Board of Trustees
Sefton CVS is governed by a Board, which comprises Charity Trustees who are also Directors of the Company. The Memorandum and Articles of Association allow for a minimum of six and a maximum of 15 to serve as Directors.
Trustees are elected at the organisation’s Annual General Meeting on a rotational basis to serve a three-year term. The Board regularly evaluates its composition to ensure it is representative of the geography and local communities and has the required professional expertise to provide strong and effective governance to help Sefton CVS continue to run in the best possible way.
Mark Sonne - Chair
Mark is born and bred in Sefton and spent 34 years working with a leading high street bank gaining a broad spectrum of expertise in the Corporate and SME Commercial market. Now self-employed, he is still involved with the business community helping clients raise funds for a variety of projects.
Mark has been involved with a number of local charities acting as Treasurer for a school, nursery and Crossroads as well as his golf society.
Mark has been a Trustee since 2013 and was appointed Treasurer in October 2018.
Mark has since been appointed to Chair of the Board as of February 2024.
Paulette Lappin - Vice Chair
Community engagement and action is fundamental to Paulette’s commitment to the voluntary and community sectors so local people can challenge, engage, influence and manage change.
Her involvement with the community and voluntary sectors began in 1983 working for Community Transport sector, and over the years as a volunteer with various Charitable Trusts. This has given her extensive experience working with diverse communities, young people, In Bloom Groups, community network organisations and managing a community building.
Her work in the public sector includes community regeneration, outreach and engagement, community and public transport, access and equality issues plus European and National projects. Paulette is also a serving councillor for Sefton Council, and as of February 2024 she is now Vice Chair of the Board.
Brian Thomas - Acting Treasurer
Brian was born in Liverpool and has lived in Crosby for over 30 years.
He is a qualified management accountant having gained a wide range of financial expertise during his 30 years working in the public sector, most notably in the NHS, Prison Service and the Home Office.
Now retired, he is keen to offer advice and guidance as a trustee of Sefton CVS.
Brian has also been appointed Acting Treasurer as of February 2024.
Dave Roscoe
Dave was born and educated in Waterloo and Crosby and is a former pupil of Merchant Taylors School.
His career took him away from Merseyside where his work in telecommunications saw him undertake managerial roles with international responsibilities until his retirement.
Since retirement from his main career, Dave has been Chairman of Royal Albert Dock Liverpool Ltd and a director of The Colonnades Residential Ltd. He has been President of the Athenaeum and remains active in the voluntary sector being a trustee of the Royal Albert Dock Charitable Foundation. He has been a Board member of CVS since 2004.
Val Elson
Valerie worked in Community Development Regeneration for over 40 years, in Skelmersdale, Salford, Liverpool and London. Ten years was spent at Liverpool CVS providing advice, training, funding and constitution and charity registration.
Valerie was Administrator for the first Liverpool Common Purpose Programme and worked with Merseyside County Council on their Anti-Heroin Campaign.
She spent 12 years working in Social Housing with Cooperative Development Services and retired as Manager of the Community Engagement Team. After her early retirement, she joined a small housing association for young people with special needs and retired as CEO.
Valerie has been Director of the Plaza Community Cinema for 17 years and is an Observer of Sefton Council for Voluntary Services’ Health Watch Board.
Romils Mathew
Romils was born in India, where he gained his university degree before moving to the UK and has lived in Merseyside for the past 19 years. He was a founding custodian of the Our Lady Queen of Peace Syro-Malabar Catholic Church Litherland and currently serves as a Parish Council member of the church and as the Secretary of the Pastoral Council of the Catholic Syro-Malabar Eparchy of Great Britain.
A Secondary School Teacher by profession, he has worked as a Science Teacher at various schools across Sefton. He was a founding committee member of the Liverpool Malayalee Cultural Association, the founding chair of the former Knowsley Ethnic Minority Support Group (KEMS) and has served as an Independent Advisor to the Knowsley ASBU and the Knowsley MARHF. He is also a Trustee of the Citizens Advice Sefton.
Paul Cummins
Paul Cummins worked for Sefton CVS from 1984 until 1987, and later that year became a Trustee of the organisation, a role he has had ever since, which has included a five year spell as Chair.
From 2012 until 2024, he held the role of Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care at Sefton Council, and over the years has held both national and regional roles in local government, including as the current Chair of Liverpool City Region Health and Social Care Portfolio Holders Group.
He has lived in Sefton all his life, working in both local government and voluntary sector roles, and is a governor at two local schools.
Dr Mike Homfray
Dr Mike Homfray lives in Waterloo and works in higher education. He has a PhD from the University of Liverpool, and has an active interest in social policy which he uses in some of the roles he carries out for the CVS.
As co-chair of EMBRACE, the Sefton LGB Network, he represents the VCF sector on the Equalities partnership, of which he is vice-chair, and also sits on the Council’s Consultation panel and the Sefton Stronger Communities group.
Dr Homfray is also the Board of Trustee’s Equality Champion.
David McGregor
David McGregor spent 12 years in the Royal Air Force and then studied electronics leading him to running the Advanced Electronics and Computer Aided Design Laboratories at Kingston University. He also spent 10 years as the I.T. manager for the Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People in Leatherhead.
David is a fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, a member of the British Computer Society and the Institute for the Management of Information Systems. David is a Southport resident and joined the Board in 2009.