trustees & patrons

Val is a governance specialist with considerable charitable and private sector experience. She qualified as a Company Secretary in 1995 and was appointed a fellow of the ICSA in 2007. She specialises in governance, compliance, regulation, health and safety, risk and audit

Karen joined Building for The Future as a Trustee back in 2009 and was an integral part of finding and project managing the renovation of a deserted office into the inspirational space we have for our children today. She remains on the board now as a representative parent of a disabled child.
She is married with 3 children, one of whom has cerebral palsy, and she has a background in project management in the IT industry.

Formerly a local businessman who now works in the City, Gerry has lived in Wokingham for over 40 years. He has served as president of the Rotary club of Wokingham and the Windsor Forest Unicorn club. In 2012, he received the Borough Mayor’s Award for service to the community.

Former Borough Mayor Annette Drake was instrumental in supporting Building for the Future in its early days. We were delighted that Annette agreed to become one of our Patrons in 2013 and continues to be a great support.

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Andy has been actively involved in community and fund raising events in Wokingham over the past 15 years through the Lions, Charity Balls, May Fayre, Winter Carnival and Cantley Fireworks. Having retired in 2015, he decided to devote more time to the community and became a trustee with BFTF in 2016.

Paula had a long career in education as a special needs teacher and manager working with children and young people with learning disabilities specialising over the last 20 years in vision impairment. She has always been passionate about providing equal life and educational opportunities for disabled children and their families. She has a particular interest in supporting children and families pre-school. Paula lives in Wokingham and became a trustee when she retired in 2021.

Ihor Dolhalov relocated here from Ukraine in 2022 with his wife and three children, following the outbreak of war. His professional background is in banking and corporate finance and he currently leads a small team of engineers responsible for the installation, maintenance and repair of dialysis equipment in hospitals across Ukraine. Ihor previously co-founded and led a charitable foundation in Ukraine, dedicated to supporting children with cancer and cerebral palsy. In his spare time he enjoys developing software for Apple mobile devices.

After performing at Building for the Future’s launch in 2008, well-known comedian, writer and activist, Francesca Martinez agreed to become our first Patron. Since then she has supported the charity at many of our events and continues to be a great ambassador for the charity.
Francesca is a wobbly* comedian, writer, and speaker who has toured internationally with sell-out runs at The Melbourne Comedy Festival, The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and the Just For Laughs Festival, Montreal.

*Oh yeah, she has mild cerebral palsy but she much prefers the word ‘wobbly’.

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After a career in sales and marketing, mainly within the promotional merchandise industry, Andy retired at the start of 2017. Having the free time to become involved in the local community, he is now an active member of Wokingham Lions Club, treasurer of a local Residents Association, and a volunteer with a couple of local charities. Andy became a Trustee of BftF in 2020

Nimi has experience in both corporate account management and small charity fundraising management. She has a learning disability herself and has always advocated for the improvement of education for those with differing skills and abilities. Despite her 'classroom' difficulties, she has completed her PhD in education.

Nimi joined BFTF as a fundraiser and joined our board in 2022.

Successful local businessman Mark Ashwell joined Building for the Future in 2009 first as a Trustee, then as Chairman and today as Patron. Mark has been instrumental in our success, offering us an untold amount of support and advice and continues to be a cornerstone of the charity today.

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