Meet the trustees at the Mental Health Foundation

Dr Mike Shooter CBE

Chair

Mike Shooter is the Chair of the Mental Health Foundation as well as being the Chairman of Young Minds and Children-in-Wales and a trustee of the National Children’s Bureau and of Samaritans. He is also Vice-President of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy.

 

Mike is the immediate Past President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, having previously been its Registrar and Director of Public Education. He is an honorary fellow of that College and of the Royal Colleges of Paediatrics and Child Health, Physicians, and General Practitioners.

 

He has been awarded a CBE for services to children in Wales.

 

Mike O’Connor CBE

Honorary Treasurer

Mike O’Connor is Chief Executive of the Olympic Lottery Distributor where he is responsible for a budget of £1,835m. The Olympic Lottery Distributor is providing funding for the creation of the facilities to host the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

He was Director of the Millennium Commission which supported a wide variety of projects across the UK representing an investment of some £4,000m.

He has also worked for Government and as a Chief Executive of a charity. He holds university degrees in both natural and social sciences. He was awarded the CBE in 2000.

Dr Alan Cohen FRCGP

Dr Alan Cohen was a GP principal in Mitcham, South London, from 1984 - 2004. He was later chair of the East Merton and Furzedown Primary Care Group.

He joined Kensington and Chelsea Primary Care Trust as Clinical Director in 2004. In 2005 he was appointed senior primary care advisor to the Care Services Improvement Partnership and is providing advice to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme. Alan also works on policy analysis and development as Senior Fellow at the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health.

Alan maintains his clinical skills by working as a GP consultant in a practice in Wimbledon. His clinical work includes routine clinical sessions and providing advice to other clinicians on patients with complex mental health problems.

Matt Cooper 

Matt Cooper is a Non-Executive Director and advisor to a variety of companies and organisations, including Octopus Capital Plc, Whiteground Ltd, Carbon Executive Search Consultants and Sadler’s Wells Dance Theatre. He is a Governor of Nottingham Trent University.

Matt also works as executive coach and mentor to several CEOs and speaks at a variety of conferences and forums.

Matt was Principal Managing Director of Capital One Bank Europe plc until 2001. In 1999, he was appointed Managing Director of Capital One (UK branch) and from 1995 - 1999 he was Senior Vice President of Capital One Bank UK. Previously, Matt worked for Capital One in the US in a variety of positions including risk management and marketing.

Dr Jocelyn Cornwell, BA Hons (Cantab), Msc. Phd.

Jocelyn Cornwell is an independent health consultant. She directs the Point of Care, a Kings Fund funded programme aiming to improve the humanity of hospital care. She is a member of Baroness Onora O’Neill’s panel of inquiry into the safety of maternity services in England.

Jocelyn is a visiting fellow in Health and Social Care at the London School of Economics, a member of the editorial board of saferhealthcare.org and Chair of Connect UK: the communication disability network.

Jocelyn originally trained as a medical sociologist. She is the author of Hard-Earned Lives: accounts of health and illness from East London. She has worked at national level in the NHS, in management, government and regulation for 15 years. 

Professor David O’Donnell

David O’Donnell became a solicitor in private practice in 1981 before taking up an academic appointment in 1993. In 2004, he was appointed Professor of Legal Ethics and Professional Practice at Robert Gordon University. David is also Chief Executive of the Legal Defence Union.

David holds two ministerial appointments as a legal member of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland to which he was appointed in 2005. He was appointed a legal member of the Parole Board for Scotland in 2007.

David serves as a public interest member of the Investigation and Professional Conduct Enforcement Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and as a member of the Interim Steering Group in relation to the New Legal Complaints Commission in Scotland.

Alison Graham FCCA

Alison heads up the Accounting & Finance Services Department of Baillie Gifford & Co, an independent investment management firm based in Edinburgh. She is also Company Secretary to Baillie Gifford Overseas Ltd and the Baillie Gifford & Co Staff Pension Scheme.

Alison has been involved in a broad spectrum of development, educational and networking opportunities within the wider business, arts, charitable and social frameworks and communities.

She is keen to put her portfolio of business development, project management and financial management experiences to beneficial use through her involvement with the Mental Health Foundation.

Professor Glynis Murphy

Professor Glynis Murphy is a chartered clinical and forensic psychologist, Fellow of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and President-Elect of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities.

She is co-editor of the academic journal Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities and works at the Tizard Centre, University of Kent. Jocelyn has published widely on her research interests: abuse, challenging behaviour and the law.

She also has an interest in capacity to make decisions, including capacity to be a witness, consent to treatment and consent to sexual relationships. She is a member of the BPS working party on capacity.

Giles Ridley

Giles Ridley was educated at Cambridge University and became a solicitor in 1970. He was a partner in Slaughter and May from 1978 -1995 and then Slaughter and May New York from 1995 -1999. Giles was General Counsel for Equitas Limited from 1999 - 2007.

Giles was Vice Chairman of the Mental Health Foundation in the 1990s. He has also been a Trustee for the Handel House Trust and Chair of the Charitable Grants Committee of the Worshipful Company of Weavers.

Giles is also a Governor and musical volunteer at Chisenhale School, London.

Professor Tony Thake

Professor Tony Thake has over 20 years’ experience across the public sector.  He has health sector skills which focus on needs assessment for children, young people and vulnerable groups in mental health and substance misuse as well as the development of responses to help prevent and manage risk behaviours.

He has worked on issues connected with mental health, equalities, drug and alcohol use, sexual health and teenage pregnancies.

Tony is visiting Professor of Health and Social Sciences at Middlesex University and carries out assignments for central Government and the NHS. He is a Magistrate and a Member of the Parole Board for England and Wales.

Charles Walsh

Charles Walsh's biography will be available from this website shortly.