Our Board of Trustees

Edward Pysden

AFG Chair

Edward Pysden, AFG's Chair of the Board of Trustees is a senior partner of international law firm Eversheds. He is one of the leading corporate lawyers in the country with a 40 year legal career.

Edward has also spent 10 successful years as Chairman of the Halle Orchestra, re-establishing its artistic and financial strength, and has also chaired the Manchester Airport Group, pro-manchester, promoting Manchester for its financial and professional services and Bodycote Pensions Trust. He is currently chair of Marketing Cheshire, as well as being a non-Executive Director of European Metal Recycling, a global metal recycling business, and continues his interest in the Halle through his role as Vice President and Trustee of its Endowment Trust.

Sylvia Smith

Sylvia qualified as an SRN in 1967, specialising in Intensive Care Nursing. She graduated in Psychology (1981), and enjoyed an academic career for 25 years as a Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology. She was responsible for coordinating and providing a service for students with physical and learning disabilities, to support their learning and assessment needs.

Sylvia served on various committees and working parties, including Academic Board, Academic Standards, and Equal Opportunities Committees.

She has also done voluntary work tutoring English for Asian Women, and Adult Literacy.

In addition Sylvia was a School Governor at Savick Primary School, Preston, which had a large unit dealing with special needs of children with learning disabilities. She was appointed to the Board of Trustees in January 2009.

Doug Haynes

Doug joined the Group Board as a Trustee in 2005 and chairs the IGAR (Integrated Governance, Audit and Risk) Committee.

Previously Director of the School of Business Information at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), Doug’s career spanned lecturing and tutoring students in Operational Research, Business Information Systems and Business Improvement.

More recently, Doug has qualified in personality profiling and as an Executive Coach. His current focus is the effective use of Emotional Intelligence in the workplace. 

Chris Hannah

Chris joined the Alternative Futures Group Board as a Trustee in 2008.

Chris has been Chief Executive of a number of NHS bodies, including a Strategic Health Authority, and has worked with the Department of Health on many national projects.

"I had an association with Alternative Futures Group in its early days and was impressed by the then, ground-breaking and value-led approach to supporting user independence. Renewing my association over ten years later, it is heartening to see how the value-led approach and concern to make a difference to people’s lives has endured, making it an organisation I am pleased to belong and make a contribution to."

Helena Culshaw

Helena is an Occupational Therapist who runs her own business ‘Paddock Associates’ providing personal injury assessments and rehabilitation management services to insurance companies and solicitors for people with catastrophic injuries sustained in road traffic accidents or at work.

She has been a trustee of Alternative Futures Group since October 2007 and became board champion for mental health in November 2008 providing strategic leadership for the development of the mental health strategy.

Angela Phillips

Angela was appointed in January 2009 and is originally from the North East of England.

She studied Law before moving into Accountancy with Coopers and Lybrand and moved to Manchester in the late 1980’s to train as a Chartered Accountant before taking up the role of Finance Manager with Whitbread plc. Angela then spent 8 years with BUPA where she worked in both the Insurance and the Hospital divisions.

Angela now lives in Stockport where she is currently Director of Finance Performance and Estates Development with the local PCT there.

Outside of work her main hobbies are going to the theatre, travelling and landscape photography. 

Roy Barker

Roy was appointed to the Board of AFG in January 2010 and is also a member of the Finance and Performance Committee. A qualified accountant, Roy has held commercially focussed finance roles in numerous industries including newspapers, waste management, renewable energy, gaming and the public sector.

Roy lives near Rufford and outside of work enjoys spending time with his family, as well as running, walking, going to the gym and practicing yoga.