Our Trustees

Stephen Thornton – Chair of the Board of Trustees

Stephen became Chair of the Board of Trustees for Cambridge City Foodbank in September 2020, having been a member of the board for the previous 12 months.

Stephen has a degree in Politics and Modern History from Manchester University. Upon graduating, he joined the NHS National Graduate Management Training Scheme and has since spent most of his career in the NHS as a general manager, culminating in a role as CEO of Cambridge and Huntingdon Health Authority in the 1990s. Stephen was subsequently CEO of the NHS Confederation, the trade body for NHS organisations, and then of The Health Foundation, a charitable foundation that supports people and organisations with ideas about how to improve the quality of patient care.

Following his retirement from full-time work, Stephen has held a number of non-executive director positions including at the Nursing and Midwifery Council. He is presently a non-executive director of the Bar Standards Board which regulates barristers. He is a member and elder of Downing Place United Reformed Church.

Stephen is married to Lorraine. They have two grown up children and three young grandchildren. He enjoys classical music and gardening.

Martin Evans

Martin joined Cambridge City Foodbank’s Board of Trustees in February 2020, having previously been involved with the Foodbank in 2015.

Martin has a degree in Sociology from the University of London and a Masters degree from Manchester University. He began his career as a teacher of Religious Education and Games in an inner-city boys’ comprehensive school in Ancoats, Manchester. He later became Assistant Director, then Director, of TACADE (Teachers Advisory Council for Alcohol and Drug Education) where he co-wrote ‘Free To Choose’, a drug education curriculum pack; the Alcohol Education Syllabus and ‘Working with Groups’, a training pack and video about leading adult groups.

Martin had three spells in the NHS in Cambridge, first as District Health Promotion Manager, then as General Manager of Community Health Services and finally as Director of Public Affairs. He was General Manager of Greenbelt Festivals from 1988 to 1994.

For the final 15 years of his career he ran the development consultancy ‘Threesquare Consulting Ltd’. He was part of the team that implemented Modern Hearing Aid Services, Newborn Hearing Services and NHS Standards in Audiology, and he wrote another book, ‘Leading Groups, a Practical Guide’.

Martin retired in 2013 and since then has chaired several charitable initiatives including the Street Child Cricket World Cup; It Takes A City Homelessness project, Cambridge; the Signal Box Community Centre and St Paul’s Parochial Church Council (PCC).

Martin has been married to Julia for 50 years. They have two children, Matt and Jenny.

Martin enjoys drawing and has been a keen sportsman. He played cricket until he was 65 and rugby until 40.

Richard Johnson

Richard joined the Board in February 2021. Richard studied at the University of Reading, after which he qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Richard has spent most of his career working in the private sector, most recently for the past 2 years as the Finance Director for a legal services firm in Peterborough.

Richard has previously served on the Boards of both The Bridge Church, St Ives, and KingsGate Community Church. He was also one of the founding trustees of the St. Neots Foodbank in the early 2010s. Along with his wife, Becky, Richard has been a member at KingsGate in Cambridge since 2014, where they both play an active part in the mission of the church. Part of that mission is to serve and support others who have practical needs which led him to first becoming involved with the Foodbank.

Richard has lived in Cambourne for 18 years, is married to Becky and has two grown up daughters, one living a short distance from home and the other in the midlands. Away from work, church and the Foodbank, his interests lie in sports, mostly spectating, and he is an especially keen follower of cricket and football and American Football.

Joanne Cornish

Joanne joined the Board of Trustees in autumn 2023.

With a background in communications and translation, Joanne spent several years on the leadership team of SIM UK, a locally based Christian mission organisation, where her focus was on refugee ministry, strategic communications, crisis management and charity development. Previously she has served on the Steering Committee for a Global Connections’ ministry forum, volunteered in the Moria camp on Lesbos island and fundraised for local food banks and women’s shelters. She is passionate about responsible business, sustainable stewardship of our world, and currently works with the University of Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership, running business accelerators for cleantech start-ups.

Joanne and her husband Gareth are members of Eden Baptist church, where they are involved with tech, children’s work and youth ministry. They love cycling and hiking through the great outdoors, tackling DIY projects and getting to know people over a meal!

Deborah Hargreaves

Deborah joined Cambridge City Foodbank as a Trustee in February 2021.

Deborah was been a family lawyer for 25 years and is now working as an accredited family mediator for a not for profit organisation. She has much experience and knowledge of the challenges experienced by individuals and families in crisis, enabling her to provide clear sighted and compassionate governance and guidance to support the effective working of Cambridge City Foodbank.

Deborah currently lives in Cambridge with her husband, David, and their four children. Although originally from a Methodist background in Belfast, Cambridge has been her home for 30 years and St Barnabas church has provided a spiritual home for over 20 years.

Deborah is passionate about family, friends, food and, as a result of having four children who all play, football.

Nicola Pearson

Nicola joined Cambridge City Foodbank as a trustee in November 2023.

Nicola is an independent consultant working in construction and asset management. She has an MBA from Cranfield and has worked in several sectors, focussing on the identification, collection, and use of information to manage the organisation.

Nicola is from the Cambridge area and has lived in Cambridge for the last 25 years. Nicola is often to be found on or near the Cam.

Peter Childs

Peter became a Trustee of Cambridge City Foodbank in 2023.

Peter joined Smith & Nephew Medical in 1985 as a graduate trainee. Following roles in Factory planning and Marketing he joined Crown Paints as a Brand Manager. Peter then re-joined Smith & Nephew’s Consumer division in Birmingham taking various Marketing roles before becoming a Sales Manager responsible for a team of sales executives. He then became Forecasting & Supply Manager responsible for minimising stock while improving service to customers.

In 2000 Beiersdorf, the makers of NIVEA, bought back the Sales and Distribution rights for NIVEA from Smith & Nephew and Peter transferred to Beiersdorf UK as Head of Supply Chain. Over the next 18 years, as well as heading up the Supply Chain function in the UK, Peter spent time in Beiersdorf’s Head office in Hamburg as a Supply Chain consultant as well as managing all Warehousing and Distribution for Northern Europe. Peter took early retirement from Beiersdorf at the end of 2017.

Peter holds a Masters in Logistics and Supply Chain from Cranfield University. He is married to Tina and has two grown up children. Peter currently volunteers at Ely Cathedral and Wicken Fen as well as being a trustee for the Beiersdorf Pension Scheme. In his spare time Peter is a keen golfer and enjoys walking and local history.

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