The Sunshine Centre’s Board of Trustees

John Bridgeman CBE TD DL

Chairman

John has been Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Sunshine Centre since 2003.

He is also currently Independent Chairman of the Audit and Standards Committee of Warwickshire County Council, Complaints Commissioner for the Data and Marketing Commission, a Trustee of the William Temple Foundation and the Oxfordshire Yeomanry Trust and a Vice President of the Institute of Trading Standards.

John came to Banbury in 1967 as a graduate trainee with Alcan Industries and after assignments in Canada, Australia, Northumberland and London was appointed Managing Director of Alcan Extrusions in Banbury in 1982. He later became Chief Executive of British Alcan Aluminium plc and afterwards joined the government as Director General of Fair Trading. Subsequently he has been Regulatory Director of the British Horseracing Authority, Vice Chairman of British Waterways and a founding Trustee of the Canal & Rivers Trust.
In the past John has been Chairman of Governors of the Banbury College, Chairman of Enterprise Cherwell, Chairman of the Oxfordshire Economic Partnership and a High Sheriff of Oxfordshire.

Bernard Goodchild – Practicing as Management Support for SME’s

Professional Qualifications & Education

  • Master of Business Administration (MBA)
  • Associate of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries (ACIS)
  • Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (ACIB)
  • Member of the Institute of Management (CMIC)
  • Formerly Business Link Accredited Business Advisor
  • Managing local markets Coaching Certificate

    (Qualification relates to the development of strategy, market research and the formation of detailed Business Plans

A variety of courses and workshops covering all areas of management. These include a programme focusing on Company and International Finance at Manchester Business School and a six-week European Study Tour of Financial Institutions.

Bernard spent 36 years in a long-term career in the Banking & Finance industry

From the 1970’s he managed portfolios of business relationships providing advice and support in relation to client’s performance and assessment of their financial needs. In later years he managed larger company relationships including PLC’s. The skills and experience gained from managing in these roles left him well placed to support and understand the challenges of all shapes and sizes of businesses/organisations.

In his final role in Banking, prior to leaving the industry Bernard was appointed to manage and be personally responsible for the Bank’s Retail business in Oxfordshire – 23 offices and circa five hundred managers and staff.

Public Service Role

  • In the period 2003/2011 Bernard became a Bord member of the Oxford & Cherwell College. In this role he served on three individual committees – Finance, Senior Recruitment, Quality & Curriculum. On leaving the Board he became a member of the Banbury & Bicester College Board until 2016.
  • He formed and chaired the Banbury Innovation award Committee 2004/11
  • When time permitted for 19 years, he was a member of the Oxford Business Enterprises volunteer advisory team, supporting micro businesses and new start-ups. In addition, Bernard was part of an assessment team reviewing grant applications made to the charity Frederick Foundation.

Post Banking

Bernard became self-employed as a business advice consultant in 1998 working for Government based advisory and grant application programmes.

Business Analysing & Reporting

  • Bernard undertook reports, analysis, and evaluations on behalf of commercial banks in reviewing client’s business activities and to Law Courts as an expert witness in commercial litigation.
  • Business reviews funded by E.U. for West Midlands, Surrey, Milton Keynes, Oxford, and Buckingham Business Links
  • Assessed and reported on Rural Grant applications on behalf of Hereford County Council.

Business Adviser – Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OXLEP)

Subsequently in 2016 he was recruited by OXLEP to become a member of the Business Advisory team, leaving in 2021 when the E.U. funding ended.

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Dr Harvey Marcovitch

Fundraising Strategy
Lead Trustee – Safeguarding
Special Needs

Harvey trained in paediatrics at St. Mary’s Hospital London, Great Ormond Street Hospital, the Institute of Child Health neonatal unit at Hammersmith Hospital and Northwick Park Hospital & Clinical Research Centre, as well as Children’s Hospital Medical Centre, Boston Mass.

He was a consultant paediatrician in the UK from 1977 – 2001, latterly at Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust and was honorary senior clinical lecturer at the University of Oxford and postgraduate clinical tutor for North Oxfordshire. From 1994-2003, he was editor-in-chief of Archives of Disease in Childhood and was syndications editor for BMJ Publishing Group from 2001-7. He also edited the journal Clinical Risk for the Royal Society of Medicine. He has been chairman of the Committee on Publication Ethics, director of the Council of Science Editors (US) and a board member of the UK Research Integrity office.
He was either an officer or co-opted member of the executive committee of the Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health throughout its first decade and was awarded its honorary Fellowship in 2007 ‘in recognition of outstanding contributions to the objects of the College.’ He is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.
From 2001, Harvey was an associate of the General Medical Council, initially as a panellist and then as chairman of its Fitness to Practice Panels followed by transfer to Tribunal Chair of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service until 2016.
Harvey is chairman of the trustees of MacKeith Press, an academic publishing company and sits on the Confidentiality Advisory Group of the NHS Health Research Authority.

