Tom Meares

Chief Executive

Jules Dymond

Advice Services Manager

Kate Fincham

Welfare Rights Adviser

Kathryn Ayres

Office Coordinator

Andrew Davies

Welfare Rights Adviser

Jenny Shaw

Welfare Rights Adviser

Kathryn Wordsworth

Welfare Rights Adviser

Alison Hodgson

Welfare Rights Adviser

Paul Murphy

Chair

Paul has had a varied career in central and local government, Higher Education, the NHS and the private sector. He currently has a number of Trustee roles, and is a Non-Executive Director of the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Mental Health Trust.

Nicola Welch

Trustee

Nikki works in the Civil Service and has, for the majority of her career, worked within a welfare benefit setting. Nikki has over 20 years of benefits experience in central and local government, predominately specialising in all aspects of Housing Benefit and Local Council Tax Support.

Prof Charlotte O'Brien

Trustee

Charlotte is a Professor at the University of York Law School, specialising in EU law, welfare law and human rights. She has volunteered, worked and researched with Citizens Advice. She is the Principal Investigator at the EU Rights and Brexit Hub, a project in advice-led ethnography, providing advice to organisations working with EU nationals and documenting evidence of problems and discrimination. She previously let the EU Rights project, another legal action research project.

Helen Edwards

Trustee

Helen is the head of communications and engagement at Yorkshire Ambulance Service and leads a team who provide a communications service for patients across Yorkshire. As well as holding roles in the NHS, Helen has over 18 years local government experience in communications, having previously worked in both York, North Yorkshire and Leeds, as well as working in the financial services sector.

Prof Peter Ball

Trustee

Prof Peter Ball has been an academic for over 25 years and works at the University of York Management School. Through his teaching and research activities as well as his role school role as Director for Business and Community Engagement he works extensively with commercial and charitable organisations on various challenges and opportunities they encounter.

Richard Bridge

Treasurer

Richard is a Principal Social Researcher with DEFRA - he has worked in the private, voluntary and public sectors, more recently in social research roles within DWP, Food Standards Agency and latterly DEFRA.
Richard worked for ten years in the social welfare advice sector primarily in the fields of welfare rights and debt, and prior to that in the private sector for over 15 years as the Financial Director of a mid-sized car auction in Leeds.

Mark Taylor

Trustee

Mark has worked at North Yorkshire County Council since 2014, primarily in the Policy and Partnerships Unit working on a range of policy as well as managing the Local Assistance Fund, the Council's local welfare provision service. Since 2020, Mark has been working in the Procurement and Contract Management Service.

Katie Pybus

Trustee

Katie is a Lecturer in Mental Health at Hull York Medical School. Katie is a registered mental health nurse and has worked across a range of hospital and community settings in London and Yorkshire. She completed her PhD at the University of York in 2019 and has also previously been employed as a social researcher at the Department for Work and Pensions. Her research focuses on the relationship between social security and mental health.