Trustees

Our Board of Trustees is responsible for governance and strategic direction. 

The Trustees individually represent different skills and experience in clinical services, accountancy, management, fundraising, policy and audit and evaluation necessary for the setting of objectives and monitoring performance. Management of the organisation is delegated to the Chief Executive.

We are delighted that Freedom from Torture was recognised in the 2023 Board Awards - we were Highly Commended for Board with the Greatest Impact for Inclusion, and International Aid and Development Board of the Year

Professor Sir Frank Atherton  

Professor Sir Frank Atherton was previously the Chief Medical Officer for the Welsh Government and Medical Director of NHS Wales.

Frank graduated in medicine from Leeds University and worked in hospital and primary care posts around the North of England for a number of years before undertaking voluntary work as a District Medical Officer in Malawi.

On his return to the UK, he completed specialist training in Public Health Medicine in the Yorkshire Region and then worked on international health and development issues with WHO and the UK Department for International Development in various locations including the Former Yugoslavia, Tanzania, and Bangladesh.

From 2002 to 2012 Frank worked as a Director of Public Health in Lancashire and from 2008 to 2012 he also served as President of the UK Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH). In 2012 Frank moved to Canada to take up post as the Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Health in the Department of Health and Wellness, Nova Scotia.

Frank was knighted in the 2022 New Year Honours list for his services to public health following the leading role he has played in Wales throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. He was appointed as visiting Professor at Leeds University in 2023.

Angela Cluff

Angela Cluff is a fundraising consultant. She works with UK and international charities and not for profit organisations to transform fundraising performance. She has a special interest in major donor fundraising and the power of philanthropy. Before becoming a fundraiser, Angela's career was in commercial marketing, advertising, and market research. 

Her fundraising career has spanned senior roles across a range of fundraising streams and organisations, including NSPCC where she played a leading role in creating and implementing the ground-breaking FULL STOP campaign. Angela is a regular speaker at national and international fundraising conferences on a wide range of topics, is an occasional writer and was a contributor to the Commission on the Donor Experience. She is also Deputy Chair of Oxfam GB.

Gareth Dunlop

Gareth Dunlop is a digital entrepreneur who has founded, grown and sold two agencies over a 25-year career. He writes and speaks extensively on Internet related subjects and occupies regular columns in a number of high-profile publications.  He has a particular interest in the positive role which strategically-aligned digital communications and technologies can play in the service delivery, fundraising efforts and overall operations of the organisation.

Orla Fee 

Orla is a communications professional with experience at senior leadership team and board level in healthcare, human rights and international development.

Her roles have included Director of Communications and Public Engagement at ActionAid UK, an international charity supporting women and girls to claim their rights and help lead their communities out of poverty; and Head of Corporate Communications at the Royal College of Physicians, where she developed a strong commitment to equality and inclusion in healthcare.

Orla spent six years on the board of trustees of UK-Med, as Chair of their Fundraising and Communications committee. UK-Med is a frontline medical aid charity, bringing lifesaving medical assistance around the world to people affected by disasters or conflict.

Orla holds an LLM Masters in Human Rights from Queen’s University, Belfast. 

Tim O’Sullivan Guy 

Tim is a chartered accountant with almost 20 years experience, including both charity and commercial sector roles.

After university, Tim joined the graduate training scheme at BDO in 2006, specialising in audit. Following his time at BDO, he made the move into the charity sector, taking on the role of Financial Accountant at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International. After two years focussing on financial controls and processes in the UK, he moved into an international role, supporting overseas sections of Amnesty through financial training and development, and implementation of a unified chart of accounts to enable Amnesty to report on their financial position as a global movement.

After four years at Amnesty, Tim moved into the events and hospitality sector, where he continues to work today as CFO of a private members' club in West London. He has continued his engagement in the not-for-profit sector through trustee roles and was appointed Treasurer of Freedom from Torture in October 2024. 

Mishka Pillay  

Mishka is a co-partner of A&M Consultancy and has worked in the refugee and migration sector since 2015, specialising in campaigns, advocacy, and the advancement of Lived Experience Leadership. He serves on the International Advisory Committee of the International Detention Coalition and is a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Working Group on Mental Health and Forced Migration. In September 2022, he was appointed as a Commissioner for the Independent Commission on the Integration of Refugees.

Mishka is passionate about seeing a world without torture and being a part of the global anti-torture movement. He is a member of the Governance Committee.

Natalie Samarasinghe 

Kate Sayer (Chair) 

Kate has recently retired from her role as the Director of Integrity & Ethics at Oxfam. Before that, Kate was a partner in Sayer Vincent, a professional firm focusing solely on social purpose organisations. Until recently, Kate was Chair of Bond, the membership organisation for development charities registered in the UK.

