Kevin has lived in Bedfordshire all of his life and has been a school governor at Kempston
Special Schools for 12 years, being Vice Chair of Trustees of St Johns, then BILTT MAT, before
becoming Chair of Trustees.

As a Chartered Management Accountant, Kevin has been Director of Finance and Operations at Southbank International School, a successful and well-established international school in
Central London, for 8 years. Kevin has been employed in the Education Sector for 22 years, having previously been employed as Director of Finance at an HE College and Local Authorities including Bedfordshire / Central Bedfordshire (Headteachers Finance, Head of Children’s and Schools Finance and as a Commissioner – working with Special Schools, SEND services and Home to School Transport).

Date Appointed:          29.5.2020
Date of Declaration:   9.12.2021

Deirdre is a teacher with over 40 years’ experience, in both the primary and secondary sectors. She also spent time working in an AP in Islington. She has worked at different levels of educational management in schools and her previous full-time post was as a head teacher in Bedford.

Currently she works in a local primary school with pupils who have both learning and emotional needs.  Deirdre’s drive and passion in education throughout her whole teaching career is to ensure that “no child is left behind”. This can be achieved at school and borough level, and through Deirdre’s work in the NEU both locally and as a national executive member which addresses the issues of fair funding and equality for all.

Deirdre feels privileged to be a part of BILTT and to be involved in creating superior special educational needs provision in our borough.

Date Appointed:          7.12.2019
Date of Declaration:   9.12.2021 

 Catherine has been a governor at Grange Academy since 2017 when her son attended the school, and she was keen to support the community which had helped him so much.

In January 2021 Catherine was pleased to also join the BILTT Trust Board.

Catherine has two children who have been through our local mainstream education system and are now in their twenties, whilst her youngest son is nearing the end of his schooling in the specialist education sector.

She has a background in education, teaching History in schools in Northamptonshire, Shropshire and London before her family settled in Bedford. For the past seven years she has worked in a local primary school, where her role includes providing Emotional Literacy support for pupils and recently training as a Mental Health First Aider.

Date Appointed:         10.2.2021
Date of Declaration:   9.12.2021

 Simon is an adoptive Bedfordian and has been involved with St Johns School and BILTT as a trustee, chair of
the SJS Local Governing Body and parent since his daughter started at St Johns in 2012. Simon has first-hand experience of the outcomes the schools achieve and is continually both humbled and in awe of the unique environment BILTT has fostered at school and trust level.

Professionally, Simon has over 30 years’ experience in senior management roles at companies like Accenture and Barclays.  In his spare time, he still supports the Australian Rugby and Cricket teams, as well as Bedford Blues and Kempston Rovers football club.

Date Appointed:           7.7.2021
Date of Declaration:    9.12.2021

 Karen has lived in the Kempston all of her life, and is actively involved in the local community. Two of her children have gone through local mainstream primary schools and now attend a
local mainstream secondary school. Karen’s other daughter has attended St John’s Special School
since 2012.

Karen has been a BILTT Trustee since 28.10.20. In addition, she works for the local Parent Carer Forum. 

She is passionate about improving the lives and experiences of children and young people with SEND, and their families. In her spare time, Karen volunteers as a Director at a local, members led Sports and Social Club.

Date Appointed:           28.10.2020
Date of Declaration:      9.12.2021

Brian’s career included over 10 years in Management Accountancy; Dealership Development and Management with Volvo Cars and over 30 years in commercial Management Consultancy, Organisational Systems and Training, For 20 years, this incorporated Fire Safety Management Systems, Assessment, Consultancy and Training. For almost 30 years, his business supported charitable Education, Employment and Enterprise programmes.

In “retirement”, Brian remains Secretary/programme manager of We3 Charity (Wolverton Employment Project); a director of Bedford Sings; Trustee of The Friends of All Saints’ Church Kempston; PCC Member of All Saints’ Church, Kempston; Rotary Club representative on the BLMK Music Hub Local Partnership Panel.

Delivering educational projects through Rotary and We3, including mental health programmes, led to Brian’s interest in meeting the special educational needs of the young people served by BILTT and in contributing to the Trust’s strategic direction and financial and, especially, qualitative performance in meeting those needs.

Brian led the Rotary Foundation programme of support for Ukrainian refugees settling in Bedford and continues a project sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine, particularly for children.

 Date Appointed:          23.10.2024
Date of Declaration:    15.10.2025

Kerrie is a teacher with over 20 years’ experience, in both the primary and special school sectors. She grew up in a family who fostered children with and without SEND and understands the lifelong challenges that these young people face. Early in her career, she worked in residential settings for adults and children with severe, profound and multiple disabilities and is acutely aware of the need to develop maximum independence for all pupils from the day they join an educational setting. She has worked at different levels of educational management in schools and is currently Inclusion Manager in a diverse local primary school where a significant number of pupils have SEND and/or emotional  needs. Kerrie has established school-led provision units for pupils with high needs and is currently leading the development of a trust-wide high needs provision.

