We are fortunate to have such an involved and forward-thinking board of trustees. Their broad and varied experience helps to guide the course we take, ensuring we remain true to our values, charitable aims and objectives and use our funds wisely.

Karl Marlowe Chair of the Social Interest Group Board of Trustees

As Chair of the Social Interest Group since April 2017, Karl Marlowe’s role is to further develop sustainable partnership working & expertise between providers of health and social care for marginalised populations in England, under the umbrella of a well governed and innovative charitable organisation.

Karl is Consultant Psychiatrist, Caldicott Guardian & Responsible Officer for Medical Revalidation at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. Before this, he was Chief Medical Officer and Consultant Psychiatrist on the Board at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. Karl was previously Clinical Director for Tower Hamlets at East London NHS Foundation Trust, and a commissioner on the Board at NHS Barnet CCG for 4 years. He has been an academic at Queen Mary, University of London (medical school) and City University of London (nursing school). He completed undergraduate studies at Liverpool Medical School and postgraduate degrees at UCL, King’s College London and Oxford University.

Karl’s main interests & research have been in schizophrenia, addictions, offenders’ health, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), the development of youth wellbeing services, clinical governance and value-based commissioning.

Read More Collapse text
Stuart Jenkin Vice-chair, Social Interest Group & Trustee & Chair SIG Investments

As vice-chairman, Stuart ensures good governance and financial management within the group and assists the charity in fulfilling its objectives. He is also a Trustee and Chair of the subsidiary Social Interest Group Investments.

Stuart has worked in the property industry for over 45 years and brings this real estate and business experience to the board. He spent approximately 20 years in the City of London working for Abbey Life Assurance Company and Provident Mutual Life Assurance Association. He was then appointed Head of Real Estate at Siemens where he was responsible for over 6 million square feet of premises in the UK. Up until 2017, Stuart spent 20 years at Frogmore, a leading UK property company where he was a member of the Investment Committee. As Director of Fund Management, he was responsible for the creation and formation of three private equity real estate funds. Today Stuart is a Non-Executive Director and Consultant.

Stuart has a BSc. in Estate Management (with Commendation) and is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a member of the Property Investment Forum.

Stuart’s interests are golf, swimming and classical guitar.

Read More Collapse text
Gill Arukpe Executive Trustee and Group Chief Executive of the Social Interest Group

Gill established the Social Interest Group in September 2014, creating a flat governance structure which allows her to oversee Penrose Options, Penrose Works Ltd and Equinox Care (the three founder members of the Social Interest Group).

Gill started her career by opening and running two women’s refuges when she was just 18 years of age in the early 1980s. Since then, she has volunteered in several voluntary organisations and was a Trustee for a variety of offender supported housing, mental health and learning disability services.

She worked for Shelter in a variety of roles over 13 years, including development and senior management. She then worked for a registered housing association where she was Director of Operations and Development. She moved on to be a Director of Business Development for Turning Point and specialised in developing and providing substance misuse, mental health and learning disabilities services for vulnerable adults.

As a strong leader with vision and strategy, Gill secured a large part in the London CRC for Penrose Options. This contract involves Penrose Options supporting all offenders in the London rehabilitation prisons and 4,000 in the community every year.

Read More Collapse text
Dylan Kerr Non-Executive Trustee of the Social Interest Group

Dylan Kerr is a nurse prescriber who has worked in mental health and substance misuse treatment for over 15 years in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Dylan has worked in the NHS and charity sector in London, most recently in operational and commercial development roles for substance misuse providers.

He has experience leading hospital alcohol liaison services and community alcohol services. He has also developed digital resources for alcohol and mental health treatment and training purposes including, DrinkCoach and Alcopath.

Dylan currently works as a senior policy manager for the Department of Health and Social Care and with Orbis Media as clinical lead supporting health product development.

He has a diploma in leadership and management and is completing a Masters in health studies at the University of Hertfordshire.

Dylan enjoys playing basketball, squash, and snowboarding but now has two children, so presently just enjoys being a dad.

Read More Collapse text
Claire Barton Non-Executive Trustee of the Social Interest Group

Claire has been an HR professional for over 30 years with a background in UK and international HR in FTSE 100 organisations across oil and gas, petrochemicals and manufacturing. She moved into providing HR consultancy services to small and medium sized businesses across a diverse range of industries and coaching leaders and entrepreneurs in start-up businesses. She has latterly been mentoring job seekers through the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and volunteering with Age UK.

