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Shropshire Supports Refugees gained charity status in November of 2021.
Our Board of Trustees
Dr Heather Thomas
Dr Heather Thomas originally trained as a science teacher, followed by teaching with VSO in Jamaica and the West Midlands. After raising 4 children and a foster daughter and being a trustee of VSO for 7 years, she moved into special education,
taking early retirement to complete a doctorate in Disability Inclusion and Special Needs. She then decided to fulfil a lifelong ambition to work with refugees. Nearly ten years later she has recently stepped down from the senior management team at the
Refugee and Migrant Centre in the Black Country and Birmingham where she held a range of positions including Head of Development and Manager of Health and Wellbeing Services. She continues as a Senior Consultant to the organisation,
mostly involved in fundraising and development work. She has a particular interest in migrant health.
Heather lives with her partner in Shropshire where she is heavily involved in the community and where her children and ten grandchildren also live.
Roger Ford
Roger Ford led a life of crime for 30 plus years, working as a probation officer in the Midlands, ending up as Chief Probation Officer for Shropshire. After taking early retirement in 2001, together with my wife, Wendy, we worked in Uganda for two and a half years with Voluntary Service Overseas. Since returning I have been involved with the Shropshire Fairtrade movement,
am a secondary school governor, a volunteer driver for Dial-a-Ride, an occasional guide at Shrewsbury Abbey and help to run a charity supporting a primary school in Uganda. I enjoy walking, the theatre, gardening and am a season ticket holder at Shrewsbury Town. Married to Wendy for 53 years, we have two daughters and two grandchildren.
I have been involved as a volunteer with SSR for a couple of years, largely helping folk practice their driving prior to taking the DVLA test.
Giles Bell
Giles has been a teacher at Shrewsbury school since September 1989 and was Housemaster of School House from September 1999-2013. He is currently the Senior Admissions tutor and travels to Africa, and Asia, as well as numerous British schools spreading the ‘word of Shrewsbury’. During his time at Shrewsbury he has had a wide variety of duties and responsibilities but perhaps his favourite time was as Housemaster of School House, the largest Boarding House at Shrewsbury School. He dealt with numerous pastoral and academic issues during those years and was well supported by my tutor team, parents, and students alike. He also organised a wide range of House and charity events and sat on a variety of school committees, including ones relating to the first intake of girls.
He is a teacher of Religious Studies and Philosophy of Religion and is known as an outgoing and charismatic figure around the school. He has a passion for cricket and football and has played both to a high standard. He is also passionate about drama and music and has performed as a comedian. He enjoys writing and is Responsible for the Final Bell column in My Shrewsbury magazine. He is a trustee of Restart Africa a charity based in Gilgil, Kenya which looks after poor and orphaned children. He has a passionate interest in the welfare of the young possibly because he is still a big kid!
Jane Smalley
Jane Smalley is the Proprietor and Head teacher of Shrewsbury Prepatoria limited. The Prepatoria is a small independent school and nursery offering a different approach to education in the Early Years. Before opening the Prepatoria Jane was a lecturer in Early Years on the Wirral for more than ten years and continues to deliver training and early years inspection services to the National Day Nursery Association (NDNA) of which she is an associate trainer. Jane is married with four children and ten grandchildren.
