Our People

Simon became a trustee in 2017, he works for the City of London Corporation as the Chief Operating Officer of Bridge House Estates having formerly been Head of the Chief Executive’s Office.

Simon lives locally in Peckham, is vice-chair of governors at the Belham Primary School and previously worked for a think-tank in Westminster. Simon replaced David Coleman as Chair in 2019.

Clarissa joined the Board in 2018 and is a Senior Associate at Bates Wells where she advises UK and international charities, not for profit organisations and philanthropists (both individual and corporate) on a wide range of charity law and philanthropy issues.

Her work focuses on the structuring of philanthropic giving, charitable legal structures, registrations, governance and operational matters including fundraising, grant making and matters requiring the consent of the Charity Commission. Clarissa’s recent work includes advising on the creation of new charitable vehicles to undertake a wide variety of activities, on cross-border giving and the use of donor advised funds, on charity structuring, governance and trustee duties and on a number of transactional matters that have required the consent of the Charity Commission.

Clarissa is a member of the Charity Law Association, Charity Tax Group, Charity Investors Group and the STEP Charities and Philanthropy Special Interest Groups.

Amy became a trustee of Cambridge House in 2020 and is a member of the Governance, Risk and Inclusion subcommittee.

Amy is a manager at the Bank of England. Prior to this, she worked at the Financial Conduct Authority and at a research unit in UK Parliament advising MPs on work and pensions issues.

She holds a MSc in Public Policy from University College London and a First-Class Politics Degree from the University of Nottingham.

Stephanie joined the Board in 2018. She is Head of Learning and Development at Macfarlanes. She is responsible for all training within the firm (legal and development skills) for lawyers (from future trainees at the pre-training contract stage through to partners) and for non-legal staff.

She has a leading role in the firm’s development processes, including the formal mentoring scheme, and has a special interest in the issue of gender equality.

Stephanie is a qualified business coach.

Patrick is Professor of Public Policy at Queen Mary, University of London and Director of the Mile End Institute; a Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College, Oxford; an Associate Member of Nuffield College; a member of the Scientific Council of the Foundation for European Progressive Studies; and a board member of the Campaign for Social Science.

Formerly a Research Fellow in the Department of Politics at the University of Manchester, and Gwilym Gibbon Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, Patrick has held several senior posts in British central government between 2000 and 2010, and was formally Head of Policy Planning in 10 Downing Street.

Patrick was a Local Councillor in the London Borough of Southwark from 2010 to 2014.

Raja has held several leadership roles in the financial services industry across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific, working in client-facing roles as well as risk, product development, and technology. Most recently he has been managing change projects with responsibility for delivery of regulatory initiatives.

An analytical thinker and strategic planner with extensive experience of business development and change management, Raja is a strong interpersonal communicator and negotiator with experience in managing relationships with senior stakeholders.

As a devoted husband and father of three, Raja enjoys spending his spare time reading, traveling, and engaging in general outdoor pursuits.

Suzanne is the Director of Engagement at The Policy Institute King’s College London, where her role involves trialling, developing, and embedding approaches for meaningfully involving the public in both identifying public policy problems and solving them. She focuses specifically on participatory, creative, and deliberative methods as a way of meaningfully engaging with people and understanding their lived experience.

Suzanne’s work spans a wide range of policy areas and contemporary issues, including political polarisation, distrust, generational inequity, income inequality and the cost-of-living crisis.

Tara is the Finance Director at the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). She holds an honours degree in Business and is a CIMA Fellow.

With experience across a diverse range of industries, from Pharma to Marine Classification, Tara joined the FRC from The London Metal Exchange. She has played a key role in various projects, including outsourcing, systems upgrades (both financial and non-financial), and organisational acquisitions.

Committed to diversity and equality, Tara, when not working or socialising, enjoys walking her dog in the beautiful English countryside.

His Royal Highness is interested in promoting social welfare and community and youth development.

As a qualified architect, His Royal Highness takes a keen interest in how we use our building to generate social change and deliver invaluable services to both our vulnerable communities and the local voluntary sector. He opened our redeveloped and expanded building in 2012.

“Cambridge House is a splendid Georgian terrace which has provided space for many different volunteer organisations to play many different roles which benefit the community in Southwark. I have much enjoyed watching it adapt over the years to the many needs and I hope it will continue to do so.”

Born in 1944, The Duke of Gloucester is a grandson of George V and a first cousin to The Queen. He attended Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he read Architecture.

David trained and qualified as a solicitor at City law firm Macfarlanes, where he specialised in corporate law. He was the partner responsible for training and knowledge management across the firm until he retired in 2013. As a corporate lawyer David brings to Cambridge House experience of advising businesses at critical stages in their development, an understanding of the critical role of the board of directors and experience in chairing meetings effectively. David also sits on the Parish Council of his local church, which is within the diocese of Southwark, where amongst other things, he keeps a close eye on the church’s finances. David was appointed as our chair of trustees in November 2009 and served until December 2015, before handing over to Julie Myers.

David was appointed to the position of Interim Chair in 2018 when Julie stepped down in December 2017. David served as Vice Chair from 2019 to January 2023 when he retired as a trustee.