Claire has a degree in Business Studies and a Masters in Organisational Behaviour from Birkbeck College, University of London.

In her spare time, Claire enjoys walking her dog and is learning to play the piano.

Read More Collapse text
Jeffery Loo Non-Executive Trustee and Treasurer elect

Jeff has spent a career in global corporate organisations in senior Finance, Business and Governance leadership roles before entering the not-for-profit charitable sector. Before joining SIG, Jeff spent 4 years at an Early Years education charity turning around the social enterprise and developing a financially sustainable charity, to grow the charity’s reach, influence and social impact. Jeff also created a modern digital organisation with new ways of working and a new culture in the housing sector.

Currently Jeff is the Non-Executive Director and Chair of TYF an activity, education and retail B-Corp in Pembrokeshire. He also provides interim consulting services to other businesses.

As a Fellow of the chartered Institute of Management Accountants with a Degree in Business studies from Portsmouth, Jeff lives in an old farm in West Wales with his wife and two children. They have created an award-winning Eco-Barns 5-star holiday accommodation business.

Being a bit of a sports fan, his interests include, skiing, supporting Portsmouth Football club as one of the community investors, preaching the use of renewable energy technology and being a taxi driver to his demanding children and dog!

Read More Collapse text
Donald Douglas Non-Executive Trustee of the Social Interest Group Investments

Donald has over 30 years of senior management experience in housing, supported housing and community development. He has extensive governance experience and has served on the boards of large and small housing providers in addition to leading 3 small specialist supported housing organisations as their Chief Executive.

He has had considerable experience in specialist supported housing, having worked as Regional Director for Stonham Housing Association where he had responsibility for over one hundred services. He is a strong supporter of small community organisations and is currently Chair of The Association of Jamaicans UK Trust and Clapham Eagles Community Association, in addition to providing support and consultancy to others.

Read More Collapse text
Kieran Mitchell Non-Executive Trustee of the Social Interest Group

Kieran is based in London and has nearly 40 years’ experience in the property industry, focused on Investment and Development assets. He has advised and worked with a wide range of major UK Funds, property companies, developers and private investors across all primary sectors including offices, industrial, retail, hotels and in more recent years, residential properties.

Kieran joined King & Co (now part of JLL) in 1981. Subsequently, he worked for general practice chartered surveying firms Gooch & Wagstaff, Montagu Evans (becoming Head of the investment department) and Jackson Criss. In recent years he moved from the advisory side of the industry to being a principal at Crossmark Estates. Crossmark is a Development Management and Project Management development company primarily focused on the nascent Build to Rent residential investment asset class.

Kieran graduated with a Real Estate degree from Reading University and qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 1983. He is a Member of the RICS, and a Member of the Investment Property Forum.

External interests and activities include being Chairman of his residential estate’s Management Board (10 years), sport – rugby particularly - current affairs and reading.

Read More Collapse text
Geetha Umaasuthan Non-Executive Trustee of the Social Interest Group

Geetha Umaasuthan works at AGE UK East London as Director of Finance and Operations. She has extensive experience in Finance, with more than 25 years in the commercial and charity sectors.  She has worked as a Finance Director at Trinity Homeless Group for the past 12 years and has also worked previously for Mind. Geetha has also worked for Arthur Anderson in Columbo as well as Diageo, Air Products plc and Musgrave in the UK, across various financial roles.

Geetha qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant and became an ACMA in 1997 before obtaining an MBA from the University of Lincolnshire in 2001.

She is passionate about providing hope and good quality of life for the vulnerable and the deprived in society.  Whilst interested in the creative arts she also enjoys travelling and making various cuisines from different parts of the world. She is a trustee of Swarthmore care home and was involved in fundraising for a school via their Parents’ Association.

Read More Collapse text

Our Executive Management Team is based in London and oversees the organisation’s day-to-day operations. The team comprises the Group Chief Executive, Director of Finance and Resources, Director of Governance, Quality and Compliance, Senior Director of Operations and Director of People and Culture.

Gill Arukpe Executive Trustee and Group Chief Executive of the Social Interest Group

Gill established the Social Interest Group in September 2014, creating a flat governance structure which allows her to oversee Penrose Options, Penrose Works Ltd and Equinox Care (the three founder members of the Social Interest Group).

