Alex Fitzgibbons Chair (Pictured)

Alex Fitzgibbons is the Managing Director and majority shareholder of Fait Accompli, one of the world’s leading event organisers. He has been a supporter of Child Bereavement UK for a number of years and in 2015 he raised £250,000 for the charity by competing in an Ironman in Kalmar, Sweden; and in 2020 he ran, cycled and kayaked over 2020 kilometres from London to Stockholm raising over £1m. Alex is married with five children and splits his time between Sweden and the UK. He is also a Trustee of the GD Charitable Trust and a previous trustee of the Eve Appeal.

Deborah Eaton KC

Deborah is joint Head of Chambers at 1 Kings Bench Walk. A pre-eminent authority in children law for many years, she frequently handles some of the most significant and far-reaching cases in this sphere, including those with an international angle. She is also highly respected in the matrimonial finance field, with extensive experience in ancillary relief cases and prenuptial agreements, and has a particular interest in the mental health of children in disputes. Deborah is passionate about her work for Child Bereavement UK.

Kristen Eshak Weldon

Kristen is the Head of Food Innovation and Downstream Strategy at Louis Dreyfus Company. Prior to joining LDC in 2019, Kristen was a Senior Managing Director of The Blackstone Group and was co-head of the Hedge Fund Solutions Group’s London office. Before joining Blackstone in 2004, she worked at J.P. Morgan in New York and London. She was a founding Board member of 100 Women in Hedge Funds, London. Kristen studied Finance and International Business at Georgetown University, has a Masters in Strategy and Leadership from London Business School and is married with two children.

Nicola Gilham BA FCA

Nicola is Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, Chair of the Risk and Governance Committee and sits on both the Remuneration and Investment Committees. As a qualified chartered accountant, she enjoyed her first career with Arthur Andersen where she led consulting assignments in the UK and overseas. She was formerly CEO of a leading HR recruitment business in London, having worked in that sector for over twenty years. Nicola now pursues a portfolio non-executive career working as an independent Board Adviser for recruitment businesses and organisations within the Third Sector.

Nicola has volunteered as a telephone counsellor for emotional support services, and sits on several boards including Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, North West London Integrated Care Board, the national social enterprise Turning Point, and the Children’s Services company, Brighter Futures for Children in Reading.

Lorna Ireland BA (Hons), MSc

Lorna is Manager for the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences at Queen Mary University of London with overall responsibility for managing the professional and technical services teams supporting Research, Education, HR, Finance, Marketing and Public engagement. Lorna is a trained workplace mediator, Prince 2 Practitioner and Mental Health First Aider.

Lorna first became involved with the Charity in 2014 after a close family bereavement led to an intervention from her son’s school and to an introduction with Child Bereavement UK. The support received from the Charity was pivotal in providing her then then 7-year-old son with the space and support needed to talk about his feelings and tools for the family to learn how to live with their grief. Lorna is hoping to be able to give back to the Charity by being a Trustee; imparting some of her professional skills and contributing to the Charity’s widening participation agenda.

Tim Manasseh  BA (Hons), MSc

Tim is a Senior Partner at Korn Ferry, based in London, specialising in organisation and talent consulting in the Consumer Goods industry. Prior to that he was a Managing Director at Accenture, where he served on the global leadership team of the firm’s Consumer Goods practice. Previously Tim worked for Roland Berger, a strategy firm, in Chicago and London, as well as KPMG in both Europe and the US. Tim has been a spokesperson on a number of industry issues, has authored several papers on key industry trends, and has featured as a speaker at numerous industry events. Tim has two grown up sons.

Therese Mayhew 

For the past 20 years Therese Mayhew has been an owner and director of Blue Strawberry Events and Table Talk, leading London catering and events companies. Born in Sweden and educated in Switzerland and France with degrees in International Relations and Art History, Therese also holds an MBA from INSEAD. Prior to joining the events world she worked at Christie’s, Citibank Private Bank and lastminute.com. Therese most recently lived in Dubai and Spain for a number of years and now lives in the UK with her husband and their four children.

Therese and Gavin were introduced to Child Bereavement UK by their close friend Alex Fitzgibbons following the death of their middle daughter India in 2015, and received invaluable support from Founder Patron Julia Samuel. Being a Trustee of the charity which is close to their hearts offers a meaningful way to give back.


Read the Trustees’ Annual Report on the Charity Commission website