qualified Accountant, County Treasurer for Oxford County Council for 10 years. Retired from this post in 2004.

CLICK HERE TO MEET THE DIRECTORATE AND SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM