Rob Lloyd
Chair of Trustees
Rob joined the UKMSA Board as a trustee in February 2022 and took over as Chair in January 2023.
Rob spent 34 years in the Civil Service, most of it as a senior leader and Board member, but after recovering from a significant mental ill-health episode in 2016 he began to rethink work commitments. He now balances some freelance consultancy (senior leadership development; Board EDI coaching) with a volunteering portfolio that includes his UKMSA role, youth and adult mentoring, and being a trustee of Oakleaf, a mental health charity in Surrey.
As a way of unleashing his creative side, Rob is teaching himself woodwork, makes natural replacements for everyday household items, and is sometimes seen on stage. He’s also gradually exploring SE England with his dog.
Jo Phillips
Trustee
Jo has worked in the voluntary sector at both a local and national level for over 23 years. Providing strategic and operational management support with volunteer enablement and community development always at its heart, she is currently Senior National Project Manager at Royal Voluntary Service.
Inspired by UKMSA’ s ambition that every man (or woman) that wants access to such a creative community collective should have the opportunity to do so – Jo has been involved with UKMSA since 2016 and is UKMSA’s Trustee Safeguarding Lead . She has provided governance and development support to many new Sheds getting up and running and is an active founder member of GatewaySHED in Leek, Staffordshire.
When not in the Shed upcycling and carving, Jo is a passionate musician and often found squidged in a crowd at a live music gig.
John Latchford
Trustee
I live in Buckinghamshire, and have been a member of Amersham Men’s Shed since 2016, and as a Shed Ambassador in Buckinghamshire have helped start three new Sheds.
As a Trustee I have an overview of the UKMSA data systems and website.
David Webber
Trustee and UKMSA Treasurer
David joined the UKMSA Board as Trustee & Treasurer in March 2021. David qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1989 but for the last 25 years has led a number of software businesses focused on providing specialised software products to the financial services sector.
Earlier in his career David had roles that included significant overseas travelling and leading a number of quoted and private equity backed entities, however since 2017 David has been able to rebalance his life and taken the opportunity to combine leading Whistlebrook Limited with a range of voluntary roles in the third sector.
David finds his special place of calm and tranquillity from, depending on the weather, being an orchardist, horticulturist or ferroequinologist.
John Rushforth
Trustee
Have travelled round the Sun 70 times, married the love of my life 1976, father of 4 children and Grandad to 5 brilliant children. I started in social care when I was 19 and it was my career until I retired 6 years ago. I worked for 20 years in children and young people care homes rises to the heady heights of Manager. Then moved into inspection of care services in Scotland for what was basically my second career. My area was the Highlands of Scotland so had to spend days travelling to Skye or out to the West Coast – my goodness such hard work. I loved the work as I met great staff and residents and the majority of the time I was reporting on good things but occasionally some bad things.
I joined Nairn Men’s Shed I think it was the day after I retired. I have been involved in the whole development of the Shed almost from day one. I did not duck quick enough and ended up now as Chair of the Shed with main responsibility to fill in applications for funding. I love Nairn Shed in many ways we are unique being on a live railway station but we not unique in the main thing we do is drink tea and dream up simple projects and some pretty daft projects.
John Jarvis
Trustee
John joined the board of UKMSA Trustees in July 2019.
Day-to-day, John leads an organisation that supports senior public service, voluntary and community leaders to work together in order to tackle big social challenges such as food poverty, social isolation, health & social care and homelessness.
In his travels John heard a lot about the very real and hugely positive impact of sheds. The approach and ethos resonated with John’s interest in community initiatives and empowerment, which inspired him to find way to contribute to the UKMSA movement.
As a Trustee, John plans to bring his experience within leadership development, organisational design, community empowerment and strategy to make a positive contribution to the future success of UKMSA and Sheds around the country.
Kate Martin
Trustee
Kate Martin joined UKMSA as a Trustee at the start of 2023. She is a chartered accountant and has worked in charity finance teams for the last 10 years, currently as Director of Finance & Corporate Services at Target Ovarian Cancer. She spent much of her childhood in a series of five adjoining sheds built by her multiskilled and somewhat shed-dependent father, and has picked up numerous shed-based hobbies as a result.
Mark O’Neill
Trustee
Mark joined the UKMSA Board as trustee in January 2023. He is also Chair/Trustee of a local Northern Ireland transport charity, having been in this role for the last two years.
Mark works in a Senior Leadership role in Supply Chain and Logistics and for the last 25 years has lead teams of upwards of 250 people. He is inspired by UKMSA’s ambition to champion male mental health and awareness and to create opportunities within the local community.
In his spare time Mark attempts to coach youth football and not burn too many things on the bbq.
Victoria Coker
Trustee
Victoria is a security strategist who has specialised in governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) for over 10 years in several public and private sectors. She has provided advice and makes stakeholders accountable to help drive business transformation and improve outcomes.
Her role includes offering clear, concise, and objective guidance and scrutiny to drive organisational performance, ensuring strong governance to maintain compliant legal and regulatory obligations.
She is currently a Director of GRC, where she plays a key role in defining what good security and data privacy looks like. Victoria is also responsible for the strategic direction in financial reporting, working directly with the digital and technology leadership and senior stakeholders across different business functions.
Victoria is also an Internal Auditor for the Wave Community Bank and is a Trustee and a member of the Audit and Risk Committee for Road Safety Trust.
Andrew Johnston
Trustee
Andrew spent his working career in professional media technology – television, games and films. He joined a local committee which is establishing a new shed in his area of West London, and this, plus becoming aware of the challenges of involving older men in social activities, led him to the national charity. He brings business development, marketing, branding and team leadership experience, where everyone mucks in to get stuff done.
Chris Griffiths
Trustee
After 30 years, Chris retired as a senior officer in the police in Scotland, with a broad leadership and management background including the areas of community partnership, business continuity and contingency planning, equality and diversity.
He ran small businesses in Scotland and later while living in Canada, before returning to Wales. His children insisted he retired for the final time and his wife encouraged him to join a local men’s shed. He began to understand the value and ethos of men’s sheds before lockdown ground everyone to an isolating halt. Like many people, he experienced the loss of a family member and, post covid, saw firsthand that opening up about one’s feelings encouraged other men to do the same.
Over a post covid coffee with three retired men, he experienced a friend talking emotionally about the loss of his wife for the first time in twenty years. This stimulated him to strive to establish the charity, Lisvane Men’s Shed, in North Cardiff, where he was Secretary for its first two years and is now the chair.
With the belief that “we need more sheds,” Chris has accepted the role of being a trustee of UKMSA.
Chris Lee
Board Advisor
I helped set up The Repair Shed in Hemel Hempstead (South West Hertfordshire) in 2014, and it now operates from two sites. After getting support then from other Sheds I wanted to put something back into the national network.
I’m pleased to still be helping to develop and grow the UKMSA network. Since January 2023, when I retired from paid employment in the not-for-profit sector specialising in marketing and business development, I’ve been a member of Letchworth Men’s Shed in north Hertfordshire.
When not Shedding and making things out of reclaimed materials, I run a repair café, volunteer with parkrun and run off-road, write a blog, promote books and reading, and sing in a choir 13 miles from Cambridge.