Staff

Paul Tuohy – Chief Executive

Paul joined Mentor in November 2009 with a strong track record in change management.

Paul has mapped out a highly successful career in the charity sector as a leading fundraiser  from 1986 – 2000 with YMCA, RNIB, QUIT and Build Africa.  He became Director of Fundraising for Action Medical Research in 2001 where he rebranded the charity and turned around a 10 year decline in income, raised over £2m for research into premature birth and instigated the biggest London – Paris bike ride in the UK, now turning over £1m per annum.

In 2005, as Chief Executive of Missing People, he again rebranded and realigned a struggling charity into a house hold name,  leading the fight to campaign for the rights of families where a loved one was missing and secured the future of the Runaway Helpline.

Andrew Brown - Director of Programmes

Andrew Brown has been at Mentor since 2004.

He has managed a range of successful projects for the charity, including the Drug Education Forum and EU Kinship Carers Project, ensuring they have national and international impact.

Andrew previously worked for the National Children’s Bureau on issues affecting rural children and young people, and before that was a political assistant to a Member of Parliament.

He is a school governor in South East London, where he lives, and spent 9 years as a local councillor taking a particular interest in children and young people’s services as well as serving as the Cabinet Member for the Environment.

Heather McVeigh-Scally - Scotland Manager

Heather is the Scotland Manager and has helped Mentor to develop our presence in Scotland.

An experienced project manager she has led our work on working with kinship carers who are looking after children where their parents are unable to because of  drug and alcohol problems.

Heather began her career as a lawyer dealing with family and criminal law cases however decided to move into the voluntary sector to make a difference. She has worked with organisations such as Sacro and Apex addressing the rehabilitation needs of offenders in the community and within Edinburgh and Polmont Prisons. During this time Heather developed a alcohol education programme which in turn was awarded a special merit by the Howard League Penal Reform.

Hillary Box – Fundraising Manager

Hillary joined Mentor in September 2010 from Tourettes Action where she was Business Development Director. She has worked in the charity sector for seven years in communications, marketing, fundraising and business development. She previously worked in the public relations industry.

Nicola Strivens – Project Officer

Nicola began working with Mentor UK in 2010. She co-ordinates the London Youth Involvement Project, ensuring that young people’s voices are heard in the drug and alcohol prevention field.

Nicola previously worked with vulnerable young people, including looked after children and young people not in education, training or employment. Prior to joining Mentor UK, she co-authored guidebooks on looked after children’s education for foster carers and residential workers. She gained an MSc in Gender and Social Policy from LSE in 2010.

Nicola is currently on maternity leave.

 

Simon Claridge – Project Officer

Simon  is a highly experienced community and informal education professional.  He has worked in a variety of roles leading services for young people.  He has a keen interest in participation and the active involvement of young people and this formed the basis of his Masters degree dissertation. Simon works part time as a consultant and is a visiting tutor at leading community and informal education colleges.  He also works as an external supervisor for students. In his spare time Simon volunteers as a rowing coach, a primary school governor and is a keen Arsenal fan, a tough thing to be at the moment!

Gez Lawson - Project Officer, Scotland

Gez has worked for Mentor UK since July 2010.

Gez  managed  the highly successful peer education alcohol project which delivered alcohol education  to young people across Scotland. He is currently training a group of young people as volunteer development officers, supporting them to develop their own peer led substance misuse prevention initiatives for young people across Scotland.  Gez also provides support, consultation and training for young people and practitioners involved  in peer education throughout Scotland

Gez previously worked for Fast Forward as the volunteer’s project manager. This involved the development of a drug and alcohol peer education project for socially excluded young people based in Edinburgh. This group developed a program offering substance misuse information and education to young people living in rural and isolated communities across Scotland.

Gez is also on the Scottish Peer Education Network (SPEN) steering group.

Liam Challenger – Communications and Policy Officer

Liam joined Mentor UK in September 2011. 

He joins from Leeds Met Students’ Union where he just finished a two year term as an officer. Previously he had studied Film & TV Production after finding a passion for film while working with young people in his home town of Bradford. An avid sports fan and traveler he hopes to catch as many Bradford City games in the south as possible.