Paul Woodhouse, Chair

Paul Woodhouse is an Associate of Corbett Keeling, a Corporate Finance firm, within their Financial Institutions Practice and Associate of Meridian Risk Solutions Ltd, a Lloyds Broking firm.

He started in the Insurance industry in London 1968 and enjoyed senior roles as a Reinsurance Intermediary with leading firms until 1999 with responsibility for larger clients in UK, North America, Bermuda and Australasia.

In 2000 Paul became a volunteer through Sevenoaks Volunteer Bureau (now incorporated into Imago), working on specific projects with individuals. He became Trustee Treasurer and subsequently Chairman of VSU Youth in Action (now also incorporated into Imago) and has always taken a keen interest in the development and delivery of Youth Volunteering.

Paul became Chairman of Imago in 2010, encouraged by the very talented management team and staff and is particularly looking forward to bringing in ideas on alternative funding, including innovative Social Enterprise projects.

Edward Weeks, Director

Ed is a solicitor and partner in Cripps LLP , the largest law firm in Kent, which is based in Tunbridge Wells.  He is a commercial lawyer who specialises in the resolution of boardroom and shareholder disputes and complex contractual disputes.

Graduating from Lancaster University in 1988 with a degree in History, Ed worked for a year for the Worldwide Fund for Nature at their UK headquarters in the regional fundraising section.  He then worked as a general clerk for a law firm in London before returning to law college and ultimately qualifying as a solicitor in 1994 with Penningtons solicitors.  Ed moved to Cripps in 1997 and became a partner with the firm in 2001.

Ed always retained an interest in the voluntary sector and was put in charge of the firm’s corporate social responsibility programme in 2007.  In that year he also became a Trustee of the Tunbridge Wells Citizens Advice Bureau.  Ed became a Trustee of Imago in 2009.

David Oguntoye, Director

David currently works with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), an independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. He has over 28 years experience at various levels of social care and over 9 years at senior management level within the Private Social Care Sector, the Third Sector and Public Sector covering Learning Disabilities, Physical Disabilities, Mental Health and Elderly Care within the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

David has a range of qualifications which include a Postgraduate Certificate in Older People with Learning Disabilities (University of St Andrews), a BSc (Hons) Languages, Certificate in Management, RMA Qualification, Certified Risk Assessor, HABC Level 4 Award in Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (QCF), D32/33 Assessor and various certificates in short courses. 

Danielle Swanson, Director

Danielle became a Trustee for Imago in September 2009.

She graduated from the University of Kent in 2006, having studied for a Bachelor of Laws. Whilst at University, Danielle took on a number of voluntary roles within Kent Union. This prompted her to take up a role supporting the FE Students’ Union of Canterbury College following the completion of her degree. It was at this point that she became more aware of VSU Youth in Action, becoming an Adult Volunteer with the Youth Action Team in Canterbury.

Danielle became one of the five Youth Volunteer Advisors with VSU in 2008, prior to the merger with Imago. She was part of the county-wide team tasked with brokering volunteering opportunities to 16-25 year old as part of the vInvolved initiative.

After completing her LPC at The College of Law in 2010, Danielle worked in a number of legal support roles before moving back into the world of students' unions as an Advisor. Danielle is now the Advice and Advocacy Manager for Students' Union UCL. Following the birth of her daughter in 2015, Danielle became involved with her local NCT group and is now the volunteer Treasurer for the Tower Hamlets branch.

Danielle remains passionate about the voluntary sector, with particular focus on the opportunities available to young people. She believes that her previous experience both as a volunteer and staff member allow her to bring a unique perspective to the Trustee board.

John Cheesman, Director

John is a Senior Legal Counsel & Manager within the Legal Directorate at the Bank of England responsible for leading a team conducting the Prudential Regulation Authority's enforcement investigations. John also has a leading role in any litigation arising out of the exercise of the Bank's and PRA's supervisory functions and assists in the development of enforcement policy. Before joining the Bank, John was a senior lawyer within the enforcement division at the Financial Conduct Authority. 

John successfully practiced as a solicitor in the London office of an international legal firm, specialising in litigation and dispute resolution on behalf of key players in the insurance, reinsurance and liability industries. He graduated from City University in 2002 and qualified in 2007 and is widely regarded for his sound judgment, strong leadership, communication, people and project management skills.  

John has been an active member of the voluntary sector for many years. While a sixth former he helped coordinate summer youth camps for students aged 7-18 years, responsible for the group activities and health and safety of each child. Before qualifying as a solicitor he was chief editor of a free newspaper that became a 40-page glossy magazine with world-wide distribution. 

John is passionate about education and is a Local Authority Governor on the Board of Governors at a Church of England primary school in Dartford. He is a keen badminton and squash player, swimmer and off-road cyclist and, when he can, water-skier. He loves reading and music.

Elizabeth Rogula, Director

Elizabeth Rogula has been involved in the Lloyd’s insurance market for more than 25 years and currently works as an insurance consultant.  She was Operations Director for Lloyd’s Japan between 1998 and 2009 and prior to that was on the boards of various companies within the Lloyd’s market.   Since 2008, she has had a part-time civic role within the City of London as a Common Councilman for the Ward of Lime Street which is one of the 25 Wards which make up the local authority of the Square Mile.  She is a Governor of the City of London Freemen’s School and  also Chair/Trustee of Housing the Homeless Central Fund.  

Laura Ellis, Director

Laura Ellis is Head of New Media for the BBC in the English Regions. Her job involves managing the BBC's 42 local news websites in England and overseeing all the English Regions online activity from social media to iplayer.  Prior to this Laura was Head of Region for the South East, based in Tunbridge Wells. In this role, she launched the BBC's new region serving the South East including the regional news programme BBC South East Today  and two websites for Kent and Sussex/Surrey.

Laura's previous jobs, all in media, have taken her to Bristol, Plymouth, London and Birmingham. In 23 years with the BBC she has worked in a variety of roles, reporting for TV and radio on a range of local and network issues, producing radio, television and web content, editing the BBC Points West  regional news show in the West and running two regions. Laura is married with a son, lives on the Kent/Surrey border and enjoys riding, skiing, hill walking and cooking.

Andy Barrow, Director

Andy Barrow is a triple Paralympian and three-time European gold medallist. He was a professional Wheelchair Rugby player for Great Britain for over a decade, captaining the team for five years spanning the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. Andy competed at London 2012 Paralympic Games before retiring internationally to pursue a career as an inspirational speaker and mentor. His key topics include Teamwork, Motivation, Overcoming Adversity, Leadership, Equality/Diversity and Managing Change.

Andy is full member of the Professional Speaking Association and is also a “Team London” ambassador for whom he regularly speaks and has delivered to a crowd of 12,000 people at Wembley Arena.

In addition to being an inspirational speaker and mentor, Andy runs two large projects working with young people. The first, with long-term client Chaucer Syndicates sees him create volunteering opportunities for employees, who help him run team-building days for young people with challenges. Andy runs days across London and Kent based on his “3 C’s” (confidence, communication and compromise). The second project is the “Athlete Inspiration Programme”, where series of workshops regarding wellbeing, nutrition, resilience and teamwork are held for the schools in his home borough of Greenwich.

Andy supports many different charities and initiatives in an ambassadorial capacity by appearing at fundraising events, giving prizes at award ceremonies or speaking at dinners. These include Right to Play, Charlton Athletic Community Trust, the RFU Injured Players Foundation, OCS and Greenwich Starting Blocks among others.

As someone who has overcome great adversity, Andy has shown that success is achieved through hard work and perseverance. He also believes that in life, nothing will change unless you change it. His motto is simply…. Take the opportunity!