The Lifetime Fellow of Reach Society (LFORS) was awarded posthumously.
Mike was a husband, a father, a church elder, a college invigilator, a broadcaster and founder of Life Radio UK.
He was also an enthusiastic supporter and friend of Reach Society, and will be remembered for his collaboration with the Society on the Milestones radio projects; the Windrush Nation Song (or Anthem), the Windrush Nation Awards and the Reach-Society-15 Voices series.
Rob was born in Paddington and grew up in the NW London. He joined the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in Oct 1983. Rob studied at the Civil Service College for two years, gaining a Certificate in Training Practice (CTP) and is now a member of CIPD.
Rob was a founding member of P.R.O.U.D. the MoJ’s BAME staff network in 2001 and also chaired of the Civil Service Race Equality Network (CSREN).
In the summer of 2015 Rob led the MoJ’s Diversity & Inclusion Team where he led the delivery of key priorities, including the Department’s response to the Civil Service Talent Action Plan (T.A.P) and renegotiating contracts with all Diversity Staff Networks.
In April 2016 Rob was included in the ‘New View 50’ which recognises influential Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) professionals in the public sector https://issuu.com/elevationetworks/docs/nv_final_list
In May 2016 Rob was chosen to lead the MoJ’s Race Project – an inward facing programme of work aimed at supporting the MoJ’s published Diversity & Inclusion objectives and turning the dial on race equality.
In September 2016 Rob was elected Chair of the Civil Service Race Forum an umbrella network of BAME Staff Networks across the civil service, comprising 30+ Government departments and connecting 6,000+ BAME civil servants across all levels. Rob ended his tenure as Chair of CSRF in 2018 and continues to support the CSRF as an advisor.
Rob chaired the MoJ’s Diverse Leaders Taskforce in support of the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy until March 2019 and after 35yrs with the MoJ departed in April 2019 to support the Department for Education [DfE] with Embedding Culture Change.
Rob has been a Trustee with RELATE for eleven years and also volunteers as the Social Media Director with the Reach Society @ReachSociety10.
Rob was awarded an OBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours list for ‘Services to Race Equality in the workplace and the community’ and received his honour from the Queen at Buckingham Palace in May 2018. Rob was also the inaugural winner of Investing in Ethnicity’s Workplace Hero Award in Nov 2018.
After two years at the DfE as Head of Culture Change and a total of 38yrs with the Civil Service, Rob departed the public sector to launch his own consultancy Krystal Alliance supporting organisations across all sectors to be more inclusive. In October 2021 Rob was included in HR Magazines list of fifty ‘Most Influential Thinkers’.
Mark has delivered numerous diversity and inclusion projects in the UK and internationally for organisations across a wide variety of sectors, including The Financial Reporting Council, Lloyds Market Association (UK and International) Inclusive Recruitment review, Bermuda Hospital Board, Groupama Insurance, The BBC, Sheffield University, NHS Clinical Commissioning Group Boards, Highways England, ITV, DR TV Denmark, Lloyds Market Association & The Bermuda Human Rights Commission and The Law Society.
Mark is a published author on the topic of Equality and Diversity having authored the Law Society E&D Risk & Compliance Toolkit which assists law firms to comply with regulation and is the co-author of research published for Arts Council England on Goal 5: Equality & Diversity for Young People in the arts.
Mark is an executive committee member of the R.I.D.I. (Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative) campaign and a Non-executive Director of NHS Property Services with responsibility for People, Culture, Diversity & Inclusion.
In January 2016 Mark took up the role as Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion for HS2. Under Mark’s leadership, HS2 have won several Awards.
In 2019 Mark won Head of Diversity of the year at the Inclusive Companies annual Diversity Awards and in 2020 was named on the People Magazine Top 20 Diversity & Inclusion Powerlist and in 2021 was recognised by D&I Leader co. as one of the Top 100 Global inspirational D&I Leaders. In 2021, he was awarded FCIPD, fellowship status of Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development.
Mark joined Lloyd’s of London (Lloyd’s) as Head of Culture in January 2022. In September 2022 he was recognised by Hive Learning as one of the Top 75 DEI professionals in EMEA making a lasting impact on inclusive culture.
