Trustees

Rob Douglas
Chair of Trustees

Rob combines being a business consultant with wide experience as a non-executive director in the public and voluntary sectors. Rob’s consultancy is primarily in the area of senior executive relationship development and coaching.

Prior to his consultancy and non-executive roles, Rob was a senior executive with Royal Dutch Shell where he held a number of senior executive positions, including Area Co-ordinator, China and East Asia; Chief Executive, Shell Belgium; Chief Executive, Shell Italy; and Vice President for Mergers and Acquisitions in the Global Exploration and Development Business. Rob had initially joined Shell from the Inland Revenue and had held a number of senior tax posts, including Shell UK Tax Manager, and Head of International Taxation, based in the Hague.

“I used Makaton with my grandson and that triggered the interest when I learnt the Charity was recruiting a new Chair. I enjoy being part of an organisation that makes a positive difference to people’s lives”.

Ian Newman
Trustee, Chair of the Finance and Digital Committee

I am a qualified accountant with experience working in the senior management team in both the private and not-for-profit sectors. I have worked in the not-for-profit sector for the past twenty years and held the role of Head of Finance and IT at Business Link for London, The Inspiring Futures Foundation, and The Institute of Hospitality. My skills include Finance, Information Technology, eCommerce, General Management, Governance, and Charity Law.

Having worked for various not-for-profit organisations I have always found the skills and enthusiasm of Trustees helpful in developing my business skills. As a result, I wanted to use my experience to help a charity. I chose to apply to Makaton as the work they do truly makes a difference to people's life. Further, I have experience in the educational sector and have an interest in helping young people.

I enjoy helping the team at Makaton develop and grow as the charity strives to help more people with communication difficulties. I have also been immensely proud of how the charity has developed its eCommerce platform to extend its reach beyond traditional face-to-face communications.

I am a Governor at a school for children with complex speech, language, and communication needs. Makaton is used in all lessons to support and help young people. In this role, I have seen at first-hand how transformational the Makaton Language Programme is.

Julia Spencer
Trustee, Chair of the Quality and Standards Committee

I have a long and happy connection with the charity, first through my career as a teacher in both mainstream and special schools, then as a partner in an education training consultancy and latterly as a freelance trainer. Over the years I have seen so many examples of how the use of Makaton has supported the development of effective communication. It can be wonderfully life changing.

Recently I have enjoyed being part of a project to make my home city Makaton friendly and have been delighted to be able to teach Makaton vocabulary over various zoom sessions.

I feel very privileged to be part of the trustee board and to support the charity’s development. Without a doubt the wider its reach the more people will benefit! I am currently the chair of the quality and standards committee.

Carol Riddington
Trustee and Member of the Quality and Standards Committee

I have been a trustee of other charities so have experience of governance and safeguarding at board level.  As a social researcher I hope that my skills can provide support and guidance to identify the:

• needs of users (e.g. families, individuals with communication difficulties, stakeholders) and
• impact services and resources have on users  

I have worked in social policy research for many years having commissioned and managed research projects in areas including disability, health and social care, local government and audience research.  My PhD was in learning disability from The Tizard Centre, University of Kent, and I have written articles on involving people with learning disabilities in policy development.

In addition to my role as trustee for The Makaton Charity I am also a Research Network Volunteer for the Alzheimer Society conducting lay reviews on research grant applications and being involved in monitoring commissioned studies.

I have been a supporter of The Makaton Charity for around 40 years having started my career in the learning disability sector at St George’s Hospital where Margaret Walker was working at the time on the development of the Makaton Language Programme.  In 2018 I collaborated with Margaret Walker and Shelina Mitha (one of Makaton’s Senior Tutors) on an article ‘Cultural issues in developing and using signs within the Makaton Language Programme in different countries’.  My involvement in the chapter brought me back to Makaton and this is when I decided to apply to become a trustee.

Working alongside a talented creative team at The Makaton Charity and being a member of a dedicated board of trustees who have a diverse range of skills and experience.

I am not a regular user of Makaton but I am in frequent contact with adults who are Makaton users. So, knowing Makaton signs helps when a person wishes to tell me what they want and how they feel.  This is important to me as I believe people with a disability should be able to make their own choices and have control of their life.