Gill started her career by opening and running two women’s refuges when she was just 18 years of age in the early 1980s. Since then, she has volunteered in several voluntary organisations and was a Trustee for a variety of offender supported housing, mental health and learning disability services.

She worked for Shelter in a variety of roles over 13 years, including development and senior management. She then worked for a registered housing association where she was Director of Operations and Development. She moved on to be a Director of Business Development for Turning Point and specialised in developing and providing substance misuse, mental health and learning disabilities services for vulnerable adults.

As a strong leader with vision and strategy, Gill secured a large part in the London CRC for Penrose Options. This contract involves Penrose Options supporting all offenders in the London rehabilitation prisons and 4,000 in the community every year.

Read More Collapse text
Michael Rutherford Director of Finance & Resources

Michael joined the Social Interest Group in December 2017, as Director of Finance & Resources. Michael manages the Finance, Information Technology, Procurement and Housing & Repair teams. Michael is also the Company Secretary for the Group and subsidiaries.

With over 20 years working in the commercial and not-for-profit sectors, Michael brings a wealth of experience to the organisation.

He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales. He was also previously a Council member and Chair of the Finance Committee at Dover College, and a non-executive director of Golding Homes.

Michael is married with two children and likes to keep fit and play golf.

Read More Collapse text
Maria Speight Director of HR and Workforce Development

Maria joined the Social Interest Group in July 2022, after investing 6.5 years in her HR career including gaining her CIPD qualification in HR Management.

Most recently, Maria was Head of HR for two charities: a national leisure management operator, working predominantly in local authority contracts, and a local charity working with people with learning disabilities and autism and their families in London. Before she moved into HR, Maria experienced a variety of different sectors and roles including a publishing house and telemarketing, and she trained as a dancer, and is a published author.

Maria volunteers with pro bono HR support and advice for two small charities: theMovement and Sherriff Centre, both community causes close to her heart. Raised as a counter-culture kid without formal education, Maria is passionate about making society more inclusive and supportive for people of all experiences and backgrounds. She is also known as “Mummy” to a primary school-aged child.

Read More Collapse text
Jenny Ralls Director of Compliance, Risk and Audit

Jenny joined the Social Interest Group in February 2023 and is a member of the Executive Management Team.

Jenny has a background in NHS healthcare and governance and originally trained as a Physiotherapist. Jenny worked in a diverse range of clinical specialties gaining an interest in holistic and person-centred care and has published research as part of an international collaboration challenging the assumptions of traditional healthcare delivery. In developing her career in Quality Assurance, she has led clinical teams delivering community and primary care in a range of settings, heading up safeguarding and developing robust governance frameworks for providers and commissioners.

Mentoring is important to Jenny as part of her work, believing that powerful experiences come from how others make us feel. She has a particular focus on championing diversity and minoritized groups in leadership and was a speaker and panellist at the Women in Healthcare Leadership conference 2022.

Jenny is a Primary School Governor and Trustee for a rural childcare charity, living ‘in the sticks’ with her husband, two children, dog and four runner ducks.

 

 

Read More Collapse text

The Senior Leadership Team is responsible for maintaining essential business functions and managing those teams.

Adam Moll Director of External Affairs

Adam has spent most of the past decade working in criminal justice in a variety of roles spanning operations, research, policy and business development. His previous employers include the Youth Justice Board, Safe Ground and the Mental Health Foundation, where he published research on dementia in prisons, the first report of its kind in the UK.

A passionate advocate of evidence-based approaches, Adam has participated in a range of cross-sector research projects, including the Ministry of Justice’s Justice Data Lab initiative.

Adam holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Pennsylvania and is also the chair of trustees for Playing ON, a small theatre company working in mental health and criminal justice settings.

Read More Collapse text
Greg Tythe Director of Development, Marketing and Communications

Greg joined the group in 2016, as a Business Development Manager working across the Group with a responsibility for Penrose Options. Greg oversees the development of new work, fundraising, marketing and communications.

Greg has worked in the charity sector for 20 years, starting out as a Team Leader for the Prince’s Trust covering Lewisham in 1999. Greg has a passion for volunteering and worked at Volunteering Matters (formerly CSV) for 11 years, bringing volunteers from all around the world together to support vulnerable people within the UK. He took his first Business Development role in 2007, then continued his career in development at Choice Support, writing tenders and building support packages for people with learning disabilities.

