CO-CHAIR

Kate works in communications for a trade justice organisation, and has over a decade of experience in the charity sector. She became involved with St Joseph's when she worked as Assistant to the former Principal, Sister Mary Sweeney in Makeni in 2013. Eleven years on, Kate is honoured to be co-chair of the Friends, to be able to continue to support the school and it's amazing work in an incredibly challenging context. She lives in the North East of England with her husband (Stephen, her co-chair), their two sons, and various animals.

CO-CHAIR

Dixon is a Chartered Geologist and works as a Site Investigation Package Manager for offshore wind farms. Dixon lives with Kate in the North-east with their kids and pets. Well travelled and used to managing difficult projects remotely, Dixon thoroughly enjoys helping St. Joseph’s. He first visited the school in March 2013 whilst living and working in Sierra Leone. Through supporting numerous projects at the school Dixon became part of a charity and was honoured to be made one of the joint Chairs in 2019.

TRUSTEE

A lawyer by profession, Isabel now works for the Ministry of Justice. Married with two sons and two adorable small grandchildren, Isabel lives in Scotland. A keen traveller, Isabel first came across St Joseph’s during a visit to Sierra Leone in 2009. Deeply impressed by the school’s ethos and commitment to giving hearing impaired children essential skills to enable them to be self-sufficient in adult life. Isabel is fully committed to ensuring that invaluable work can continue.

TRUSTEE

Charly has a background in communications, and built a creative agency in Sierra Leone, where she lived for seven years. She now co-owns the Climate Change Coaches, a training company supporting organisations to change. Charly lives in Oxford with her husband, two children and their Sierra Leonean dog. During her years in Sierra Leone, Charly regularly visited St Joseph’s to support its then Principle, Sister Mary, and the school became a home-from-home. Charly believes deeply in the school’s mission of enabling its students to lead fulfilling lives.

TRUSTEE

Originally from Durham, in the North East of England, Mark specialises in project & event management. He has been traveling to Sierra Leone, and in particular Makeni, where St Joseph’s School is located, for over 12 years. Mark’s work there is in helping to organise the Sierra Leone Marathon, an incredible event that often involves students from St Joseph’s School. Mark offers support to the school in-person in Sierra Leone and every time he visits the school, he is struck by the work that the staff and caregivers provide for the students, to offer them a home away from home.

TRUSTEE

Esther has a background in theology and church-centred development, working particularly with organisations in Africa. She is currently the Church and Community Mobilisation Lead at BMS World Mission. She first travelled to Sierra Leone in 2012, where she lived for 18 months and during which time visited the school many times. Now based in London and married to Charlie, her work has continued to bring her back regularly to Sierra Leone which she has been able to combine with short visits to the school. She cares deeply about the role that St. Joseph's school is playing in Sierra Leone and feels privileged to be a trustee.

TRUSTEE