Early in her career, Kate qualified as a chartered accountant and decided to use her knowledge and skills to further humanitarian causes. She has a wealth of experience in charity governance, risk management and leadership. She has been an advisor, trainer and author in these areas, and a trustee of several charities.

A keen gardener, Kate appreciates the therapeutic benefit of getting close to nature. 

Rasha Obaid

Rasha Obaid is a human right activist originally from South Yemen. Prior to completing a master’s degree in Post-war Recovery Studies at the University of York, UK, she was the head of the Women Peace and Security division at the Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights and a Women political Coordinator at the Yemeni Women National Committee. After becoming a refugee in the United Kingdom, Rasha continued her advocacy on behalf of women and girls at Amnesty International in London. Rasha has also served in various roles at the Peace Track Initiative, a Canadian non-profit founded by Yemeni women to promote the inclusion of women in the peace process to end the civil war in Yemen.

Rasha is a visiting Fellow at the Women Peace and Security Centre at the London School of Economics, and serves as a non-executive director of the London-based social enterprise, Well Grounded. Rasha is also a practicing artist, and serves as a mentor to young artists in Yemen through Goethe Institute Yemeni Cultural Network programme.

Rasha is a member of the Finance, Governance and Audit Committee.

Philomène Uwamaliya 

Philomène Uwamaliya is a former refugee and a survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Philomène is an expert health advocate with a strong vision for Advancing the Rights and Well-Being of Asylum Seekers and Refugees, especially victims of torture and sexual violence in conflict. Philomène has been a registered mental health nurse since 2006, holds an MSc in Public Health (International Development), and is pursuing a PhD via published work.

Since 2011 Philomène has been working as a Senior Lecturer at the Liverpool John Moores University in the School of Nursing and Allied Health. Philomène is Project Lead for the Resource Hub for Professionals who support Asylum Seekers, Refugees, and Migrant Populations & Humanitarian Champions Programme for Asylum Seekers, Migrant Populations. She is also a Mental Health First Aid Instructor & Suicide Prevention Trainer.

Dr. Declan Woods

Dr. Declan Woods is a Chartered Psychologist, CEO of teamGenie, and creator of the workplace team diagnostic tool, teamSalient. Working with multiple teams at scale, he specialises in transforming organisations through their teams. Alongside this, Declan is Professor of Leadership Practice at King's College London (KCL).

Declan has a thirty-five-year career in executive and non-executive leadership roles in a range of organisations. He earned degrees from the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Warwick and INSEAD, France. His doctoral studies were at the University of Leicester.

Declan has a particular interest in the role group therapy can play to help people rebuild lives.

Michelle Weeks

Michelle Weeks is a senior People Director with broad experience across major global companies as well as smaller organisations. She is currently Chief People Officer at WTS UK. Her career has included both permanent and interim roles focusing on change and transformation in sectors spanning media, pharmaceuticals, FMCG, retail and hospitality, including organisations such as Diageo and The Economist.  Michelle has worked closely with chief executives and senior leadership teams, both supporting organisations through periods of transformational change and coaching senior leaders.

Michelle has been a long-time volunteer in the refugee sector.

Dr. Sarah Heke 

Dr. Sarah Heke is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with 32 years of experience in the NHS and she is also a Consultant in private practice.  Throughout her career, Sarah has worked clinically with people who have experienced psychological trauma, including sexual, physical and emotional abuse in childhood, sexual and domestic violence, and refugees subjected to torture, war-related trauma, trafficking, including domestic servitude, forced sex, drugs and construction work, and other forms of persecution leading to them seeking asylum in the UK.  A core component of which has been to routinely conduct expert psychological assessments and reports for the purpose of immigration and criminal court proceedings.  In her NHS roles, Sarah was Director of the Institute of Psychotrauma, a specialist Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Service for clients who had experienced multiple and repeated traumatic events and who consequently suffer from a complex range of psychological problems.  She currently works for the Centre for Anxiety Stress and Trauma (CAST) as Clinical Lead for emergency services and professionals affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.   

Sarah is a non-executive Trustee for Stride Forward, a charity for mentoring people with life changing injuries.  Sarah chaired the Royal College of Psychiatry Accreditation for Psychological Therapies and was Secretary of the UK Psychological Trauma Society (UKPTS).  She has led on the publication of national guidelines including service provision for Complex PTSD (UKPTS, 2017) and Pre-trial Therapy (Crown Prosecution Service, 2022) and was a committee member for the scoping the evidence base for the NICE guidelines for PTSD (2018).  Sarah is also a recognised trainer with the Narrative Exposure Therapy Institute.