As a charity, YMCA Fairthorne Group (and YMCA Fairthorne Housing) is governed by a Board of voluntary Trustees who determine the long term strategic direction and day to day compliance of the charity with contemporary legislation and best practice.
Trustees are selected for their extensive experience and skills. Each Trustee brings unique qualities and experience to the board through previous or current senior positions within a broad range of businesses, charities and other organisations.
Day to day operational responsibilities are delegated to the senior management team, consisting of a Chief Executive, Chief Financial Officer, four further directors and around 350 staff.
Our trustees
Dave Bennett
Dave has extensive experience in strategy and operations having advised boards in the public and private sector as a management consultant and served as an executive on boards in the logistics and telecoms sectors. He was a partner in the strategy practice of Accenture and has worked across Western Europe, the US and in Asia. Dave was responsible for setting up NHS Supply Chain Ltd which provides logistics and procurement services to the NHS in England, sourcing more than £2bn in consumables and capital equipment annually.
He is also a Non-Executive Director on the board of University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, sits on the Planning and Resources Committee of the Royal College of General Practitioners, is a Non-Executive Director at the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management and a Trustee of the Mountbatten Hospice Group.
Dave is a passionate, though obviously misguided, supporter of Shrewsbury Town FC. He lives in Hampshire with his wife and has two sons, a step-son, two step-daughters and a very excitable dog.
Mike Cranston
Mike began his career in finance at the age of 17 and worked his way up in accounting positions in various organisations.
In 2005 Mike finished his 30 year financial career as Finance Director of Ageas Insurance. Mike gained a Christian faith in his teenage years and has been actively involved in the church ever since. He became a licensed Lay Minister at 25 and was part of the Christian music group The Gospel Folk, who appeared on BBC radio in the 1960’s. Mike lost his wife in 2018 after 50 years of marriage. He enjoys spending time with his children and grandchildren.
Peter Youngs
Peter’s career included a number of senior financial roles in both public and private companies, with significant overseas experience. He retired from commercial life in 2015 and became a trustee of the YMCA in 2017. He is also works with other charities, including Rowans Hospice and The Literacy Hubs. Peter lives in Southsea with his wife, a retired teacher.
Tim Titheridge
Tim lives in Hampshire with his ever increasing family. He has been involved in the advising and development of commercial property for over 48 years, predominantly as principal with City Estates Ltd, but also as a director of Rok Plc, responsible for running its property development subsidary.
As chair of the Wessex Cancer Trust, he has developed good inter-personal skills both on the public and private stage, gained considerable management expertise, and a comprehensive understanding of running and expanding both small and large companies.
Nicki Kinally
Nicki lives in Hampshire, close to our Fairthorne Manor site and became a Trustee in May 2019. During her career Nicki has progressed to management roles quickly and with her strong people focus she naturally steered toward specialising in Human Resources. She has worked in both the public and private sector and is currently a Senior HR Consultant for Pure Human Resources Limited based in North Baddesley.
Nicki has two children who regularly attend the Fairthorne Manor Daycamps. She and her family have also been known to partake in the outdoor activities and events they hold throughout the year and enjoying the onsite camping with their friends.
Sophie Hannington
Sophie was born in Yeovil and currently resides in Southampton. Sophie spent many years in foster care and experienced homelessness throughout her teenage years due to lack of support, guarantors and available housing. Sophie changed her life around just before her 21st birthday and is determined to help shape the system by becoming the voice of other young people like her.
Peter West
Peter had a successful career in commercial property management, managing investor client owned multi-tenanted properties & estates. These included trophy buildings in the City of London and a luxury destination shopping district. He was responsible for operational service standards delivery by in-house and outsourced service providers and all site risk compliance. Peter had an earlier successful career in corporate asset finance with three major UK Banking Groups, operating across the southern counties. Peter is retired and lives in Dorset.
