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.
Andrew Johnston
Vice Chair 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.
Andrew Machin
Trustee Treasurer
Andrew joined the Board in September 2026 after a career of over 30 years in the NHS and charity sector in finance and governance, most of it in senior positions, on the board or as an advisor.
On retiring in April 2026, he quickly joined his local Community Shed, U3A and a wind band. In between these regular commitments, he gardens, practices the bassoon, watches cricket, and reads a lot – having been a member of the same book club for over twenty years, and is also a member of the Tolkien Society.
Retirement has provided Andrew with the opportunity to develop his woodworking skills including whittling, carving and learning to make a bowl on a pole lathe and is planning to build a work shed in the garden.
Andrew is a strong advocate for the Shed movement. Having lived experience of a mental health condition, as well as a sensory disability, he spent 22 years working for a mental health NHS trust. He recognises the benefits of coming together with a shared purpose, and the opportunity this provides for mutual support, increased social networks, and positive outlook – and the wider knock-on community benefits these provide.
Jo Phillips
People Committee Chair 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.
Mark O’Neill
Chair of Audit and Risk Committee 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.
David Algar
Trustee
David would best describe himself as ‘a late middle aged, middle class itinerant’, always moving from school to school and place to place. His first degree, from Aberystwyth University, was in Economics and International Relationships, top and tailed forty years later by finishing off a second degree in Psychology and Politics. The wandering life continued with a long term career in Industry, carefully changing jobs in the nick of time to avoid being found out.
Along the way he has managed to pick up a wife, two kids, five chickens, three bikes, and a kayak – all to be found in a small village in Buckinghamshire. Writing books has come late in life but is fuelled by the curiosity brought on by being continually on the move. It’s a curiosity for how we live through the chaos in the world, how we use our humanity for good and how men can all be immensely silly along the way. His writing highlights an epoch in the life of men that he is currently, though clumsily, wrestling with. If not writing, or gazing into the middle distance, David would be happiest travelling or playing sport.
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.
Josh Gooch
Trustee
Josh is a Strategy & Operations Manager at LEGO Digital Play, a rapidly scaling new venture within the LEGO ecosystem, where he works closely with senior leadership to shape strategy, drive cross-functional priorities and support the organisation’s growth. Prior to this, he spent five years in strategy consulting at PwC Strategy&, advising organisations on strategic and operational challenges across a range of sectors.
Josh has been involved in charitable work from an early age, from volunteering with a community charity supporting older people to reduce loneliness, to pro bono consulting for social enterprises and most recently, volunteering as an LGBTQ+ Ambassador with Just Like Us.
He believes in the clear potential for Men’s Sheds to reduce loneliness and improve mental health at a grassroots level. He is particularly interested in how UKMSA can both support and amplify the voices and impact of individual Sheds and looks forward to supporting this mission.
In his spare time, he can usually be found heading to the theatre or out cycling.
Kerry Millett
Trustee
After retiring from a 30+ year career in advertising and Marketing, Kerry ‘caught’ the volunteering bug after participating in London 2012 and then the Rio Olympics.
As a primary driver and Trustee behind Broadstairs Town Team Ltd., she frequently writes features, gives talks and advocates for community initiatives. Her work includes orchestrating local improvement projects, environmental cleanups, and community events to enhance town life.
Kerry helped found award-winning Broadstairs Town Shed (as a Shed for everyone 50+) in 2014, having visited the Camden Shed and been inspired by Mike Jenn in 2013 to start one where she still lives by the seaside!
Celebrating their 12th Year, and having been a core project from Town Team initially, The Broadstairs Town Shed has grown exponentially, is now open 5 days a week, and became a stand-alone registered Charity in 2026.
Kerry loves to support other fledgling social enterprises and share her experiences too. Being part of the Shed family and pride in the movement is a fundamental part of who she is.
She’s a very keen local choir member, an amateur potter, lover of live music, film, crafts, food and cooking, and a dedicated musical theatre fan.
Bruce Newlands
Trustee
Bruce is an award-winning architect and co-founder of The Inverclyde Shed – Meet, Make, Grow & Share. For more than 20 years, he has combined architecture, making, teaching and volunteering to champion the benefits of practical creativity and learning for people of all ages. His interests span traditional woodworking and craft through to 3D modelling, digital fabrication and emerging technologies. Bruce is particularly passionate about creating opportunities for intergenerational learning; bringing people together to share knowledge, develop practical skills and learn from one another.
He is also committed to supporting positive male role models and creating welcoming, purposeful spaces where young people can build confidence, curiosity and practical skills. Bruce is currently a trustee of a charity providing free extracurricular STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art of the Possible and Mathematics) learning for young people in an area of multiple deprivation. He is interested in how creativity, making and technology can open up new opportunities, connect communities and inspire future careers.
When he’s not designing or making, Bruce can usually be found in the community garden, continuing a lifelong interest in growing fruit and vegetables.
Rob Parker
Trustee
Rob joined the UKMSA Board in 2026. Rob is a qualified accountant and previously spent 30+ years working in multi-site consumer facing businesses – including as CFO and CEO of a Plc listed retail business.
Outside of work Rob is a keen DIYer and has spent many happy hours tinkering in his own shed. As a keen advocate for mental health the UKMSA trustee role provides a perfect opportunity for Rob to utilise his skills and passions to give something back. Rob’s other passions include running and mountain biking, and he loves to travel in his self-converted camper van.
Denise Turner
Trustee
Denise Turner is a Professor of Social Work at the University of Hertfordshire, a qualified and registered Social Worker, and a practising, accredited Psychotherapist, as well as a trained Schwartz Round facilitator. Prior to becoming an academic Denise worked in a range of voluntary and statutory practice settings, including children and families and with homeless people and sex offenders. Denise’s most recent practice experience is in a Hospice, and she maintains this link by continuing to volunteer.
Denise is an experienced academic and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She maintains her direct clinical practice through working as a psychotherapist with people experiencing a range of mental health and trauma related issues, and she also works with couples.
Denise has authored numerous books and publications, and her research and wellbeing work has been featured on BBC Radio 4 and in The Guardian. Additionally, she acts as a specialist advisor to the popular media on a range of loss and bereavement issues.
Denise holds several qualifications in art and design, including in ceramics and has a strong belief in the power of creativity to improve and enhance wellbeing.
Non-voting Board Members
Mike Jenn
UKMSA President
For the last 50 years Mike Jenn has sought innovative responses to community issues such as alternative education for children, community education, poverty relief, homelessness and unemployment. As teacher, trainer, project manager then director of Quaker Social Action Mike has demonstrated potential alternative ways to alleviate deprivation and disadvantage.
On formal retirement he founded and supervised the first community Men’s Shed in the UK and followed that with founding and leading UKMSA, the national support organisation for Men’s Sheds.
Based in London he is married with two children, keeps active and is both Shedding and tackling climate-change locally.
John Latchford
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.
I have an overview of the UKMSA data systems and website.