Who we are

Our trustees are:

William Powlett Smith (Chair) - William is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, and recently retired as a partner in Ernst & Young LLP. He was formerly our Treasurer and became chair in 2009.

Andrew Tacon (Treasurer) - Andrew is a chartered accountant who has worked for many years in Grant Thornton's corporate finance advisory team based in Oxford and Reading. He became a trustee and treasurer of Cecily's Fund in April 2009.

Tanya Chikanza - Tanya was a director of Smith's Corporate Advisory and a churchwarden of St Margaret’s Lothbury. She became a trustee in January 2008.

Alison Eastwood (see Founders below)

Philippa Eastwood (Secretary) - Philippa is Cecily's younger sister. She is a criminal defence barrister with a leading London chambers. She takes lead responsibility for our programmes with Bwafwano.

David Lines - David was elected a trustee in January 2005. He retired from HBOS in 2002 and now works for Oxfordshire County Council as the Business Development Manager. David has special responsibility for the business plan, which sets out the trustees' plans for Cecily's Fund over the medium term.

Janet Machin - Janet is a retired trainer of teachers with experience in Africa as well as the UK. She became a trustee in January 2008. Janet takes lead responsibility for our health education and teacher training programmes.

Veronica Oakeshott - Veronica was Cecily’s Fund’s first employee and managed the office between 2003 and 2006. She is now Policy Adviser to the All Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS and supports MPs to do work on AIDS in the UK and internationally.

Sheila Phillips Sheila is the Accountant for the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies and has long accounting experience in the not-for-profit sector.

Founders:

Alison Eastwood - Cecily's mother. Alison is now also a Trustee and leads on organisation of the annual opera, Cecily’s Day and other important fundraising events.

Basil Eastwood - Basil is Cecily's father. He is now Chair of Cecily's Fund's International Advisory Panel Until 2009 he was Chairman. He is a retired diplomat and was British Ambassador to Syria and Switzerland.

Our patrons are:

Lord and Lady Carey - Lord Carey was Archbishop of Canterbury until 2002. He and his wife are passionately committed to the fight against AIDS.

Peter Hinchcliffe - Peter is a university teacher and writer. He was formerly a diplomat and was British High Commissioner to Zambia 1990-93. He was one of our trustees until pressure of other business forced him to resign in May 2003.

Judy Moody-Stuart - Judy was Cecily's godmother. She is also trustee of organisations dealing with violence and restorative justice, and a governor of two boarding schools in Britain. She has 30 years of overseas experience of family and educational issues. She takes the lead on quality assurance and governance issues.

Dr Sixtus Mulenga - Sixtus is one of the leading figures in the Zambian mining industry. He lives in the Copperbelt, and he and his wife founded and run a school there.

Associates

Dr Jessica Boyd - Jess, a former Cecily's Fund trustee, was a close friend and contemporary of Cecily. Having completed a doctorate in Philosophy at Princeton, she is now a barrister in London.

Corinna Witt - Also a former Cecily's Fund Trustee, Corinna has been responsible for our website since its inception and continues to offer support and advice. She has many years of experience in online marketing. She is a freelance ecommerce and online marketing consultant and founder of e-conceptory - creative web solutions for the hotel & travel industry.