Board of Trustees Archives | The Beacon Collaborative

Matthew Bowcock CBE

Co-founder and Chair

Matthew Bowcock co-founded the Beacon Collaborative with Cath Dovey. He has been Chairman of UK Community Foundations, a Council Member of Arts Council England and a trustee of The Philanthropy Workshop and Philanthropy Impact. Matthew is currently Deputy Chair of the Watts Gallery Artists Village. In 2012 he authored a report for the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, “Digital Giving in the Arts – Democratising Philanthropy.” Through the family foundation, the Hazelhurst Trust, he has focused on community projects, arts for social impact and developing more and better philanthropy. His background is in technology entrepreneurship, company start-up and investment and he has established several businesses in Australia, the US and the UK.

The Right Honourable the Baroness Usha Prashar of Runnymede CBE, PC

Board Member

The Right Honourable the Baroness Usha Prashar of Runnymede CBE, PC, an independent member of the House of Lords since 1999, has led and chaired a number of public and voluntary organisations with distinction.

She has also served as a non- executive director of Channel 4, Unite, ITV, Cabinet Office and Nationwide Building Society.

In the House of Lords she is a Vice Chair of the Commonwealth All Party Parliamentary Group and serves on the House of Lords EU Select Committee on Services.

From 2014-17 she was a member of House of Lords European Union Select Committee and chair of its sub-committee on Home Affairs; from 2001 – 2009 member of Joint Committee on Human Rights; from 2006-2007 member of Committee on Regulators; from 2007- 2009 Chair of Committee for Privileges and Conduct.

Currently she is :

Chairman of Cumberland Lodge, an educational institution,

Advisor to Nationwide Building Society on Public policy, diversity and inclusion, and Trustee of Nationwide Foundation.

Chairman of U.K. Council of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry,

Senior Consultant with Seriously Inclusive, a consultancy helping organisations to develop effective policies and practices to promote diversity and inclusion,

Honorary President of the National Literacy Trust,

Senior Fellow of Salzburg Global Seminar,

Member of International Advisory Board of IE Business School in Madrid, Spain.

Her significant previous roles have included:

Deputy Chairman, British Council, 2012-2018 where she led the UK – India year of culture in 2017/18;

Member, the Iraq Inquiry,2009-16;

Inaugural Chairman, the Judicial Appointments Commission, 2005-10;

First Civil Service Commissioner, 2000-05;

Executive Chairman, the Parole Board of England and Wales,1997-2000;

Chief Executive, National Council for Voluntary Organisations, 1986-91;

Senior Fellow, Policy Studies Institute, 1984 -86;

Chief Executive, Runnymede Trust,1977-84;

Conciliation Officer, Race Relations Board, 1972-76;

Chairman, 2001-07, and then President 2007-12 Royal Commonwealth Society;

Founder, Deputy Chairman and then Chairman, the National Literacy Trust, 1992-2005;

Chancellor, De Montfort University 2000-06.

She is also:

Fellow, Royal Society of Arts,

Honorary Bencher, Inner Temple,

Senior Fellow, Salzburg Global Seminar,

Fellow, City and Guilds,

Companion, Chartered Institute of Management.

She has been awarded Honorary Doctorates by a number of Universities.

In 1994 awarded CBE for public service, given a Peerage in 1999 and made a Privy Councillor in 2009.

2015 recognised as the most connected person by GQ Magazine.

David Sheepshanks CBE

Board Member

Although best known for his career in football and charity, David’s background was in the food industry, successfully starting, building and selling two profitable companies. Today, he undertakes a wide range of business and charity roles.

David is a Leadership and Performance Coach under the aegis of Vistage, running three peer groups for Business Leaders in East Anglia; Chair of the FA Technical Advisory Board and UEFA Licensing Committee for the Football Association; Consultant to Argent Related (putting sport/activity/wellbeing and education at the centre of the development of Brent Cross Town); a Director of Videö (pioneering new video game technology) and Regional Chairman for Coutts Bank in East Anglia.

Previously he was Chairman of Ipswich Town Football Club for 14 years, Chair of the Football League and founding Chairman of the FA National Football Centre at St George’s Park (2008-2015).

He is a Trustee of Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and The Beacon Fellowship; a Patron of National Citizen Service (NCS) and, locally, President of Suffolk FA, President of Ipswich Citizens Advice Bureau and Patron of the Samaritans in East Suffolk. Previously, he chaired Suffolk Community Foundation from 2005 – 2013 and UK Community Foundation from 2013-2018.

He was appointed CBE in January 2013, granted an Honorary Doctorate by University of East Anglia (2004) and created Deputy Lieutenant for Suffolk (2005).

He is married to Mona, has two children Sophie (33) and Tom (31) and lives near Woodbridge in Suffolk.

John Nickson

Board Member

John Nickson is one of the UK’s most experienced fundraisers having been responsible for giving and sponsorship at The British Council, English National Opera, The Royal Academy of Arts and Tate.

He is now a philanthropist and campaigner for more philanthropy. He is the co-founder of OUR COMMON GOOD.ORG.UK, a philanthropic initiative promoting cross sector collaboration for the regeneration and empowerment of left behind communities. John is the author of two books about philanthropy: GIVING IS GOOD FOR YOU and OUR COMMON GOOD.

In addition to Beacon, He is currently a trustee of The Royal College of Music, United Kingdom Community Foundations and Music Masters

Paul Barry Walsh OBE

Board Member

After leaving IBM in 1986, Paul Barry-Walsh founded Safetynet followed by Netstore in 1996. In 2001 he founded The Fredericks Foundation which has become one of the UK’s leading micro-finance organisations, funding 2 disadvantaged individuals per week. Paul is involved in a number of start-ups, and was granted the Queens Award for Enterprise Promotion. In 2008 he received the Beacon Award for Creating Giving. In 2009 he was given the CNBC/FT European Philanthropist of the Year Award, and won the Entrepreneur County Inaugural Award for the Entrepreneur’s Entrepreneur in 2011.

Catherine Grum

Board Member

Catherine is head of Family Office Services at BDO. She advises families and family offices around family office establishment, family governance and philanthropy. She believes that when families understand their values and the purpose of their wealth, they can build on much stronger foundations and, by aligning their structures and activities with this, create sustainable long-term solutions.

She has worked with enterprising families for over 15 years, gaining a unique perspective from the combination of roles she has held. This has included heading a private office and sitting on the board of three international trust companies (Salamanca Group) and coordinating wealth structuring with investment management (Barclays Wealth). This all built on her training as a private client lawyer at Allen & Overy.

Recognized as a thought-leader in the family office industry, Catherine has previously been named as one of EPrivate Client’s 50 Most Influential and is one of Family Capital’s Top 100 Family Influencers 2020. She has written, spoken and been interviewed on topics ranging from next generation planning to impact and sustainable investing.

Catherine has an MA in Jurisprudence from Oxford University, is a Trust & Estates Practitioner and holds an Advanced Certificate in Family Business Advising (STEP).

Leonie Taylor

Board Member

Leonie is a co-founder of Resource Justice, a UK group that organises young people with access to wealth and class privilege to redistribute their resources to social justice movements. She is part of the Facilitation Team at LEAP, a pan-European collective that funds activists and social entrepreneurs to create systemic change in society. She is also a co-founder of the Feminist Men Project, which curates workshops and events to engage men on feminism and gender equality. Her work background has been in academia and the charity sector, working on a variety of roles in the domestic violence sector and for women’s rights. She has a MSc in Gender Studies from the London School of Economics and a BA in Politics from Cambridge.