Our Trustees

The National Blind Children's Society trustees

The National Blind Children's Society trustees give their time freely and for the benefit of the charity. They are the original volunteers.

The trustees' roles is:

• To advise and offer experience for the benefit of the charity
• To ensure the charity complies with the law, work towards the aim of the charity's charter and remain viable
• To be the charity's advocates and ambassadors

Our trustees

Brian Bell – Chairman
Clare Black
Joan Copleston
Frank Smith
Nigel Harris
Rita Kirkwood
Vidar Hjardeng
Robert Perkins
Dhiren Katwa
Mike Nussbaum
Frank Clegg

Our Vice-Presidents

Rt Hon David Heathcoat-Amory
Jenson Button
Jan Fennell
Susan Osman
Neil Parish
Adrian Walsh

About our trustees 

Brian Bell, Chairman – A former corporate banker with a major UK clearing bank for 18 years, followed by a similar role and time with a Swiss financial institution in Geneva, Brian returned to the UK to take early retirement. His business connections in the UK enabled him to take the role of chief executive, following a management buy-out, of a major Bristol-based office equipment and supplies retailer which he subsequently sold on. His banking and financial experience is extremely valuable to NBCS.

Joan Coplestone  – A qualified teacher of the visually impaired who worked at the West of England School for blind and partially sighted children for more than ten years, Joan went on to become an advisory teacher employed by Somerset VI (visual impairment) Service.

Frank Smith – Frank retired from Joseph Clarke School after over 25 years there, 20 as head. Frank has worked with blind and partially sighted children of all ages, some with additional difficulties, for 39 years in three London schools. He helped to train teachers of the visually impaired at the Institute of Education, University of Cambridge, for eight years.

Clare Black – Clare works as a consultant at Contango Markets Ltd, advising clients in the global commodity and financial derivatives markets. She moved there after a successful 14-year stint at international news agency Reuters, where she was deputy editor-in-charge of Commodities for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Clare has four children, two of her own and two stepchildren. Her eldest son, now 11, is blind from birth and she has lots of first-hand experience of the statementing process. She was formerly chairman and trustee director of LOOK London, a charity offering help and advice to families of children with visual impairment in the Greater London area, which has now merged with NBCS.

Nigel Harris – Nigel is the father of three children including a daughter with a severe visual impairment and additional disabilities. Nigel has many years’ experience as a governor of a Non-Maintained Special School and sits on the advisory board of his local Parent Partnership. He is a trained accountant and has worked in a wide variety of organisations from large multinationals to smaller owner-managed businesses and charities.

Rita Kirkwood – A qualified teacher of the visually impaired who has worked with and for people with visual impairment in all sectors of education for the last 25 years, Rita is an Ofsted inspector, headteacher and trustee of several charities, and a former trustee of Look London.

Vidar Hjardeng – Now Diversity Manager for ITV News and Regions, Vidar has so far spent over 20 years as a journalist, for much of that time running a variety of political and social action programmes. Registered blind, Vidar also reviews audio books and audio described theatre/opera performances for, among others, Radio 4's In Touch and RNIB's Insight Radio.

Robert Perkins – Robert is an experienced chief executive who has had two fulfilling careers in the corporate and voluntary sectors. He was chief executive of SeeAbility, for the Royal School for the Blind, from 1990 to 2003, and since then has used his experience as a charity trustee and non-executive director, including his role as chairman of the National Educational Advocacy Partnership, led by NBCS.

Dhiren Katwa – Dhiren works full-time as an external relations adviser for the Environment Agency and as senior editor and columnist for the London-based newspaper Asian Voice. He is a trustee of Birmingham Rathbone, a charity for people with learning disabilities, and sits on the ITV Central Diversity Panel and the Diversity Board of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. He is a member of the Equality Council of the National Union of Journalists.

Mike Nussbaum – Mike Nussbaum has been the Chair of Trustees for Volunteering England since its creation in 2004. Prior to this, he was Chair of Volunteer Development England and the National Association of Volunteer Bureaux. He is currently Chair of Milton Keynes Volunteer Centre and Trustee for Buckinghamshire Association for the Blind. Mike has been a volunteer at local, regional and national level since his teens. He retired after 35 years in community development work with local authorities, the inner London boroughs and Manchester City Council.

Frank Clegg – After a successful business career Frank has been a magistrate since 1997 and is an active member of his local Rotary Club in Somerset which has been a driving force behind building up NBCS from its Highbridge head office base.