Our Trustees
Our trustees steer the work of the YMCA as it fulfils its mission. It is the trustees' responsibility to ensure that we are well run, solvent, compliant with the law and regulations of the Charity Commission and that we are fulfilling our charitable aims.
Len Simmonds President
Len has a wealth of experience gained at the Nottingham Post, the former Local Enterprise Tech and along with his involvement in local church and business networks.
Throughout his career Len has championed a number of issues that are important to our YMCA, including training and staff development, creating opportunities to improve leadership and management skills, and the importance of vibrant city centres to the community.
Len has also held the roles on the Council of Nottingham Workplace Chaplaincy steering group, Conference Nottingham and the Nottingham branch of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Lens insight truly supports his key role in our organisation.
Mike McKeever Chair
Michael worked in education as a teacher for 42 years. During his time as Headteacher of Trinity school in Nottingham (2002-2015), the school received three consecutive ‘outstanding’ judgements and was considered one of the best schools in the country. As a National Leader of Education for five years, Michael worked with some of the toughest schools across the country. He is now an Associate for the Aquinas Foundation working to bring high quality teachers to Nottingham and improve the educational experience of young people in the East Midlands and London. In recognition of his contribution to education, Michael received a Papal medal, the K.S.G. in 2014. He is also a keen sportsman, playing squash and tennis regularly.
Paul Murphy Deputy Chair
Paul has been a board member since October 2014 and currently supports the YMCA as Vice Chair of Trustees. Paul retired from Nottinghamshire Police in August 2016 with his final posting as head of its Professional Standards Directorate. With experience in internal governance and the law, Paul is currently the Investigations Manager at E.ON UK. With many strings to his bow, Paul has a thriving music entertainment business through The Limelight Orchestra. The Orchestra provided entertainment at the reopening of the Malt Cross Nottingham which Nottingham YMCA has taken over trusteeship.
Angela Barbaro-Robins Treasurer
Angela has held several blue chip senior posts from Finance to Managing Director level in the UK and internationally. Having an extensive background in diverse service sectors, she has governed effectively strategic direction and growth across all levels and now manages several Nottingham-based companies. Originally from Nottingham, Angela is keen to employ analytical, problem solving and decision-making ability with a passion for growth within the community.
Jackie Lymn Rose
Nottingham born and bred, Jackie is a fourth generation Funeral Director at A W Lymn, The Family Funeral Service. She is personally very much involved with bereaved families from all cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds. As a Fellow and Past President of The British Institute of Embalmers, Jackie has spent many years as a team member dealing with mass fatality deployed overseas including Siberia, Middle East and Far East as an embalmer identifying, sanitising and repatriating human remains.
Angela Lyons
Angela has significant experience in marketing and PR, particularly in the healthcare sector where she specialised in programme design, delivery and evaluation. She is now a residential landlord and has taken part in strategic overviews of regional housing strategies and is an active member of a landlord's organisation contributing to business planning and development.
Gerry McPake
A native of Glasgow, Gerry retired in June 2018 after a 36-year career with Allied Irish Bank GB (AIB) having led the bank’s operation in the East Midlands for the past 10 years. Gerry’s stewardship culminated in AIB being named as ‘Bank of the Year’ at the prestigious ‘East Midlands Insider Dealmakers Awards 2018’. Across his career, he has worked with many businesses, helping them achieve their dreams and ambitions. Gerry has a keen focus on the vital role that people and teamwork play in the success of any organisation, characteristics which he sees strongly at Nottinghamshire YMCA.
Nick Duckworth Managing Director of Toyota Material Handling UK
Nick is Managing Director of Toyota Material Handling UK and has recently returned from working in Europe for over 10 years in the Capacity of Senior Vice President for Toyota. During this time, Nick was also Chairman of the Board in 15 Toyota marketing and sales companies across Europe and engaged in a number medium and large company acquisitions and mergers. Originating from Nottingham, Nick is keen to utilise his business experiences for the benefit of our community.
Ian Powell Head of Homes and Regeneration
Born and raised in Nottingham, with a brief visit to South Wales, Ian’s heart never left our East Midlands city. Ian is Head of Homes and Regeneration at a Nottinghamshire-based building contractor whose values of courage, respect, collaboration and integrity align well with his own. His work focuses on regeneration in geographic areas that would traditionally be overlooked, supporting the growth of these areas though investment in people as well as property.