Kerrie has had a passion and motivation to ensure 'Achievement for All' in education throughout her whole teaching career. This has included staff and she has been involved in developing a progression pathway for support staff to reach their potential. Kerrie has a reputation for high quality inclusion provision in Bedford and supports other local SENDCos through a coaching and supervision program in Beford Borough.

Kerrie is proud to support BILTT and contribute to driving the delivery of high quality education for pupils with SEND. 

Date Appointed:          23.10.2024
Date of Declaration:    15.10.2025

Rachael runs a local Alternative Education Provision working with children from age 5 through to 19 who have a range of SEN, SEMH and additional needs that prevent them from attending a mainstream school setting full time. She has worked in this sector for the past 20 years and is a passionate advocate for children and young people especially for those from socio-economically deprived areas.

Rachael is also the Director of a company supplying educational resources nationally to children in Key Stage 1 and 2 and so has a good understanding of the changing needs of children and young people and the challenges that schools are facing in meeting need in the current climate.

In addition to her paid work, Rachael is also the Vice Chair of a National Children’s Charity that connect pupil premium children with Food and Farming through a range of visits, residential and in school programmes.

In her spare time Rachael enjoys walking her 3 dogs and travelling around the UK and Europe on her motorbike.

Date Appointed:          23.10.2024
Date of Declaration:    15.10.2025

 I have been engaged in education since experiencing issues with my own son, requiring an EHCP to support him through is education journey.  This included serving as a parent Governor and Chair at a variety of Bedford Schools and culminated in becoming a Primary Teacher , 12 years ago. I am a member of BBPCF which allows me to further my knowledge and understanding of Borough policies and procedures.  My previous background was in Banking and Finance where I spent 28 years with a variety of international banking operations. 

I have a keen interested in ensuring pupils are fully represented during their time ineducation and beyond, into the "real world". Now as Chair of Grange Academy and a Trust Board member I will endeavour to carry this on.

 I do like doughnuts! 

Date Appointed:          23.10.2024
Date of Declaration:    15.10.2025

James is a teacher with over 25 years’ experience, in both the primary and secondary sectors in the UK and overseas. James has been a Headteacher in three schools; his current school includes ARPs for Hearing Impairment and Cognition & Learning. 

James has two children that attended mainstream schools in Bedfordshire. In hisspare time James coaches football at grassroots and academy levels as well as supporting school matches whenever possible. James joined the BILLT Trust Board in September 2025. 

Date Appointed:          01.09.2025
Date of Declaration:   15.10.2025

Members

Kerri is Chair of Bedford Borough Parent Carer Forum (BBPCF) and is a parent carer of two young people with SEND in mainstream education. She is also a SEND Governor at a local Bedford School.  

Kerri works at National and Local level with Education, Health and Social Care striving to ensure that all young people  with SEND in Bedford Borough receive high quality education, services and support with high aspirations to enable them to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Date Appointed:  21.09.23
Date of Declaration:       22.09.23 

Mrunal isthe chair of the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust. He has over 20 years of experience leading large complex organisations and change programmes. Before becoming Chair at EEAST, he was Co-chair of the National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF), a national organisation that represents the families of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities where he worked with ministers and senior officials in government and the NHS.  He remains a steering group member of the Bedford Borough Parent Carer Forum.

Before joining the NNPCF,  Mrunal was a director at Leonard Cheshire Disability and has extensive experience of the charity sector developing strategy and new services. Prior to this Mrunal spent 18 years in the finance industry and spent 11 years at Deutsche Bank where he was a director of strategic change.

Mrunal lives in Bedford and his son attends St Johns school.

Date Appointed:              09.06.22
Date of Declaration:       10.06.22 

Rob has lived in the area for nearly 30 years. His daughter, now 25, attended St John’s throughout her school career; the confident and courageous young lady that she has now become is due, in no small part, to the dedication, expertise and care of all at St John’s. Rob previously served as a trustee – including a period as Chair – and governor to St John’s prior to that. First amongst his other passions is sailing, including competitive dinghy racing and more recently as instructor and race coach.

Date Appointed:       3.10.16
Date of Declaration:    9.12.2020

 Perry is Head of Education and English at the University of Bedfordshire.  

He has had over 20 years in schools as a senior leader and has taught across contexts in secondary, all-through and special education.  To date, he has been part of a Senior Leadership Team within a new 0-19 academy and 7-19 52 week residential school for young people with a primary diagnosis of autism.  Perry has provided consultancy for primary schools transitioning into academies, early years and strategies for working with young people with ASD.