Pete Donell
Trustee and Member of the Finance and Digital Committee

I am a Chartered Accountant who specialises in high growth technology businesses and am currently the Finance Director at CloudNC. My interest in charity and not for profit finance goes back to university, where I carried out research on both sports finance and microfinance charities. Whilst at PwC, where I then started my career, I volunteered in a number of roles supporting not for profits, including for Sport England and Accounting for International Development.

I later joined Countrywide Plc, where I held a number of roles including working with the Marketing, HR and Digital teams, and worked alongside Lori Cunningham who introduced me to The Makaton Charity. Working with stakeholders across the business helped drive a broader understanding of different disciplines and trying to combine this with financial understanding is something I try to bring to any role. My experience working particularly with Digital & Technology is also highly relevant to the Charity’s objectives and it is hugely exciting to see the progress being made.

I am not a Makaton user, and being a Trustee has been a fascinating learning experience for me so far. I particularly enjoy hearing stories from Makaton users and really trying to understand the impact the charity can have.

Stephanie Kogels
Trustee

Following an international career as lawyer and investment banker, Stephanie works as consultant for corporates supporting large transformational transactions (IPOs and Mergers & Acquisitions) and for start-ups/scale-ups supporting strategy development and private capital raises. She combines her consultancy roles with non-executive director roles in the non-profit sector.

“We are using Makaton at home with our non-verbal daughter, which has had a tremendous positive impact on our lives. After meeting one of the Trustees, I felt proud of the work that they are doing and excited about the opportunities the Makaton Charity sees to continue to improve the lives of so many. I am delighted to be able to support the Makaton Charity in their journey.”

Paul Moore
Trustee

I’ve worked internationally in the childcare industry for over 24 years.  In that time, I’ve held a range of roles including Operations Manager for a London based nursery group, Childcare Consultant for a tour operator along with over ten years’ experience working in early years centres. 

My career started at Camp Skylemar in Maine, USA where I worked as a sports counsellor planning and delivering a range of mainly basketball themed activities.  Following summer camp, I returned to England and worked in a range of early years settings and children’s homes in which I supported children with contrasting needs including Ataxia, Global Delay, Fragile X, Autism, and other conditions which limited their communication.  Using Makaton as a practitioner assisted in understanding the individual children more and meeting their needs more effectively.   

After an amazing two years as a Nanny, I moved into more senior roles where I have been responsible for managing teams as well as creating and facilitating a range of courses to clients such as Busy Bees nurseries, independent schools, high school children and more.  

Although I am not a Makaton user now, I am keen for this brilliant tool to be accessed by as many families and professionals as possible.  I look forward to supporting the Makaton charity on their journey of enhancing communication for all users.    

Rebecca Khanna
Trustee

Rebecca brings over 35 years of wide-ranging expertise as a healthcare professions leader, educationalist and occupational therapist with board-level experience spanning NHS and Higher Education sectors. She gained her PhD in 2011 exploring the impact of regulatory policy on pre-registration health professional programmes.

Rebecca was formerly an Associate Dean at Sheffield Hallam University and enjoyed a variety of senior academic and quality enhancement roles. She continues to be an invited external examiner and panel member supporting degree validations within universities in the UK, Europe and South-East Asia. Previously, she worked in the NHS for over 17 years as a General Manager and District Head Occupational Therapist leading an integrated therapy service. Her practitioner focus is within mental health well-being. Rebecca is a Vice-Chair at King Edwards VI College in Nuneaton and until recently a non-executive director at the George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust in Warwickshire.

She is currently a partner visitor for the Health & Care Professions Council, a lay inspector for Social Work England and assessor for the Royal College of Occupational Therapists.  Rebecca has experience of national projects, including Health Education England and the Higher Education Academy focusing on student retention, flexible learning and practice education. In 2021 she received a Royal College of Occupational Therapists national award for her contribution to quality assurance and innovations in education.

Since 2019 she has built up a portfolio career, combining consultancy assignments with non-executive and community roles, whilst running a specialist mentoring and coaching practice, ‘Our Shared Wisdom.’

Rebecca first experienced Makaton as an occupational therapy student; building a creative learning resource to promote its use with primary school children. She feels privileged to become a Trustee and is keen to support the inclusive reach of the Makaton Charity to encourage independent living for so many.