About Us

      

Our Trustees

The trustees of BBC Children in Need:

- Are legally responsible for the charity
- Make the final decisions on grant applications
- Take legal responsibility for grant-making

Who are our Trustees?

Stevie Spring is Chief Executive of Future plc, a fully listed international consumer publishing company. She graduated in law and spent four years in marketing and two years launching breakfast television before starting a 16-year career in advertising agency management. From 2000-2006, she was Divisional Chief Executive of Clear Channel, the world's largest radio, out of home and live entertainment company. She sits on the Board and Audit Committee of Arts & Business and the PPA; is a Fellow of both the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and the Marketing Society; is a patron of NABS, a Companion of the Chartered Institute of Management and an honorary member of WACL.

Prior to taking over as Chairman of BBC Children in Need, she served three terms as Chairman of The Groundwork Federation, the UK's largest organisation delivering community regeneration projects.

Tim Davie is Director of BBC Audio and Music.

He has overall responsibility for BBC Radios 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Live and the BBC digital radio stations 1Xtra, 6 Music, BBC Radio 7, 5 Live Sports Extra and the Asian Network. He also oversees the three BBC orchestras in England, the BBC Singers, the BBC Proms, Classical Music & Performance Television and Radio Resources. In addition, he is in charge of Radio Drama and Television Music Entertainment and is strategically responsible for all audio across the BBC.

Tim was appointed to his current role on 1 September 2008, succeeding Jenny Abramsky.

Previously he was Director of the BBC's Marketing, Communications and Audiences division from April 2005 and before that Vice President, Marketing and Franchise, PepsiCo Europe.

He read English at Cambridge University and joined Procter and Gamble's marketing department straight from there, becoming a Brand Manager in 1991.

Alan Broughton has a professional background as an investment banker and during a 20-year career in the City held managing directorships at leading banks including SG Warbury, UBS, Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers. Since he retired from investment banking, Alan has devoted most of his time to working with disadvantaged children and young people. He is a qualified RYA Yachting instructor and Master Mariner and teaches young children sailing skills. Alan joined BBC Children in Need in July and his other trusteeships include NCH and Playing for Success Cornwall.

Beverley Tew is the BBC's Director of Procurement and Revenue Management. She and her team are responsible for collecting the licence fee income of more than£3 billion and ensuring that the BBC gets best value in its dealings with external suppliers. She qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young and has held a number of senior financial roles in the commercial sector and at the BBC since joining in 1997. She has been a Trustee of Children in Need since September 2004 and has the responsibility of Treasurer to the Board.

Neena Mahal is a freelance training consultant specialising in the fields of equality, personal and organisational development. As a qualified careers adviser she has a background in education and community development work and has served on a number of committees promoting social inclusion and initiatives for young people.

Neena is a former member of the Broadcasting Council for Scotland and founder member and former Director of Scotland's first information and resource centre for Black and Minority Ethnic women. She has also been a Trustee of the National Museums of Scotland since 2000. She is currently a Non Executive Director of NHS Lanarkshire and Chair of its South Community Health Partnership. She also serves on a number of other Health Board governance committees and until 2007 chaired the Equality, Diversity and Spirituality committee.

Jay Hunt became Controller, BBC One, in May 2008. She rejoined the BBC from Five, where she was Director of Programmes.

Jay was formerly the BBC's Controller of Daytime, having previously been Senior Commissioning Editor, Daytime.

During her time at Five she commissioned returner hits like Cowboy Builders, Extreme Fishing with Robson Green and Paddy and Rory's Great British Adventure.

Since becoming Controller, BBC One she has introduced a wide range of new shows to the channel including Total Wipeout, Let's Dance for Comic Relief and Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow. She has also refreshed other shows including Countryfile, The One Show and Watchdog and has introduced new forms of event television through stripped dramas such as Criminal Justice and Occupation.

