Trustees and Patrons
The Kamla Foundation is supported by a wonderful team of Trustees, Patrons and a Special Advisor
Trustees
Bhupendra Mistry
I have gained extensive experience in championing social change within communities experiencing isolation and disadvantage, applying ‘new thinking’, to deprived regions within a local, national and international context. Working with senior leaders to spread and scale good practice, driving change, and moving the needle on equality in wider society.
Seminal work includes leading on a number of studies that helped facilitate the work of the Home Office during the aftermath of the disturbances in northern towns in 2001.
I have operated at a Board level for over twenty five years, working closely with Board Members, senior Civil Servants, Politicians, Regulatory Bodies and Government Agencies. International experience includes sitting on the Boards of BBC Media Action (formerly BBC World Service Trust), The Body Shop Foundation and the Carnegie (UK) Trust, connecting and inspiring change in millions of people facing insecurity, inequality and poverty – bridging divides and changing lives.
Away from work, my interests includes, current affairs, music, travelling and political biographies. In recognition of our philanthropic work overseas, we have received awards from The Times of India Group, The Mahatma Award for Social Impact and the Manchester Prestige Award.
Hersha Mistry
From a young age I have always been keen to work with organisations that improve the environment and help others so as a teenager I volunteered for the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers and Toc H – an organisation based on working alongside differences towards the common good, to help communities thrive. I also had an interest in all things mechanical and joined the Air Training Corps where I gained some flying experience and continued to support the community with a number of initiatives.
Later I joined Dowty Aerospace and gained a degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Hertfordshire. But my love of working with nature and people, especially children, inspired me to complete a PGCE in Primary Education at Oxford Brookes University. I then taught for 7 years in a variety of settings including a year teaching Maths, Physics and IT under the auspices of Voluntary Service Overseas at a Secondary School in Guyana.
After settling in Stockport and raising two children, I now work for the Education Department at Trafford Council, managing school capital building projects with a particular focus on decarbonisation and also deliver Carbon Literacy Training across the organisation. I support the organisation towards improving the culture and wellbeing of staff through the EPIC Pioneer programme and also sit on the Active Travel Group. I have used my experience in the education and built environment sectors to serve as a Parent/ Community Governor at a local Primary and Secondary School for over 10 years. In my spare time I enjoy running, gardening and have recently taken up tennis, as well as still being a keen environmentalist.
Margaret Lloyd
I began my teaching career in an inner city Secondary School in Manchester in 1965. Then followed posts in Wythenshawe – at the time the largest council estate in Europe – and then Cheshire and Trafford. I became Head teacher of Green Lane High School in Trafford. I held this post for 17 years during which time I led the school through year on year improvement and growth. In 2002 the school became a Specialist School. I personally took on the job of raising the £50,000 necessary to be considered for Specialist status.
Throughout my teaching career I have been deeply involved in community work. For 15 years I ran a voluntary youth club of 120 plus. I regularly took young people on outdoor pursuits courses and coached teams in a variety of sports.
I retired from teaching in 2004 and during my first year of retirement led the consultation in Trafford for devolving Special Educational Needs budgets directly to schools. Following my retirement I became Chair of Manchester and District Housing Association and then Vice Chair of Your Housing Group. I also became an Investigating Officer for the North West Complaints Board.
Whilst still working I became Chair of New Dawn Community Association in 2002 and upon my retirement devoted time to writing bids and raising funds to expand facilities and activities in the community. I have also served as a Board member of the North West Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme working group and as a school governor at a Primary School in Wythenshawe, Manchester. My interests include travel, sport, theatre, reading, cooking and golf.
Satish Lad
I’ve been living in Warrington, Cheshire for over twenty years. After completing a degree in Design, Marketing & Communication I worked in London, Manchester, and Sydney, gaining as much experience as possible.
In early 1990 I took a leap of faith and started my own business. It was an incredibly exciting time on many levels. This experience gave me the opportunity to build some great relationships and produce some very innovative work, which resulted in winning two major international awards in New York and Switzerland.
With the birth of our first child, we moved to Cheshire, and I started afresh with a new design company. Then in 2007 I was asked to produce the Kamla Foundation Branding, which was a great privilege. Despite retiring from the marketing world, I am still involved with the Kamla Foundation and provide guidance and expertise as required. It’s wonderful to see the impact the charity continues to have on people’s lives in India.
