Our People
Age UK Wandsworth is an independent, local charity governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association which exists to promote the quality of life of older people in the borough of Wandsworth.
We could not fulfil our role without our Board of Trustees, who have ultimate responsibility for the charity, ensuring that it is solvent, well-run, and delivering the charitable outcomes for the benefit of older people for which it has been set up.
Being a trustee is an unpaid but rewarding role, allowing individuals to bring their skills, knowledge and experience to the running of the charity.
Age UK Wandsworth Board of Trustees
Tracy Cherrington - Chair of Board of Trustees
Tracy has recently transitioned from a 38-year career in the Financial Services sector, where she held various executive roles, including Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Executive Director. Leveraging her extensive experience and her core strengths in leadership, governance, risk management, control, and operations, she has moved into trustee positions within the charity sector. Throughout her career, she actively engaged in leadership initiatives with a particular focus on Diversity and Inclusion, talent development, mentoring, and coaching. Her passion lies in empowering and supporting others to achieve their full potential and succeed. Tracy has lived in South West London for 18 years and is keen to use her experience to support local charities.
Abby Minns - Vice Chair of Board of Trustees
Abby trained in the city as an Intellectual Property lawyer and now works as a consultant IP lawyer for law firms as well as SMEs providing IP advice and acting in IP disputes. Abby has a particular focus on the healthcare and Life Sciences sectors. She lives and works in Wandsworth and has two young children at school in the borough.
"I am excited to be involved with Age UK Wandsworth as it allows me to apply my legal expertise while contributing to a cause that matters in my local community. With a strong connection to Wandsworth, I look forward to supporting the charity’s efforts and making a difference alongside the dedicated team and volunteers".
Jenny Alexander - Chair of Finance & Resources Committee
Jenny is a director of a private property company, a qualified chartered accountant, treasurer of the Craft Potters Association and an avid ceramics collector and part time amateur ceramics maker.
"Age UK has been part of my life for most of the time since I first started as a volunteer befriender as a student. It's a charity close to my heart and I am honoured to be involved with a group of trustees who are dedicated to steering Age UK Wandsworth through sometimes troubled waters, and enabling it to provide the services older local residents require".
Richard Smuts - Chair of Branding & Communications Committee
Richard retired from a global marketing role at BP. He lives in the borough of Wandsworth.
"When considering retirement, I was determined to use the opportunity to "give something back" in at least some small way to the community around me. I had thought for some time that our aging population was an urgent and growing need. I felt that my 30 odd years in marketing could help when I discovered that AUKW was seeking a Trustee to help shape, guide and deliver some existing and new marketing and fundraising activities".
Janet Turner - Treasurer
Janet is a chartered accountant with significant experience in Finance and Risk, gained from a long career working at a major UK financial services provider, most recently as the Group’s Finance Risk Director.
“I have lived in Wandsworth for over 35 years and was keen to join Age UK Wandsworth as a trustee as I wanted to support a local charity following my retirement. When I met the team I was impressed by the range and quality of services they provide, their ambition and reputation”.
Karrie Liu
Karrie Liu is a freelance data scientist from Tooting with 10+ years of work experience in NHS and pharm; she aspires to balance this with spending time on pro bono projects and charities.
"I hope to put my academic and analytical experience to wider use. Being a trustee with Age UK Wandsworth gives me a great opportunity to share my skills and develop them for future applications and also allows me to give back to the local community."
Lara Sonola
Lara is a senior manager in the NHS, currently working as Chief of Staff in Transformation and Corporate Development at NHS England and NHS Improvement. Prior to joining the NHS, Lara was a senior researcher at The King's Fund focussing on integrated care and reconfiguring clinical services.
"I joined Age UK Wandsworth as a trustee at the start of 2017, on moving back to Wandsworth after a number of years in other parts of London. I grew up in the borough and wanted to contribute to improving the lives of older people in this community. I’ve really enjoyed meeting and getting to know our staff, volunteers and service users, and now as co-chair, I’m looking forward to building on the fantastic services our organisation has delivered for more than 50 years as we look ahead to an exciting future".
Shanna Pedersen
Shanna works for BT and brings business experience across Operations, Service, Sales, Transformation, CX, BI, Sales and Commercial. Beyond this, Shanna is a lifelong learner having completed a masters in Sustainability Leadership at the University of Cambridge, she is passionate about giving back, utilising her experience to improve the lives of others. This include roles on advisory boards (BT Business Sustainability Forum, Be the Business), as a practice community member (PIPC), an assessor on the CISL High Impact Leadership Course and as a mentor and coach.
‘I am excited to have been appointed as a trustee for Age UK Wandsworth, it allows me to utilise my broad business experience to support the charity and to give back to my local community. This role is a natural extension to a previous voluntary commitment for which I hosted tea parties for over a decade to support the local elderly community to combat loneliness (and to eat lovely cake!). Working alongside the talented and committed team of board members and other volunteers, I hope to make a difference’
Age UK Wandsworth Management Team
Executive Team
Natalie de Silva - Chief Executive
Nick Grimshaw - Director of Operations and Quality
Sally Clark - Director of Branding and Communications
Gillian Lyons - Director of Finance and Resources