Patrice Panella - Secretary and Trustee

Patrice has a background in IT and uses her skills to help support Water for Kids’ on-line presence. She has previously volunteered for a large charity in Namibia but prefers Water for Kids’ direct action, sustainable approach and particularly enjoys working with local partners in country. She has mainly been involved in projects in Zambia and been privileged to see first hand the huge difference safe water and sanitation makes to people’s lives. As secretary, she works on admin, policy, and communications for Water for Kids.

Greg Warwick - Vice Chairman and Trustee

Greg currently works at Mendip District Council. He met the founding Trustees of Water for Kids whilst working at Bedford District Council where he qualified as an EHO. Having travelled extensively in the developing world, he decided to use his Environmental Health skills to assist the charity in its work overseas and has travelled abroad with the charity to Zambia and Peru. As a long standing Trustee he has been the contact for projects in Peru, Rwanda and Kenya. He is currently working on a number of policies to assist in the future development of the Charity.

Jason Cox - Treasurer and Trustee

Jason's working background is within the commercial technology sector; he has some financial training which is very useful in his current role. When he was younger he lived in Zambia for five years and South Africa for two years and so is very aware of the hardships that the people face everyday when living in remote areas. Contact: treasurer@waterforkids.org

Tom Jackson - Trustee

I have lived in the North east all of my life and had a building company for 27 years. My first experience of Africa and development work came when I was 48 when I went to Tanzania to supervise the construction of hospitals and rural clinics on a family health project. I lived there for three years gaining a huge amount of experience working alongside local people and district officials. After returning I became involved with Kenya Acorn Project on rainwater harvesting and sanitation. This is how I started to work alongside Water for Kids. I have been involved since 2009. I regularly visit Uganda with Water for Kids and have been on a WfK trip Zambia. I am honoured to be part of and working with a great team of trustees.

Barbara Lucas - Trustee

Barbara began her professional life as an EHO in a small regional authority and later worked for an inner London Borough. She then spent ten years as an independent consultant in both the statutory and voluntary sectors. Since 2002 she has worked in the private sector as a project manager, mainly on the English Housing Survey. 'I have seen the effectiveness of Water for Kids at first hand in Uganda and the close links with local communities, and welcomed the opportunity to become a trustee and support the charity'.

Eilidh Naismith - Trustee

I work at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, supporting academics to secure funding for groundbreaking research that addresses the most pressing global health challenges. My fundraising career began at Amref Health Africa, an African-led health NGO, where I visited our innovative water projects in rural Kajiado County, Kenya and saw firsthand the transformative impact of community-led initiatives improving community health and livelihoods, by providing access to clean water and effective sanitation. Clean water is the foundation of good health, enabling communities to thrive by reducing disease, improving education, and fostering economic development.

Elaine Rudman - Trustee

Elaine has spent all of her working life in local government and currently manages a regulatory services department in the North East of England.

She was given the opportunity to volunteer in rural Kenya in 2018 with Water for Kids trustees and Environmental Health colleagues, delivering a jointly funded safe water and sanitation project. She loved every minute of the experience and it rekindled her interest in public health and sanitation which originally prompted her to join the environmental health profession.

Seeing first hand the challenges faced by communities without access to safe water, and how direct action and community involvement can make a significant difference to the health and wellbeing of children and families inspired her to support Water for Kids and she is honoured to have become a trustee.

Charles Shachinda - Trustee

Charles is a Civil Engineer by background with 6+ years of industry experience in delivering a diverse range of civil and water projects and initiatives, including fostering high-level multi-stakeholder engagements and partnerships in both the private and public sectors globally. In his current role at British Water, Charles is responsible for the delivery of British Water’s international programme, which encompasses leading business development engagements across various water markets, including in Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. Charles holds an MSc in Engineering from the University of Leeds (UK), in addition to a joint BBA and BEng. Besides his professional work, Charles is also a published author, a 2024 University of Oxford Policy Leadership Scholar, a 2023 International Water Association and Grundfos SDG 6 Fellow, and a 2020 Beit-University of Leeds Scholar.