Meet the faces behind the School Food Trust
Rob Rees MBE is the Chair of the School Food Trust and Children’s Food Trust. He is one of the UK’s leading chefs and consultants dedicated to creating a better food culture for Britain and has actively campaigned on education, health, nutrition, food safety and consumer issues around the globe for many years. He is a Board Member of Gloucestershire’s GP Commissioning Shadow Board and a former Director of NHS Gloucestershire. Rob is Chief Executive of the Wiggly Worm Charity – using food as a tool to get people to improve in their lives working with young people and adults who are most vulnerable in our communities and a Director of Rob Rees Ltd and The Cotswold Chef™. He has former Board experience as Trustee of the British Nutrition Foundation, Food Standards Agency and Visit England. Rob was awarded the MBE for services to the Food Industry in 2006.
Sheila Adam is an experienced public health specialist. She was Deputy Chief Medical Officer between 1999 and 2002, and held the posts of Director of Public Health with North West Thames Regional Health Authority (1989-95) and North East London Strategic Health Authority (2002-06). She has been an elected member of the General Medical Council and the Board of the Faculty of Public Health, and was a founder co-chair of the Association for Public Health (now the UK Public Health Association). Sheila is married with two adult stepsons, and lives in central London.
James Bunn is currently a general paediatrician at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust. He is also involved in community nutrition interventions for the Somali and other minority populations in Liverpool. Prior to this he worked in Malawi, where he helped develop national nutrition policy, informing this through clinical practice and local research. He has a Masters in Nutrition, and has taught nutrition and paediatrics to health professionals at many different levels, most recently as Associate Professor in Community Health at the College of Medicine in Blantyre, Malawi, where he was responsible for the nutrition curriculum.
Margaret Barratt is Managing Director of The Cambridge Development Partnership, a consultancy company that specialises in management and organisational change. She works with many organisations both in the public and in the private sector. Margaret has held senior appointments in the NHS, including Chairman of Cambridgeshire Health Authority and Chief Executive of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridge Workforce Development Confederation. Her early career in Education started in Schools and Higher Education and her University roles included senior appointments in strategic management and management development. She has worked in China and Eastern Europe and presented her research in USA, Europe and the UK. Margaret is committed to making food an enjoyable experience for children and young people and to reducing inequalities by improving school food and lifetime food education.
Julie Dent was Chief Executive of South West London Strategic Health Authority until 1 July 2006. She was awarded the CBE in 2005, after the London bombings, for services to the NHS. She left the NHS in March 2007 after 22 years to take up a new portfolio career including being Chair of the London Probation Board from April 2007 to the present. She became Chair of Torbay NHS Care Trust in December 2009. Prior to this she established her own consultancy/coaching company and she regularly participates in training days for Cumberlege Connections. She has coached Chief Executives and Directors in the NHS and the Third Sector. She was Chair of two social enterprises from 2007 to 2009, the Hub ( a workspace for social entrepreneurs), and Secure Healthcare (provider of healthcare in prisons). She is married with two grown up children and two grandchildren and lives on a small farm in Devon. The organic farm is mainly laid to grass for beef cattle, Red Devons and Aberdeen Angus, sheep,chickens and vegetables.
John Dyson has been a board member of the Trust since 2005 and is currently Deputy Chair and Chair of the Audit Committee. Following a career in the hospitality industry which included Forte, Gardner Merchant and Sodexo he formed his consultancy business Cocoms Ltd in 2002 and advises clients on compliance issues relating to food, health and safety and fire safety as well as developing e-learning programmes. He advises the British Hospitality Association (BHA) on all food and technical matters and in that capacity sits on a wide range of Government advisory groups including the High Level Steering Group of the Department of Health Food Network.
Jane Hurst has worked for many years in Local Government with a specific focus on disadvantaged and disaffected children, young people and their communities. She has extensive experience of running and managing Play and Youth Services and Alternative Education Projects. Jane also has a particular interest in preventing youth offending and promoting wellbeing. Recently she has worked as a researcher, consultant and Interim Manager around the UK in areas such as Integrated Youth Support Services, Integrated Locality working, and Behaviour and Attendance. Jane is a qualified teacher, youth worker and counsellor. Jane is keen to explore the links between diet/nutrition and behaviour and wellbeing. Through her work she is aware of the amount of time children and young people spend with their families and communities and how important it is to support them.
Tim Mack has led the development and implementation of brand marketing and communications strategies at Renault UK and NS&I /National Savings and Investments; voted “Marketer of the year” for the renaissance of NS&I and Premium Bonds, his achievements at Renault UK include the renowned “Nicole and Papa” campaign for the Clio. He has chaired the Government Heads of Marketing for the last 3 years and was on the Government Strategic Marketing and Advertising Board. Formerly governor of an infants and junior school, founding trustee of an environmental trust and a General Election candidate.
David Roche has worked in the Education sector for some 40 years including holding four headships, and interim Senior Secondary Adviser with a strong track record of helping to support and move forward schools in challenging circumstances. For the past six years he has worked as an Education Consultant within his own company. His consultancy roles have included working as a National Challenge Adviser and School Improvement partner in schools across northern England ranging from Blackpool to Liverpool, and across to N E Lincolnshire. He also works as an education “expert” to “Ask the key” answering questions emailed in from schools. His work in challenging schools has reinforced his views on the importance of motivation, self-esteem and “healthy minds, healthy bodies “. He is also an expert and trainer in Performance Management. More recently he has been working as an Adviser in the DfE. He is also heavily involved in the community especially in the performing arts and folk music where the Festival he chairs was named as runner –up to Cambridge as the best UK Folk Festival 2010 – an award he is proud of. David is married with four children but still finds time to help his wife with their large organic allotment and enjoys cooking the produce.
Adam Starkey is CEO of Green Gourmet Ltd., a food innovation company that creates brands and develops food, equipment and training for foodservice. He started it as a one-man business in 1988 after studying engineering at university and has grown it to £8m turnover. For 10 years he has been a non-executive director of Tarnside Consulting Ltd., a charity consultancy and coaching company, which has raised over £70m for client charities. In 2008 he helped in the formation of Stroud Brewery which has grown to become an award winning micro-brewery. He was recently appointed a director of GFirst, the organisation that runs the Local Economic Partnership for Gloucestershire, in order to support companies in the county and to encourage other companies to locate there. He is passionate about good food and public nutrition and believes wholeheartedly in school meals. His interests include being an active school governor, learning French and cooking at home with his two daughters.
Rosalind Turner is an experienced senior executive with a strong success record in driving organisational change, performance improvement and strategic planning. Her most recent roles are as Kent’s Managing Director for Children Families and Education Directorate from May 2009 to April 2011, and Director for Children and Young People in Suffolk County Council from May 2005-2009. She has over 28 years’ experience in a wide range of public service, from teaching to social care and health commissioning, and from leisure services to police liaison. Rosalind was part of the corporate team establishing the Brighton and Hove Unitary council in 1997, and was Assistant Director Lifelong Learning and then AD Families and Communities for Brighton and Hove, from 1997 to 2009, contributing to a range of regeneration programmes and the integration of children’s services leading up to the Children Act 2004. Rosalind has a deep commitment to public service, Rosalind was on the Board of Directors for the Association for Directors of Children’s Services from 2008 – 2011, and co-chaired the joint committee with ADASS. She is currently engaged in a number of local, regional and national projects.