Currently I continue with my passion for photography, trying to produce impactful and thought provoking work for myself and other people. I also like keeping fit, and as part of that I’ve started studying different aspects of health and overall well-being.
Patrons
Baroness Jill Pitkeathley
Baroness Jill Pitkeathley trained as a social worker and was a child care officer in Manchester and Essex. In the 1970s she worked for the health service as a Voluntary Services Coordinator in Berkshire. In 1986 she became Chief Executive of what was then the National Council for Carers and led the carers movement for the next 12 years, creating Carers National Association (now Carers UK) and turning what had been a private, hidden trouble, the needs of Great Britain’s six million carers, into a public issue, high on the political and social policy agenda.
From 1998 to 2004 she was the first Chair of the New Opportunities Fund, responsible for allocating £2 billion of lottery money and also was the first Chair of the General Social Care Council for its first six months.In 2004 Jill became Chair of CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) which is an NDPB that looks after the interests of children involved in family proceedings. It works with children and their families, and advises the courts on what it considers to be in the best interests of the child. In 2005 she also took on the role of Chair of the Home Office Advisory Panel on Futurebuilders.
Jill is currently President of Volunteering England, Community Council for Berkshire and Patron of The Prostate Cancer Charity. She is Vice President of Carers UK and the Princess Royal Trust for Carers. And President of Eurocarers. She was raised to the peerage in 1997, sits on the Labour benches and is a very active working peer.
Jill has published several books on topics such as carers, volunteering and being an only child. Her first novel, published in 2004 ‘Cassandra and Jane’ is about the sister of Jane Austen. Her interests include walking – not too far, theatre and grandchildren.
Sir Martin Narey
Born 1955 in Middlesbrough, the eighth of nine children. After graduating from Sheffield Polytechnic, he started his working life in the NHS before beginning Prison Governor training in 1982. Then he worked at Lincoln Prison, Deerbolt Borstal (Barnard Castle) and Frankland High-Security Prison (Durham City) before moving to a succession of Whitehall posts. This period included work on reducing delay in the criminal justice system and led to the introduction of ‘Narey Courts’ which succeeded in significantly reducing court delays.
He returned to the Prison Service in 1996 as Head of Security Policy before joining the Prisons Board as Director of resettlement in 1997. He was appointed Director General of Prisons in 1998. Following a merger of Prisons and Probation in 2003 he became the first CEO of the National Offender Management Service.
Sir Martin resigned in 2005 to become Chief Executive of Barnardo’s. After a very successful five years during which he chaired ‘The Campaign To End Child Poverty’ and during which Barnardo’s grew by 40% to become, once again, the UK’s biggest children’s charity, he left in 2011 to spend more time at his home in North Yorkshire. He advises Michael Gove and the Department for Education on children’s social care. He is Chair of the Portman Group Complaints Panel and is a member of the Board of the Advertising Standards Authority. He also writes regularly for The Times and other newspapers and is a visiting Professor at the Universities of Durham and Sheffied Hallam.
Martin has been married for over 40 years to Jan and they have two adult children. A true pioneer, Sir Martin has been a distinguished public servant for many years, serving at the highest levels across Whitehall, the Criminal Justice System and the third sector.
Sir Martin Narey has published frequently in the Guardian, Telegraph, Times and the New Statesman.
Sir Martin was knighted in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to vulnerable people.
Special Advisor
Barry Harwood – Head Of Chambers
Barry is the founder of Harwood Law. He has been practising at the Bar for over 20 years. After completing his combined pupillage in Criminal and Civil law, he has gone on to specialise in Employment law, all aspects of discrimination and Tribunals. He is a senior champion and role model for Stonewall UK. In this time, he has also spent 12 years as a senior lecturer in law teaching the Bar Professional Training Course at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is also a fully qualified mediator & pupil supervisor, puts these skills into use on various committees of which he is a member.
In 2019, Barry was also elected to be a member of the Bar Council of England and Wales, serving on both the Equality, Diversity & Social Mobility and the Education and Training committees. He also gives back to the profession by teaching advocacy to Bar students at the Lincoln’s Inn residential weekends.
He was a staff Governor and equality & diversity champion to the board of Governors at Manchester Metropolitan University. He was the LGBT Chair for staff, and he also holds a role as a director/trustee of the Aspireplus multi-academy trust. In his free time, he enjoys travelling and a glass of red wine.