Our Trustees
In accordance with the charity’s constitution, the Trustees are responsible for the strategic management of the charity.
Trustees are elected at the charity’s Annual General Meeting, usually for a three-year term of office. The Trustees elected/re-elected at the 2024 AGM are as follows:
Gopal Bhachu (Chair of Trustees)
Gopal is currently the Chair of Trustees, having been nominated and elected in 2023.
Sharon Daniels
Sharon has worked in health, social care and community work for 25 years, including managing volunteers at a hospice and leading their bereavement support service. She enjoys volunteering, long walks and the theatre. She was elected to the Board of Trustees for Bereavement Care in 2023.Sharon has worked in health, social care and community work for 25 years, including managing volunteers at a hospice and leading their bereavement support service. She enjoys volunteering, long walks and the theatre. She was elected to the Board of Trustees for Bereavement Care in 2023.
Leslie Pappoe (Honorary Tresurer)
Having worked extensively in finance and being actively involved in charitable work, Leslie joined the trustees in 2019.
Bobbi Riesel
Bobbi Riesel was trained as a Bereavement Visitor with HCBVS (now Bereavement Care) and later completed training as a Psychodynamic Counsellor. She is a Bereavement Group Leader and has served on the Management Committee (now the Board of Trustees) for many years and as Head of Training, is responsible for organising the initial and on-going training of our volunteers.
Dave Scott
David was elected to the Board of Trustees in September 2024. He has been a Bereavement Care visitor for six years and also provides support for Help the Homeless and St Luke's Hospice. Dave's career was in sales and bid management within the telecommunications and IT industry.
Richard Segalov
Richard is Bereavement Care’s Safeguarding Lead. He is a qualified social worker and leads the Pinner Synagogue Bereavement Group.
Sheila Small
Sheila joined the Board of Trustees in October 2023. Sheila’s background is in nursing and she has spent the majority of her clinical career working within the field of cancer nursing. In addition to this, she has also worked in Education and within the Charitable Sector.
Dr Charlotte Spencer
Charlotte joined the trustees in 2023. She qualified as mental health nurse and achieved a professional doctorate in Systemic Psychotherapy. She is experienced in training, education, supervision and system thinking. She was elected as Church Warden at Holy Trinity Northwood in 2023 and interested in mission outreach and Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) issues. She provides advisory support to the course The Bereavement Journey at Holy Trinity Northwood.
Dr John Spencer
John worked as a Hospital Consultant Medical Practitioner for twenty years in the NHS then for ten years with a large international Reproductive Healthcare Charity. He has academic teaching, leadership and mentoring experience, and has assisted with bereavement support throughout his career. He was first nominated as a Bereavement Care Trustee in 2021 by the Harrow Deanery Synod (Church of England), the Organisation that founded the Charity (as the Harrow Churches Bereavement Visiting Scheme) in 1980. He is the current Honorary Secretary of the Board and is researching the history of Bereavement Care for publication in 2026. He is also a Trustee of the benefice of Holy Trinity Church in Northwood where he leads the local community-based bereavement support group. They run a monthly ‘drop-in’ cafe and organise a seven week support course (The Bereavment Journey) twice a year.
Aviva Wilford
Aviva joined the trustees in 2023. She is an expert in marketing, investor relations and led a successful career working for top FTSE companies. She spearheaded one of the first City women in business network groups in the mid ’80’s. Aviva is Vice Chair of Northwood and Ruislip United Synagogue and since retiring has advised among others the Roth Trust and the Revitalise Charity supporting carers. Aviva also enjoys studying history of art, painting in acrylics and is a regular visitor to art galleries, museums and the theatre.