Mencap Trustees

Lynne was appointed as Chair in January 2026. An experienced leader in the charity and commercial sectors, Lynne brings valuable experience to the Board, with over 25 years’ experience at Board level in both Executive and Non-Executive roles. This has included being UK CEO of National Australia Bank’s U.K. Businesses and CEO of Woolwich plc, as well as a range of non-executive roles including at TSB and Nationwide.   

Lynne has served for nearly ten years as the Chair of Learning Disability Network London, a charity supporting people with a learning disability and their families in the capital.  

Yogi was appointed as a trustee in November 2018. He is a senior partner at Irwin Mitchell and a legal specialist in the areas of human rights law , community care law and mental capacity law. He was a Trustee of the Independent Living Fund for over eight years.

Lucy was appointed as a trustee in November 2018. Her background is in satellite technology and its adoption. She runs a small agency that helps space-adjacent companies scale towards Series A funding, and works with government and arm's-length bodies to strengthen the strategic role of space in the UK and ensure it remains globally competitive.

She has held board roles with the Eden Project, Local Enterprise Partnerships and Research Councils, and is currently a trustee of Enginuity, the engineering skills charity, and sits on the STFC Advisory Board. 

Catherine is a Board level business leader with an engineering mind-set and a track record of accelerating performance through transformation in a diverse range of businesses. She has worked in healthcare and technology for the last ten years and is currently CEO of Reframe which supports people who have been diagnosed with cancer. Prior to that she was on the board of McKesson UK and previously ran UK operations for Amazon. She spent the first part of her career in supply chain in retail and manufacturing businesses.

Kathryn has experience of leadership in Local Government through several roles in Stockport and Wigan Council and is passionate about improving the lives of people and communities.

She joined Stockport Council as the Director for Strategy and Commissioning in 2020 where she has responsibility for policy, partnerships, community development and workforce. 

She previously worked for 8 years in Wigan Council, where she played an integral in the design and delivery of the Wigan Deal which transformed the way the council worked with communities. 

Neil was appointed as a Trustee in October 2023. He is the Deputy Liaison Officer for Hertsmere Mencap. He is also their Transport Organiser, helping to arrange volunteer drivers to drive members to their clubs and to their homes. He assists the drivers as minibus escort. Neil has been with Hertsmere Mencap since 1998.

He is an Expert by Experience in the Integrated Accommodation Commissioning Team within Hertfordshire County Council. His role is to make Easy Read information for people with learning disabilities. He has done this for over sixteen years. 

Alan Gosschalk is Fundraising Director at Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and joined the Mencap board of trustees in September 2024, bringing with him a wealth of fundraising experience from his work at several charities including Scope, Moorfields Eye Charity, Plan International UK, Scope, RNID, and Shelter. In 2013, he was awarded the annual Lifetime Contribution Award by the Chartered Institute of Fundraising.

Nicola has over 30 years’ experience working to improve life chances of people with learning disability and their families by delivering person-centred, community-based support and leading national strategies and policies which reduce inequalities faced by people with learning disability and other groups of people at risk of social exclusion. This has included delivering programmes such as Valuing People, Getting a Life and Preparing for Adulthood) which supported the development of supported living , person centred planning, co-production, supported employment , Supported Internships and better transition to adulthood for people with learning disability and children and young people with SEND. Nicola has also led national programmes for NHS England to deliver personalised care, social prescribing and inclusion health.

Jackie was appointed a Trustee in November 2018 and is based in Northern Ireland. She is the Board's lead for belonging and inclusion.

Jackie is a management consultant at Kainos Group, where she supports customers with human resources software. She also chairs two Network Partners - Carrickfergus Junior Gateway, where she has volunteered for over 25 years; and Carrickfergus & District Mencap Society.