Trustees

The Role of Trustees at Enable Ability

The role of the Trustee Board is to provide governance and oversight to the charity. It is staffed by non-executive members with relevant skills to help create strategic plans and make relevant decisions regarding the execution of those plans, whilst providing support and guidance to the staff in their everyday roles.

All Trustees must have a current DBS check and be members of Enable Ability.

The Trustees all subscribe to the Charity Governance Code.

Board Constitution

The board consists of between 6 and 12 (currently 10) Trustees who hold regular meetings to assist the operational management on matters relating to Funding, Financial Management, Property Management and Strategic Planning. Based on time served as trustee, the ‘oldest’ third of the (then) board sits for re-election at the annual general meeting held in November.

The current list of Trustees is as follows:


Kerry Blomerus	Legal	A Solicitor at Enable Law specialising in Clinical Negligence with over 10 years legal experience and became a Trustee in 2021. She has a young family and enjoys travelling, musical theatre and baking.
Alan Bowie
Alison Bowie	Fundraising events	Alison joined the trustees in 2019, after several years volunteering with the fundraising team.She is a parent and carer of two neurodiverse boys who both enjoy participating in Enable Ability group activities.She also represents Navy families as a committee member of the Forces Additional Needs and Disabilities Forum. Alison relaxes with knitting, kettlebells and the occasional video game.
Sue Coldham	Co-Chair	Sue worked in a neighbouring local authority as head of service for adults with lifelong disabilities (learning disabilities, autism and lifelong physical and sensory impairment).As a social worker, she worked with children, adults with mental health difficulty and those with learning disabilities and their families.These various roles have demonstrated the vital role charities play in supporting families, so Sue is very pleased to have joined the trustees for Enable Ability.
Stuart Elsom	Deputy Chair (disabled)	I’ve been a Trustee at Enable Ability for over 30 years. I have a disability which limits me physically, but I attend the committee regularly and contribute where I can. I bring insights into what it means to be disabled to the work of the charity. I also help run a music group for people with disabilities as music is another passion, and I play many stringed instruments. I enjoy being a trustee and am proud of what the charity has achieved.
Bill John	Marketing,Website, Estates & Contracts	A retired senior manager at IBM after 30 years experience in IT program management and became a full Trustee in 2018. He is a keen photographer and book publisher and learned how to build and maintain websites during Covid lockdown for the charity.
Jon Muller	Co-Chair	A trustee since 2011, and Chair of Trustees since November 2013. Was impressed with the dedication and commitment of staff and trustees, and after visiting a Saturday Club and seeing how the youngsters were enjoying themselves, became hooked. With a background in social work, now retired, has found working with Enable Ability a good experience allowing him to apply the skills as practitioner and manager to voluntary work. With grandparenting, golf, attempts at keeping fit, travel and supporting the charity, it’s a pretty full agenda.
Andy Osborn	Treasurer	Andy is a qualified accountant, and for the past 25 years has been a Finance Director and Chief Financial Officer at a number of international companies. Andy has a strong connection with Portsmouth, including graduating from Portsmouth University and supporting Pompey and, following his retirement, has become involved with a number of local charities, including Treasurer with Enable Ability. Andy lives in Fareham and as well as supporting Pompey, spends his time between family, golf, walking his dogs (spaniels) and finding new ways to discover great wine.
Drew Ramsay	Deputy Chair & IT systems	Retired in 2010 after 32 years in IBM working in services and program management for large financial institutions. Joined the trustee board at the start of 2014. Likes spending time with grandchildren, playing golf and in addition to trustee duties, helping with back-office information technology support at Enable Ability.
Peter Robertson	Fundraising	Peter is a well-known and respected international businessman, who is past President and Director of Hampshire Chamber of Commerce. He was also Chair of their Southampton Business Board, Trade Mission Leader for the Chinese UKTI/CBBC Delegations to Qingdao for over 15 years and co-founder of the Chamber’s Hampshire Asian Network.
Mark Thomas	Strategic Planning	Now retired, Mark enjoyed working with teams across many different countries in the IT industry. Married with two children, Mark was inspired to help as a trustee by his daughter who works within a Charity. He is finding the spirit of the team and clients at Enable Ability hugely motivating and fulfilling.

Becoming a Trustee

The trustees are always looking for new members willing to join the board and potential candidates are welcome to join committee meetings prior to confirming willingness to join. To understand the role of a Trustee better please click here to read the Trustee Welcome Pack produced by the Charity Commission which explains very well the role and its responsibilities. For further reading you might consider reading their more detailed document “Essential Trustee” which links to the Gov.uk website.