About
Meet the Trustees
Meet some of our Team at East Grinstead
Trustees
Brigid Armstrong | Dominic Byrne | Julian Spencer | Philip Brown | Rachel Flynn | Lorraine Fernandes
Brigid Armstrong – Originally from Wolverhampton, Brigid trained and practised as a barrister in London & the South East before moving to Scope and working in Community Fundraising Management. Her interest in the local community and fundraising continued when she joined The Hospices of Hope as a volunteer continuing to become Manager of the local shop in East Grinstead. She retired in April 2022. Brigid has 2 children, now in their 30s. In their youth, she busied herself with fundraising as part of the PTA at their school and then retrained and ran her own photography business in Smallfield. In January she was delighted to join the Foodbank as a Trustee. Having also joined the volunteer teams, Brigid feels strongly that it helps her to speak with confidence about the work of the foodbank. When not at the Foodbank she enjoys singing in a couple of choirs, theatre & playing Mah Jong!
Julian Spencer – is a retired company Finance Director/Manager, who has been a volunteer and Trustee since November 2021, initially as Treasurer and now as Chair. A keen amateur musician, Julian has graced a number of local classical ensembles, as well as occasionally disgracing the courts at Felbridge Lawn Tennis Club.
Philip Brown – became a Trustee at the Foodbank at the end of November 2022 and has been the Treasurer from March 2023. Philip is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. After working at PricewaterhouseCoopers for 13 years he has held Finance Director roles in listed groups in the UK for over 22 years. Married for 30 years Philip has 22 year old twins both of whom graduated from Nottingham University this year. He is a keen Arsenal supporter and even named his house Highbury after the Arsenal football stadium. Philip was looking to give something back in the local community and saw the opportunity to join the Foodbank as a great way to do this.
Rachel Flynn – has worked in the Insurance Industry for over 10 years and is currently the Chief Risk Officer for Westfield Specialty Insurance Company based in London. She is a Chartered Insurance Practitioner and gained qualifications in Climate and Sustainability and a 1st in Modern and Maritime History from Kent University. In her spare time, Rachel likes to travel, try new restaurants and spend time with friends, family and her rescue cat, Loki.
Having worked with several charities through past and current employment, Rachel wanted to get involved with a charity closer to home. In the current economic climate, the work the Trussell Trust does has never been so important and so this felt like a great fit to utilise her skillset and support the East Grinstead foodbank in meeting their goals.
Dominic Byrne
“Dom” has lived in East Grinstead since 2018, moving from London but his origins are firmly embedded in Yorkshire (Doncaster). Dom’s interest in volunteering for the Foodbank are inspired by his father’s involvement in the Thornbury Food Bank (near Bristol) and the reality that the spiralling cost of living crisis and rising inequality are a significant impact on many in the local community. Foodbanks and the support network they provide are therefore in demand and clients, staff and volunteers need help. Dom works for a financial services company where he designs and manages retirement portfolios for companies and individuals; governance, project management and team building are key parts to his role. With two young boys a mere 16m apart, weekends are spent at swimming pools, parks and the home but when time allows bike rides and watching football and boxing make up his spare time.
Lorraine Fernandes
Lorraine is Chief Legal Officer at MAXIS GBN S.A.S. (a joint venture between AXA and MetLife); she is responsible for overseeing all legal issues facing the business – from day-to-day problem solving and contractual negotiations to setting the strategic legal agenda. Lorraine is an accomplished lawyer and has vast experience working in the (re)insurance market. She obtained a first-class bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Kent, before completing her LPC at Cardiff University and is a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Lorraine is keen to help those in the community get access to the food (and help) they desperately need by supporting the efforts, needs and governance of the East Grinstead Foodbank. Lorraine has been a Trustee of the East Grinstead Foodbank since March 2023
Volunteers
We are incredible fortunate to have a superb team of volunteers who are involved in all aspects of our work. As always, our biggest thanks go to all of them as we couldn’t do this without you!