Our Directors

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Christine Ru Pert-em-Hru is a  community activist and diversity & inclusion practitioner, experienced in community engagement roles. She has a background in PR and communications with a demonstrated history of working in government and the public sector.  More recently Christine worked as a Community Coordinator, managing a team of community connectors across South London engaging with local community groups through events and other activities and initiatives to improve their communities. Christine is skilled in coaching, facilitating, strategic planning, stakeholder management and creating sustainable partnerships.  

 Claire Martin is a digital project collaboration and communication specialist with experience in the charity and engineering/construction sectors experienced in connecting people through digital marketing, social media and events. Claire strives to connect local causes, businesses and volunteers to build networks that drive meaningful change. Claire is passionate about sustainability, inclusivity and equity, believing in creating opportunities for everyone to thrive.   

 A communications professional and award-winning writer, Katrina Best spent over 15 years living and working in Canada where, following the birth of her two children, she became increasingly involved in community and charity work. After returning to the UK and settling in rural Sussex with her young family, she continued to juggle her professional work in the fields of media and entertainment with a variety of community initiatives, including spearheading a grassroots campaign to improve the local environment, serving as a local elected councillor, and working as a part-time community manager for a large cooperative.  

Dr Rachel Hand has a professional background in music, academia, copywriting and translation, and has always had communities as a key focus, a source of inspiration and motivation. Rachel previously founded a mutual aid group on the Eltham Progress Estate in Southeast London. Following the pandemic, she nurtured the group into a larger and more active community, with monthly meetings, regular events and several online groups, enabling hundreds of residents to come together to improve their community. She has worked as a community manager coordinating a team of community workers across Southeast London and North Kent.

Tom Anderson FRSA is a chartered banker and retired insurance and retail executive who specialised in business process reengineering, financial risk management and new business set-up. Since retiring from mainstream business

Tom has worked internationally, leading on various consulting projects and working with a lobbying group in Washington DC. and Texas on a number of strategic assignments globally. Tom continues to sit on the Advisory Board of FinClusive, an international fin-/reg- tech company headquartered in New York and is active in the UK charity sector while working part-time with the Co-op Group focussing on cooperative member ownership.