In 2017, an opportunity arose for Greg to broaden his understanding of the sector as Head of Services for Penrose, covering mental health services. Greg sees his development of the Penrose Community Links service, which provides individualised support for people with complex needs within their own home or in the community as his greatest achievement at SIG so far. “I absolutely love working within the Group and am very proud of the work we are doing to enhance the lives of the people we support.”

Read More Collapse text
Colm Keegan Director of Innovation and Impact

Colm joined the Social Interest Group in 2016 as Business Development Manager for Equinox and is now Head of Innovation, Collaboration and Implementation for the Social Interest Group. Colm’s role is to lead on Service User Involvement and Psychologically Informed Environments (PIE) and work across the Operations and Development Teams to design and develop new service models.

Colm has worked across the NHS and the Voluntary Sector in Substance Misuse and Mental Health Services for over 30 years, working in both Operations and Development. He has a significant track record of implementing new services including IAPT, Community Drug and Alcohol Services and Specialist Services for LGBT communities.

Colm trained as a Psychodynamic Counsellor and Supervisor at WPF London and is a graduate of Cass Business School at City University, London. He has served as Regional Quality Champion for London, working on behalf of the Quality Standards Task Group to promote quality frameworks across the Voluntary Sector. He is passionate about working with service users to deliver services of the highest quality.

Read More Collapse text
Angela Henry Director Mental Health & Substance Misuse

Angela has been with the Social Interest group for 10 years, starting with us as a Volunteer and holding several different positions over the years. Angela Says:

From Volunteer to Director is something that I am very proud of. I am also very appreciative that I have been afforded this opportunity to grow, develop and climb the ladder whilst being here at SIG. This has been made possible due to my colleagues and managers along the way, recognising my potential, acknowledging my worth, and working alongside me to facilitate good service provision to the people we support.

I am on a mission to ensure that our services are being delivered to the best possible standard. That our Residents and Participants are receiving the best possible support so they can feel cared for and safe in their environments, with hope for their futures. That our services are stable, and we are financially viable so we can continue to do what we do with integrity, accountability, and passion and that our commissioners and stakeholders see us as a provider of choice. I love working for a great organisation that, at its heart, want’s the best for its staff, Residents and Participants, and services.

Read More Collapse text

Staff

Our most valuable assets are our staff, without whom we would be unable to provide the high standard of services and care we are known for.

We employ over 50 staff across London, Luton, Kent, Bedfordshire and Brighton, with a range of specialisms, including Recovery Workers, Mental Health Support Workers and Outreach Workers.

Recruitment, retention and development of talent are crucial to our success and enable the delivery of positive outcomes across our services.

Our Staff

Natalie

Recovery Worker

I love working at the Solace Centre. I have been a Recovery Worker for over three years and relish every day. I enjoy helping our Service Users resolve life difficulties, prevent crisis and support them to take more responsibility in the choices they make, embracing positive differences in their lives. We have 103 Members at Solace and it is a safe and welcoming community to work in.

Norah

Deputy Service Manager

I feel blessed working with wonderful people at Synergy who have always made me feel that I belong. My colleagues are now like family to me as they lift me up, support me and correct me when I am wrong.

Alex

Deputy Manager

I enjoy my role as Deputy Manager with Penrose because every day is different. My focus is to end the cycle of homelessness and build stability for individuals; by providing supported accommodation, with dedicated key workers, to give residents the opportunity to receive holistic support to overcome barriers and enable future independent living.

Marcia

Recovery Worker

It is very satisfying working for the company. I am using all my skills and this service has a great manager and team.

Giuseppe

Complex Needs Recovery Worker

My work with Penrose has been somewhat of a personal journey. A family member was affected by mental health issues, so I learnt about the issue through experience with them. Working here has been very fulfilling. I believe everyone should be given a second change in life and I believe that is what we do. Give people the chance to start over.

Michael

Service manager

My team is committed, dedicated and in particular sets the standard in delivering a person-centred service that represents the SIG core values of ambition, empowerment, transparency and inclusivity. My journey in SIG has been extremely fulfilling and I have received support and been empowered to grow into the position I am in.

Jose

Service manager

I came into the service at a time of uncertainty when the contract was up for tender. Luckily Penrose won it and my career has grown from strength to strength in the company. The satisfaction I get from creating a positive impact in the lives of people is immeasurable. Helping people who are motivated to turn their lives around gives me great satisfaction. For those not yet motivated to change, helping them to explore what their lives can look like is equally satisfying.