Jenny Harris

Fundraising & Strategy (Chair)

Jenny Harris started her career working for five years as a Probation Officer in Reading and at Spring Hill Prison.

Following a break to have her children, she trained as a family mediator with Oxfordshire Family Mediation.  For over thirty years she worked with families in transition, helping parents to cope with the challenges of supporting their children whilst they were going through separation and divorce. She also worked directly with children helping them to understand the changes in their families and to develop ways of coping with their changed situation.

For five years she worked as the CEO at BYHP, the Banbury Young Homeless Project, supporting young people.  During this time, she helped to develop the mediation service working with parents and young people whose relationship had broken down, leading to homelessness. She was also responsible for fundraising and made a successful bid for five-year funding to the Big Lottery, for setting up a social enterprise cafe.

She has been a Magistrate in Northampton since 1990 and during this time has sat on the youth and family benches as well as in the adult court.   She has been a school Governor, has been involved with Trust and Legacy fundraising for other charities and has been part of a community-based fundraising committee for twenty years.

She is now retired and enjoys walking her dog, playing bridge and learning to paint.

David Richardson

Human Resources. Finance & Audit
Lead Trustee – Pensions

David’s working career always involved the management, investment and governance of corporate pension schemes and arrangements.

As a Director of an actuarial and employment benefit consultancy he had responsibility to the board for the operation and staffing of the in-house legal department as well as for marketing and insolvency units. With the trustee company, he had responsibility to the board for legal matters plus trusteeship responsibilities for a portfolio of corporate pension plans.

From 1963 David worked with the insurance company Legal & General for several years then became senior consultant with actuarial and employee benefits consultants. He took professional exams (Pensions Management Institute) and became APMI then later elected as Fellow (FPMI) in 1990, Made Director in 1988 and also became Director of a corporate trustee company. These appointments to companies within the Willis Group.

In 1998 he took a statutory appointment with the Government of the Cayman Islands and created a operational framework and office for the regulation, registration and governance of mandatory employer sponsored occupational pension schemes nationally.

Retired in 2003 and 2005-2016, he acted as a voluntary general adviser for the North East Suffolk Citizen’s Advice Bureau. From 2005- 2016 acted as Company Secretary to a residents’ management company and separately was a trustee to a local charity operating a shop and providing craft training and work for disabled people. Also from 2008 -2012 was co-opted as an independent member of the Standards Committee of Waveney District Council. Served as Councillor on Beccles Town Council from 2013 – 2016.

Rotarian since 1993. President of the Rotary club of Marlborough & District in 1997/8; director of Rotary Club of Grand Cayman 2000/01-2001/02; Conference Secretary for District 7020 in 2000; District Officer 7020 (Disaster Relief). Paul Harris Fellow awarded in 2000. Second Paul Harris awarded by club in 2002. Joined Rotary Club of Beccles 2004. President in 2012/13 then Assistant Governor in D1080 in 2015/16 and 2016/17. Also served on D1080 ComVoc committee in that period and as club Secretary 2013-2016. Moved to Banbury in August 2016 and President of Rotary Club of Banbury 2020-21. Assistant Governor of District 1090 2016-2020.

Surinder Dhesi

Human Resources

Surinder has lived in Banbury for the past 42 years.

She is married with 2 children, works for the Civil Service, former Town Mayor of Banbury, a former Cherwell District Councillor and a custody visitor for Thames Valley Police, a member of Banbury Bluecoats Committee and also a member of Banbury Rotary Club. She worked for Marks & Spencer from 1982 to 2020 where she was the chair of the Business Involvement Group. She has served as Trustee of Banbury Citizens’ Advice Bureau and as Governor of Banbury Secondary School. She was also an Oxfordshire County Councillor (2005-9 and 2013-7) serving on the Health & Overview Scrutiny Committee and Pension Fund Committee.

April Guiness MEd
Lead trustee for safeguarding and early years.

I am a retired Headteacher who has worked in Oxfordshire since 2002. I was born and bought up in Birmingham. I started an electronic engineering  apprenticeship at the age of 17 and then trained as a teacher, with my passion being Early Years. I became a headteacher in 2008 and remained in post until August 2023 when I took early retirement.

Having lived in the Bretch Hill area since 2003,  I have a great understanding of the families that live in the local area and understand the needs and problems facing much of the community. I feel honoured to have been approached to become a trustee and aim to do all I can to support the centre on its journey.