The Care & Repair England Board is made up of volunteer members plus the CEO as a non-executive member.

The Board meets four times a year and is responsible for managing Care & Repair England by:

• Setting policy
• Agreeing work plans, targets and monitoring performance
• Planning ahead
• Implementing financial controls and legal responsibilities

Care & Repair England operates in accordance with the NCVO Charity Governance Code and has adopted the NCVO Charity Ethical Principles.

It is a Registered Society under the Co-operatives and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 operating in accordance with NHF 2015 Model Rules for Charitable Housing Associations.

Robin Means (Chair)

Emeritus Professor of Health and Social Care at the University of the West of England (UWE), formerly Associate Dean (Research & Knowledge Exchange) and Professor of Health & Social Care. A Past President of the British Society of Gerontology; former Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. Until recently Chair of We Care Home Improvements. Robin is a Trustee of Abbeyfield Research Foundation. Robin has published and researched widely on housing & social care issues for older people.

John Simmons (Vice Chair)

Retired from the post of Deputy Director of Social Services and Head of Adult Care in Derbyshire in 2004 and has continued to be involved in looking at how older people can be involved in issues which impact on their lives.

Elizabeth Phillips MBE (Secretary)

Worked in the housing arena for nearly 40 years, initially for a major Housing Association, latterly as Chief Executive of Age UK Warwickshire where she developed a range of housing support services, including Care & Repair and Handyperson services, and pioneered partnerships with local health bodies, including General Practices and hospitals. Retired from Age UK Warwickshire in 2016, and is now Chair of Age UK Birmingham and Sandwell.

Chris Long Leather (Treasurer)

Retired Chartered Accountant formerly employed as a Finance Director in the automotive components sector. Trustee (previously Treasurer) of AgeUK Warwickshire for past 15 years.

Wendy Fabbro

Strategic Leader of Adult Care and Health services with over 30 years working in Local Authorities, and with a special interest in developing high quality, person centered and outcome focused Commissioning.

Domini Gunn-Peim

Until 2017 Director of Health and Wellbeing at Chartered Institute of Housing; formerly Audit Commission National Lead for Vulnerable Communities & Lead Housing Inspector NE/Y&H. She has worked in roles in housing, health, education & social care for over 40 years. 

Valerie Little

Retired as Director of Public Health in September 2014 after a 40 year career in health planning and Public Health, 18 of which as Executive Director. Served on the national Executive Committee of the Association of Directors of Public Health. Has a longstanding interest in housing and health and has developed a special interest in Arts and Health. Valerie is a Fellow of the  Faculty of Public Health and a member of its Housing Special Interest Group. She is also a College Governor and serves as a Non-Executive Director of an NHS Trust.

 

Julia Skelton

Retired from the post of Director of Professional Operations at the Royal College of Occupational Therapists in 2019.  Julia has always held an interest in housing, adaptations and disabled facilities grants and was responsible for the production of Adaptations Without Delay.

Richard Turkington BA, PhD, FRSA

Director of the research consultancy Housing Vision formed in 2001; co-ordinator for the Birmingham University-linked Academic: Practitioner Partnership for Healthier Housing and Member of the European Network for Housing Research. Previous academic posts include lectureships in Sociology at the Leeds and Liverpool John Moores Universities and Director of Housing Research at the University of Central England. Extensive involvement in community-based housing and planning research, for example, the World Health Organisation-funded ‘Healthy Cities Project’ which funded a project to determine the health benefits of housing improvement jointly co-ordinated by Dr Turkington.