Mark has lead Lloyd’s to Gold standard on the Clear Assured Accreditation framework, to Disability Confident Leader status and won awards for Lloyd’s diversity focussed leadership and mentoring programmes. Under his leadership, the international Diversity Festival, Dive In has evolved and now includes an outreach and reverse mentoring programme, engaging over 35,000 people with participants from 84 countries globally.
In 2023 Mark was made a Fellow of the 5% Club, a group of major employers investing in apprenticeships and early career opportunities.
In 2024, Mark won the VERCIDA Inclusive Initiative of the year and was awarded Race Equality Matters Trailblazer status for his work on the research into Lloyd’s history with Trans-Atlantic slavery and Inclusive Futures, Lloyd’s response.
Angela Clarke is the Chair of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (or BACP), which is the professional association for members of the counselling professions in the UK.
Angela is a qualified psychologist and psychotherapist with over 30 years’ experience as a clinician within the adult health and social care sector. She is currently a service manager, overseeing care and support provision for a local authority.
Angela’s therapeutic background extends across the NHS, local government and private practice. She holds a master’s degree in counselling and psychotherapy, an honours degree in psychology and sociology and has undertaken much of her postgraduate training through The Priory Hospital.
Angela is passionate about empowering and equipping of young people and has been involved in the provision of counselling in schools for many years. She has worked at a high level with youth projects, local government and community action initiatives aimed at improving the lives of young people, sitting on Children and Adults Safeguarding Boards. Angela is also a member of the Black African Asian Therapy Network, BAATH.
Angela is the CEO of RAFFA International Development Agency (or RAFFA) which supports the delivery of social action projects that are carried out by individuals or groups of people working together for the good of others and not for profit. The objective of these projects is to bring about social change that will benefit an individual, communities or society.
Angela is the Chair of the Board of Trustees at Camberwell After School Project (or CASP), which is a registered charity which was founded by Carmen Lindsay MBE in 1985. Its mission is to deliver a coherent range of childcare services which meet the needs of parents, particularly single parents, who wish to work and/or study in Southwark.
Professor Francis Chinegwundoh MBE is a renowned consultant urologist based in London, who specialises in treating prostate cancer, benign prostate enlargement, erectile dysfunction, and a wide variety of other urological conditions.
In addition to treating patients, he is a widely published researcher, lecturer and professor actively involved in teaching and also involved in charity work as Chairman of the charity Cancer Black Care and a trustee of Tackle Prostate Cancer. He was recognised with an MBE in 2013 for services to the NHS.
Since qualifying in medicine in 1984 from the University of London, Professor Chinegwundoh has accrued a wealth of experience and expertise. He obtained a Master of Surgery degree in 1994 and more recently a Master of Medical Law in 2010.
He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons or FRCS of England and Edinburgh as well as a Fellow of the European Board of Urology. He established and runs the regional prostate low dose brachytherapy service at Barts Health NHS Trust.
He has performed over 100 trans-urethral needle ablation of the prostate for benign prostate enlargement and over 1500 trans-perineal template prostate biopsies. He is also a medical legal expert.
Professor Chinegwundoh is currently urology lead at Newham University Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust and past Chairman of the Prostate Cancer Advisory Group. He serves as an honorary clinical senior lecturer at Queen Mary’s College, University of London and has been an honorary visiting Professor in the School of Health Sciences, City University, London since December 2014.
He is a trustee of British Association of Black Surgeons, BABS, which was founded in 2022. He was granted Freeman of the City of London in 2022; and he served for more than 10 years on the leadership team of Reach Society; and stepped down in 2023.
Patrick Philip Vernon OBE is a British social commentator and political activist of Jamaican heritage, who works in the voluntary and public sector. He is a former Labour councillor in the London Borough of Hackney. His career has been involved with developing and
managing health and social care services, including mental health, public health, regeneration and employment projects.
Also a film maker and amateur cultural historian, he runs his own social enterprise promoting the history of diverse communities, as founder of Every Generation and the "100 Great Black Britons" campaign. He is also an expert on African and Caribbean genealogy in the UK. He was appointed a Clore Fellow in 2007, an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for "services to the Reduction of Health Inequalities for Ethnic Minorities",[8] and in 2018 was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Wolverhampton.
