George Crozer – Chairman of the Board of Trustees
AMAT UK’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees since 2013, is a retired Recruitment Consultant with 30 years’ experience in the construction industry. He also has experience of working as an advocate for clients with deprived liberty under the mental health act. Married with two sons, George is heavily involved in local community activities. He’s campaigned against the development of internationally protected wetlands in North Kent and participated in the latest consultation to identify additional aviation runways in the South East. George is committed to a caring society and prepared to devote time and energy to further those beliefs.
Emma Paterson – Secretary Board of Trustees
AMAT’s Company Secretary. Emma is a Management Accountant. She has had a long-standing relationship with AMAT UK, beginning in 2006 when she worked as an HR assistant during her gap year before starting university and returned to AMAT during the university holidays. This gave Emma real insight into the homeless sector; affording her the opportunity to learn a great deal about the importance of places like AMAT UK– who offer a supportive environment for some of the most vulnerable people in society, helping them to get back on their feet and achieve their goals. Emma attained a Law degree and then went on to train as a Chartered Accountant in a London accountancy firm, specialising in providing audit and assurance services to a wide variety of clients including listed companies, small businesses, charitable organisations and pension schemes.
David Bloomfield – Trustee
A long standing Medway resident, who is presently semi-retired from a career in the construction industry. David has worked in a wide-variety of roles ranging from welder, operations manager, NVQ assessor to Company Director. An established member of the community – David has carried out numerous voluntary roles from parish council member, school governor and a host of other charitable activities. He was attracted to the role of Trustee for AMAT UK as he is passionate about having a positive impact in the community that he has lived and worked in for over 50 years.
Scott Phipps- Trustee
Scott has 14 years’ experience working with Homeless adults. Scott worked at AMAT UK for 10 years as a Senior Support worker, he left to work at a charity who work with rough sleepers in Westminster. Working with homeless adult’s frontline is a vocation and with years of knowledge and experience in the Sector. Scott was pleased to return to AMAT and influence the strategy and help to shape the service.
Kirstine Epps – Trustee
Kirstine has engaged in a range of projects of social justice and social cohesion underpins a confident and consistent approach to the management and maintenance of high-quality service delivery. Kirstine has a over a decade of experience of both project and programme development within public health, education and the mental health sectors, Kirstine has also refined a keen understanding of the complex relationship between health inequalities and service user involvement
Alexander Anderson – Trustee
Alex currently volunteers in our café, he is a former Resident of ours who lived with us for a while and has now moved on to his own accommodation . He is keen to learn how AMAT works and be able to guide and influence the direction of the Charity. His lived experience is so important, the perspective and understanding he has of the service is going to be unique and different to the rest of the Board.
Jonathan Clay – Trustee
Jonathan is a barrister specialising in planning and environmental law. His background in housing and local government led to his decision to be called to the Bar some 30 years ago. He was instrumental in setting up short life housing co-operatives in south London in the 80s and early 90s and had 8 years of experience as a member on a north Kent authority including 4 years as a cabinet member responsible for regeneration . Jonathan has lived in north Kent and south London for over 40 years.
Jonathan is committed to serving the housing needs of the Medway community and sees membership of the Board as a way of achieving this.
Ibiyinka Macaulay (Ibi) – Trustee
Ibi achieved a MSc in Business Management from the University of Hull in 2007. Since then, she has worked in various accounting departments before joining AMAT in 2018 as the Bookkeeper. She was later promoted to become the Management Accountant of AMAT in 2022 after reaching the final stages of her CIMA qualification examinations. Working in AMAT finance department enabled her passion to transcend precise and accurate transactional accounting and record keeping, to becoming more analytical and inquisitive in understanding variances and forecasts. Also, she has broadened her knowledge of AMAT’s internal processes beyond the finance office by regularly taking on weekend late shifts.
Ibi is currently living in Medway and working in a local accounting firm. She is eager to contribute to the growth of AMAT by working together with the Board of Trustees to drive the organisation forward.
Shelley Ashdown – Trustee
Shelley has lived and worked in Medway all of her life; she first came to live with AMAT 6 years ago after sofa surfing due to the end of a relationship. Shelley has consistently volunteered and has become an active member of our community, including volunteering her time in our Charity shop, helping with events, and manning our reception. Shelley is also a member of our ALIVE and SINGING Choir.
Shelley worked with our resettlement officer and has now moved into her own secure accommodation, although she no longer lives with AMAT, Shelley is passionate about giving back to the organisation, and is keen to add her lived experience to the board to ensure that service users are getting the support that they need, in the way they need it.
Ravi Sharma – Trustee
Ravi is a seasoned leader with over 15 years of strategic management experience in various sectors, including public, private, and social. As the Economy Lead (Place) and EDI Advocate at Surrey County Council, Ravi leads the delivery of the town regeneration programme, which aims to create vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable places for residents, businesses, and visitors.
Ravi’s core competencies include stakeholder management, partnership building, data-driven insights, co-designing strategies, and promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion. Ravi has successfully engaged with multiple partners and communities to co-create and implement place-based solutions that address local challenges and opportunities. Most recently, Ravi has been leading research into health on the high streets and developing strategies for tackling health inequalities across key towns in Surrey.
Ravi has also leveraged his MBA and consultancy project management skills to work in the real estate and hospitality industries, and launched an online gift store that showcases his cultural and creative flair. Ravi is always eager to learn new skills and explore new avenues to make a positive impact on society.
Ravi has always been passionate about giving back to the community through voluntary teaching and tutoring for Maths and English, career coaching graduate students at City University in London, supporting a local food bank in East London and raising a total of £1,500 for Shelter and Tommy’s by running three half marathons.
