Our trustees, STEERING OUR MISSION FORWARDS

Carmen’s background is in community and charity organisations. She has worked in and with a breadth of VCSE organisations. Her roles have focused on community action, and working with young people.

Carmen brings a unique perspective to the board as she is a past service user, bringing lived experience to her role. Carmen can provide young people’s representation within the Board and continue to highlight young people’s perspectives on issues faced, especially by young carers themselves. In her spare time, Carmen is a keen environmentalist and crafter. Carmen looks forward to the opportunity to help shape the future of GYC.

Dawn brings a wealth of experience in HR, employment law, and health & safety. As a Business Development Partner at Peninsula, she supports SMEs with robust, commercial advice and tailored solutions to help them navigate the complex world of people management and legislation. Dawn became a Trustee for Gloucestershire Young Carers in 2025 and is passionate about ensuring that young carers are recognised, supported, and given the opportunities they deserve. She lives in Cheltenham with her family and is a proud advocate for young people balancing caring responsibilities alongside their own aspirations.

Becky has 26 years’ experience in public sector roles in the NHS and is currently the Associate Director, Engagement and Experience for the NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group.

Previously involved in the commissioning of carers’ services, Becky’s interests lie in communications, public engagement and consultation, patient and carer experience.

Dr Shanta Nair is a retired local general practitioner. She worked at Bartongate Surgery for twenty years. She is very passionate about carers’ health and other issues. She did some pioneering work at Bartongate for carers and the practice was selected for an award for an exemplary practice for carers’ clinics by The Royal College of General Practitioners. Shanta is also a Deputy Lieutenant of Gloucestershire and a co executive officer of The Hindu Cultural Association, Gloucester.

Matt’s background and expertise lies in finance, having worked in the financial services industry for 8 years and is now a Lead Accounting Operations Analyst at GE Aerospace. Matt became a chartered accountant in early 2020 and became Treasurer for GYC in May 2021. He is also a registered volunteer with GYC and loves getting involved in a fundraising challenge, particularly when they’re sporty.

Paul is retired Medical Director in Gloucestershire’s mental health services with interests in Mentoring and Service Safety and Improvement and Serious Incident Learning. Paul is currently Consultant Psychiatrist with specialism in Autism Spectrum Conditions.  Paul brings his extensive experience in mental health and learning disability services and offers supervision to GYC ‘Us Too’ sessions for children caring for a family member with mental ill health.

Paul also has a national focus as South West Regional Advisor for the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Elected Member of the SW Royal College of Psychiatrists Executive Committee.

Ros brings over 20 years’ experience in teaching and mentoring in an FE college, and 10 years’ experience of researching and writing guides on technology-enhanced learning and teaching for higher and further education audiences. Ros’ passion lies in supporting young people to achieve their full potential – as a keen volunteer for GYC, Ros regularly takes part in activities organised for the Young Adult Carers and is active as a trustee on educational issues.  Since retirement, Ros has been heavily involved in local fundraising and brings enthusiasm for this area to GYC.

My main professional background is building networks, however I’ve been a Young Carer/Young Adult Carer since I was 14, so I have extremely good knowledge of the system as a service user. I’m also a strong advocate for good mental health, LGBTQIA+ inclusivity, and neurodiversity awareness. As well as being a trustee for GYC, I also have a couple of responsibilities with Cheltenham Scouts. As these responsibilities are young-people facing I can use my experience and learning to enable me to support and empower our next generation.

Tracy has considerable legal experience as a qualified lawyer in civil and criminal defence work predominantly in later years working for the central criminal court in London.