Nicholas Eldred is Group General Counsel and Secretary of the BBC, non-executive director of BBC Worldwide, director, BBC Commercial Holdings and chair, BBC Commercial Holdings Audit Committee. As Group General Counsel of the BBC, Nicholas provides legal advice to senior management and the BBC Trust, manages and co-ordinates BBC Legal and provides professional leadership to lawyers across the BBC and its subsidiaries. Nicholas joined the BBC in August 2001 from BT Cellnet (now 02UK) where he was director of legal and business affairs and company secretary. He was with BT Cellnet for six years, joining from BT where he was head of the mergers and acquisitions legal team. Prior to that he was a corporate lawyer with city law firm Simmons & Simmons. Nicholas qualified as a solicitor in 1987.

Peter McBride is Chief Executive of Carecall, a social enterprise that is a wholly owned subsidiary company of the charity the Northern Ireland Association for Mental Health. Peter is responsible for developing Carecall's provision of mental health support services to employers and employees in the public, private and voluntary sectors. Peter started his career as a clergyman, then moved into the fields of social work, counselling and latterly social entrepreneurship.

Coming from a counselling/mental health background, Peter has developed a broad range of interests. He has been vice-chair of the BBC NI Appeals Advisory Committee/Children in Need Committee for the past four years, having been a member for the past seven. He chairs the Social Action Programming sub-committee that advises BBC NI on its community and social action programming activity. He also chairs a government advisory committee on the role of faith communities in providing support to those who have experienced trauma as a consequence of the conflict in Northern Ireland. Peter also has an interest in international development, providing leadership on the development of the Northern Ireland Association for Mental Health's international strategy, with particular responsibility for the development of a Mental Health Project in Malawi.

Phil Hodkinson retired in 2007 from the financial services industry to pursue a portfolio of charitable and business activities. These include positions as a trustee of Christian Aid and Business in the Community, chair of the CommunityMark Independent Approvals Panel, and non-executive directorships of HM Revenue & Customs, BT, Travelex and Resolution.

A Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries, prior to his retirement in 2007, Phil's former roles included Finance Director of HBOS plc, Chairman of Insight Investment and Clerical Medical, and CEO of Zurich Financial Services UK Life. He was also previously the Chair of the HBOS Foundation, the Zurich Financial Services Charitable Trust and the ABI Raising Standards Accreditation Scheme.

Susan Elizabeth has worked for 25 years in the voluntary sector, ranging from small community based organisations to major national charities. She was Chief Executive of the Camelot Foundation from 2001-2006, developing programmes to reconnect marginalised young people to the mainstream of UK life. Prior to that she was Deputy Director of the National Council for One Parent Families, and Director of Grants at the health think-tank, the Kings Fund. Susan is now a freelance consultant, with clients in the funding and voluntary sectors. She is a non-executive Director of the Probation Service in Sussex and a Trustee of the Guys & St Thomas's Charity, the largest NHS-related charity in the UK. Susan is a Member of the newly established Charity Tribunal.

Sir Terry Wogan KBE has hosted the seven-hour live BBC Children in Need Appeal TV show since 1980 and spearheads BBC Radio's contribution to the Appeal on Radio 2 with 'Wake Up To Wogan'. He first worked for BBC Radio in 1967 and then took over The Breakfast Show in 1972. Ten years later he was a household name, had won numerous awards and was hosting his own TV show called Wogan. In 1993 he returned to BBC Radio 2 and his early morning radio show is the most popular in Britain.

Yogesh Chauhan is the BBC's Chief Adviser on Corporate Responsibility & Environment. His work involves developing, co-ordinating and promoting the BBC's ethical, environmental and corporate citizenship activities. In addition, he is in charge of specific projects such as reporting and benchmarking corporate responsibility performance as well as leading on the BBC's environmental strategy.

Prior to joining the BBC, Yogesh worked in both the commercial and charitable sectors specialising in management and organisational development.