Vernon led a successful campaign for 22 June to be recognized annually as Windrush Day, a national day acknowledging the migrant contribution to UK society, which was officially backed by the British government in 2018.
In 2019, he was appointed Associate Director of Communities at the Centre for Ageing Better, a National Lottery Community funded charity looking to improve the lives of those approaching later life.
Sonia has been actively involved in Reach Society since it was founded in 2010. In particular actively volunteering every year for the annual Careers Conferences, where she was involved in registering and directing the attendees and their parents. She is also a key member of the team on the annual Recognition Awards events for honouring exhibitors and volunteer role models.
Sonia Palmer currently works part time as the Mentoring Coordinator Associate for the Amos Bursary Charity. This involves recruiting and training mentors before they are allocated to students on the Amos Bursary Programme. Previously she worked for the Civil Service in the Department of Transport, including DVLA for 20 years. Having volunteered in a local school, she discovered her true calling, and switched to the education sector where she worked for more 20 years.
Extensive, accomplished, cross-sectoral expertise in comprehensive change programmes and project management, including policy implementation and roll out. Responsible for systems development (tool kit and blueprint) and facilitation for Vaccine Confidence Dialogues on behalf of NHS England and NHS Improvement. Provides NHS Trusts, CCGs, Healthwatch and Regeneration Bodies, with community consultations and dialogues among key stakeholders, interest groups and faith communities, in response to COVID public appointments.
Extensive experience in the selection of ministerial and NHS senior leaders (Appointments Commission, Department of Health & Social Care and Ministry of Justice)) including NHS Trust Boards, Strategic Health Bodies, Governing Councils, Expert Panels, Advisory Groups and External Teams. Selected by the Appointments Commission to lead the recruitment and selection process for Healthcare for London Patient & Public Advisory Group (PPAG).
In addition, appointed by NHS London as Chair/Facilitator for PPAG with added responsibility for delivering regular development sessions. Based on the successful PPAG model, asked by NHS London to lead the recruitment process and act as interim Chair and mentor the successor for the Peoples Platform, East London. A request was made by NHS London to lead the recruitment process and Chair (on interim basis) the Patient & Public Involvement Group for the London Clinical Senate.
As a proven skilled facilitator, is personally and professionally committed to equality and inclusion that influences local leadership and management system changes. Has gained the trust and co-operation from frontline teams and directorates within and across sensitive working environments. Responsible for facilitating BME diversity & equality networks and advisory groups on behalf of the Royal College of Nursing, Royal College of Midwives, Imperial College London, St George's University Hospitals NHS Trust, Guy’s & St Thomas’s, and University Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.
Paula has been an active volunteer for Reach Society since it was founded in 2010, and she has led several of the Society’s projects such as being the co-author of virtually all books in the Society’s collection. As the history project manager she has edited the 6 books in the Society’s collection. She is often found on the Society’s stands at inspirational events in Greater London and elsewhere. In addition, she has overseen the quality of the annual Recognition Awards evenings and spearheaded each of the enjoyable raffles.
Paula A. Neil has over 30 years’ experience in the field of social care and training. She has been a service manager, specialising in child care and safeguarding of vulnerable children and young people; a social care practice assessor and a university lecturer. Now in retirement, she plays an active role in a range of Society’s activities.
Dr McClymont has been a supporter of Reach Society’s work to inspire young people and to explore a wide range of topics of importance to the Windrush Nation (also referred to the Black community). Her ongoing willingness to support the Society’s work is highly appreciated.
Dr Velma McClymont is a fifth-time published author, scholar-activist, international speaker; the publishing director of WomanzVue; and the recipient of several honours. Also known as Kate Elizabeth Ernest, she has published four books for children, including Hope Leaves Jamaica (1993), which was selected by Wandsworth Libraries as the Windrush text in schools and libraries in the borough during the 50th Windrush anniversary in 1998.
Her third book, Birds in the Wilderness (1995), tells the story of children coming to England during the Windrush era. To her credit, the book was shortlisted for the Sheffield Children’s Book Award in 1995, and voted “Book of the Year” in Jamaica in 1998. Her fifth book, Little River (2022), is currently enjoying positive reviews on social media.