Trustees

Silva Hrabar Owens

Chair of Trustees (Lead Role: Safeguarding and Data and Evaluations including Risk)

After 20 years working in the private sector, pandemic hit and a huge desire to help the community emerged in me. I’ve been a resident of Lambeth and now Southwark for many years and I’ve seen how our services are valued by the local families and I wanted to be a part of it and shape its future.

As well as being a Chair of Home Start Lambeth, I run my own fashion brand and I teach Fashion buying & Merchandising and Sustainability at London College of Fashion. I’m a mother of 3 children all in primary education in a local school.

Andrew Slorance

Treasurer

Lucy Alexander

Trustee, Partnerships

I joined as a Trustee in 2015. I have worked in medical and mental health publishing for over 20 years and am currently working for a charity who publishes communication tools for people with learning disabilities and autism. My expertise is in rights management and marketing. I am also a qualified breastfeeding counsellor for the National Childbirth Trust and have lived in Lambeth for over 20 years.

Jeannie Pitt

Trustee

I joined Home-Start Lambeth in March 2022. I wanted to be part of a charity that was making life better for people local to me. Home-Start has been a charity that I’ve been keen to be part of because I know what a positive difference it can make to families and children.

My background is in fundraising, having previously worked in roles across community and corporate fundraising at both Shelter and Cancer Research UK. Since 2020 I have been managing the B&Q Foundation, a grant-making charity set up by the home improvement retailer B&Q. During 2022 I also studied for a Postgraduate Certificate in Philanthropy, Grant-making, and Social Investment at Bayes Business School.

Jan Peek

Trustee

I have been involved in primary education all my working life. I was headteacher of two schools over 16 years. Part of these roles included running a children’s centre, focusing on the needs of families with young children in challenging circumstances and responsibility for running a unit for children with learning difficulties, again working with families to identify appropriate support at challenging times for the families. For the last nine years I have also been a trustee of The Thames Explorer Trust, a charity providing environmental education and school visits along the River Thames.

As a retired Headteacher I am fully aware of how important support for families with young children is especially in the early years and am really delighted to be a trustee for Home Start Lambeth where I have lived for the last 30 years and know that the support the Home Start team can offer is invaluable.

Elaine Parsons

Trustee

I have lived in Lambeth for the last 25 years and having had three children and trained as a breastfeeding supporter, I know how challenging parenting in the early years can be, and how much any support is appreciated to get through those times. For the last ten years I have worked in family support for Lambeth’s children’s centres and seen the range of difficulties its families have to contend with. In this I have been fortunate to see up close the difference Home Start Lambeth’s help makes to young families when they have found life particularly difficult and isolating.

When the opportunity came to volunteer as a trustee for HSL, I was more than happy to be associated with a charity that provides invaluable practical and emotional support for parents and children in my community, and which has managed to do so while other services are having to stop. The commitment of its staff and volunteers is inspiring, and I look forward to serving as part of the team to ensure their work can continue in the long term.

Margaret Leonard

Trustee

Margaret is an Irish Lawyer living in Lambeth with 12 years experience in banking and finance and more recently, in sustainable finance. Margaret is interested in mental health and the impact early life has on the life outcomes of individuals. Margaret believes in the importance of using ones skills to give back to the communities we live in and as a result Margaret joined Home-Start Lambeth as a trustee in December 2022. In her spare time, Margaret enjoys yoga and triathlon training.

Ade Lawal

Trustee, Vice Chair

Ade is a lawyer who has been involved in corporate and legal governance for over 25 years, having cut his teeth at Smith Kline Beecham plc (now GSK). He has since then held various posts in other private, public, and latterly not for profit organisations. Ade works as a company secretary for a national patient led charity and also holds the role of Secretary for Alternatives to Violence Project Britain, a charity which aims to help people move away from violent or abusive behaviour by developing other ways of dealing with conflicts. He has served as a trustee for Multicultural Richmond, a charity which seeks to promote a thriving, integrated and inclusive community in the London Borough of Richmond, and as a School Governor at Chase Bridge Primary in Whitton.

His particular interest is around vulnerabilities and the need to protect those most vulnerable in our society especially children by highlighting the inequalities and power dynamics that so often affect their future outcomes. Ade spends his spare time with friends and family especially his young son, and when he can his highly spirited Rhodesian Ridgeback – Kukesha.