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Who we are

We have a small team of three members of staff, who work alongside a number of contractors.

As a registered charity, NAAN is governed by a board of voluntary trustees. The board is made up of people elected by our membership from within our membership; and those coopted by the board to broaden its skills and experience.

Professor Lord Patel of Bradford OBE

President
  • Member of the House of Lords
  • Chair of Social Work England
  • Former Chair of the Mental Health Act Commission

Professor Gisli Gudjonsson CBE

Patron
  • Emeritus Professor of Forensic Psychology
  • Institute of Psychiatry of King's College London
  • World-renowned expert on false confessions

Trustees

Penelope Gibbs

Chair (coopted trustee)

Penelope has extensive governance experience, including as Chair of the Standing Committee for Youth Justice, and has also volunteered in the justice system as a magistrate. She was a producer for BBC radio before being inspired to influence social change by joining the charity sector. Having first worked for the Prison Reform Trust, in 2012 Penelope set up Transform Justice - a charity which advocates for a fairer, more open, humane and effective justice system in England and Wales. 

Linda Chebib

Treasurer (coopted trustee)

Linda is a GCMA qualified accountant and experienced finance professional.

She has over 30 years experience in the Financial Services sector in a wide variety of roles, from Statutory accounts production and Finance manager to Project lead and consultant.

Chris Hilliard

Coopted trustee

Chris is an independent elected Councillor in Cheshire East, an autistic person, and a former defendant who was attacked by a mounted police officer during student protests and wrongfully arrested. They went on to obtain a law degree and become an activist focused on improving the criminal justice system for people with learning disabilities and neurodivergent people.  

Donna Buffong

Elected trustee
Donna is the Court Bail & Remand Co-ordinator for Wandsworth Youth Offending Team. Donna has over twenty years' experience as a social worker specialising in criminal justice. She is currently the Senior Court Officer assessing, supervising and managing interventions for young people between the ages of 10 -18, from first entry into the Criminal Justice System to Bail, Sentence or Disposal. Donna manages the Wandsworth Appropriate Adult Scheme.

Laura Hornby

Coopted trustee

Laura is a serving police sergeant with Lancashire Constabulary with 20 years service. She has experience in many frontline roles including as a custody sergeant but is now working to support custody management focusing on children, young people and vulnerable detainees.

Matthew Haynes

Elected trustee
Matthew has been a Team Manager at Coventry Youth Justice Service since 2003. Youth justice and protecting the rights of children and young people continue to be a driving force in him wanting to make a difference. He started working in the criminal justice system in 1998 and has had various roles including being a; Residential Social Worker, YOT Officer and Bail & Remand Co-Ordinator. In addition to being a qualified social worker, Matthew has completed Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation’s (HMIP) local assessor training and has a CMI Level 5 diploma in Management and Leadership.

Michelle Dixon

Elected trustee
Michelle is Head of Service for Child Action North West's (CANW) Criminal Justice Service. Committed to the rights of young people, she is very involved in helping young people who have committed criminal offences to understand the consequences of their actions, encouraging them to say how they feel about the service, and to suggest ideas for continual improvement. CANW provides volunteer AA services, principally in the North West of England.

Sarah Connelly

Elected trustee

Sarah is a lecturer in Criminology at the University of Sunderland. She is actively researching topics on vulnerability, appropriate adult provisions, and trans and non-binary experiences of custody. She has previously completed a BA (Hons) in Sociology, MA in Sociology and Social Research, PGCERT in higher education, and is planning to complete a PhD in Sociology, exploring vulnerability. She is also the current manager of the Northumbria Local Appropriate Adult Scheme based in the Northeast of England.

Sherrelle Collman

Coopted trustee
Sherrelle is the Managing Director of the Caridon Foundation, a not-for-profit provider of housing support for vulnerable people. Her career spans both commercial business and the criminal justice charity sector. She is a passionate advocate for the value of good quality housing.

Sue Nash

Elected trustee

Sue has twenty years of experience as a Social Worker for Wiltshire Youth Offending Team. Since 2012, she has been managing volunteers who undertake various roles including appropriate adults. She previously taught in a female prison but left wanting to do a job where she could try and prevent young people entering the custodial estate.

Sandra Wheatley

Elected trustee

Jacq Whitelock

(She/her) Coopted trustee

Jacq is an active volunteer appropriate adult in the London Borough of Southwark, and Operations Manager of England's largest social work charity, Frontline.


Staff

Chris Bath

Chief Executive

Chris was appointed as NAAN’s chief executive in 2013. Prior to this role, he was Director of Unlock, the national charity for people with convictions. Chris joined the criminal justice charity sector in 2005, having gained a degree in Management Science from Warwick University’s Business School, and then worked in sales and marketing.

He is a member of the Home Office PACE Strategy Board and a fellow of the RSA. He has been a consultant on the King’s Fund Cascading Leadership programme, a free peer-to-peer leadership development programme for voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations working in health and wellbeing. 

Grev Wallington

Effective Practice Manager

Grev was appointed as NAAN’s Effective Practice Manager in 2016. With 20 years of experience of leading appropriate adult schemes, he has personally acted as an AA in around 2,000 criminal and terrorism-related cases.

Prior to joining the staff team, Grev contributed 9 years of voluntary work to NAAN as a trustee, including a period as Chair. He is a Fellow of the RSA, and a qualified trainer and facilitator who has delivered AA training to hundreds of staff and volunteers across many organisations.

Kate Tokley

Operations Manager

Kate was appointed as NAAN’s Operations Manager in 2022. She has worked in the charity sector since 2009, for local, national, and international organisations.

In previous roles, Kate has been responsible for operations, HR, financial administration and reporting, health and safety, safeguarding, campaigning, media and communications. She has an interest in effective charity governance, and sits on the board of trustees for Barnet Mencap, where she acts as vice-chair and chair of the HR sub-committee.

Anne Harper

Internal Verifier

Anne leads NAAN's accredited qualifications programme. She is the charity's Internal Verifier and is an approved Internal Quality Assurer for the Awarding Body Gateway Qualifications.

Anne has been involved in the volunteer sector for many years. She has been an appropriate adult for 23 years (so far!). She has previously managed an appropriate adult service, during which time she was NAAN trustee. She is a qualified trainer and has in the past delivered many training sessions for NAAN countrywide. She has a BA (Hons) in Post Compulsory Education.

Chloe MacDonald

Associate Trainer

Chloe has been delivering training for NAAN since 2022. Prior to this, she led an Appropriate Adult Scheme for several years, and was a volunteer AA before that. She also led a service for separated children (formerly known as unaccompanied asylum-seeking children).

Chloe is currently completing a MSc in Social Science Research Methods, and then will go onto complete a PhD in Law, focused on the AA safeguard. She has previously completed a MSc in Forensic and Investigative Psychology, with her research focused on vulnerability in police custody. She also holds a BSc (hons) in psychology.

Alice Milman

Associate Trainer

Join our team

Interested in working with us? Please view our current vacancies.