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.

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.

Philippa Stokes
Philippa became a trustee in May this year and brings many years of experience in Human Resources and Employee Relations, working in various senior roles in FTSE100 and other blue-chip organisations. Recently retired from full time employment, Philippa is enjoying having more time for her diverse business and other interests.

Josh Towers
Josh has a variety of HR roles in global corporations, progressing quickly into management roles. He also founded and sits as the CEO of the national charity, Teenage Helpline, focusing on providing opportunities for young people. This charity was born from his own experience as a young person and a passion to drive change and ensure young people don’t face hardships alone. In both his private and public sector roles, Josh promotes the interests of others in everything he does.

Marianne Radcliffe
Marianne has worked in the not-for-profit sector for over 25 years, and held senior roles in Christian Aid, NSPCC and Shelter. She is passionate about leading change in complex organisations, delivering commercially ambitious strategies and positively uniting people, vision, and impact to bring about lasting change for people and communities who are systemically marginalised. Marianne is an Executive Director at FitzRoy, a national health and social care charity and her creative, person-centric approach delivers an award-winning transformation programme which puts innovation, impact and engagement at its heart. Marianne lives in Hampshire with her family and is a keen yogi, photographer and paddleboarder.

Doug Furlong
Doug joined the Board of Fairthorne YMCA Housing in 2023. Doug has been working in social housing for over thirty five years and is currently Chief Executive at Christchurch Housing Society, a charity based on the South Coast providing housing and care to older people. Previously, Doug worked at senior level in a range of organisations across the Housing Association and Local Authority sectors, in roles that have covered most aspects of housing and care from complex supported schemes to Asset Management. He also spent five years at the Audit Commission working as a Housing Inspector and most recently was Head of Quality at the Abbeyfield Society. Doug is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing and has a range of professional qualifications including an MBA from Birmingham University. In his spare time Doug enjoys the gym and playing cricket rather poorly in the summer and reverts to skittles in the winter.
