FoundationAdvisory Board

Matthew Ashton

Director of Public Health, Liverpool City Council Honorary Professor, Department of Public Health and Policy, University of Liverpool

Matt was appointed Director of Public Health for Liverpool City Council in April 2020 and leads a team of approx. 30 people covering a range of public health activities including the commissioning of public health services, health protection, health improvement, health care public health, embedding health in all policies approaches, and addressing the wider determinants of health.

Matt's appointment is joint with the University of Liverpool, and as an Honorary Professor with the Department of Public Health and Policy he is creating opportunities to identify and develop evidence based policy interventions that can be embedded into local practice to innovatively improve health and reduce inequalities.

Matt also works closely with other directors of public health across Cheshire and Merseyside, as part of the CHAMPS public health collaborative, and leads on Strategic Intelligence & Partnerships, Employment & Skills, Communications; and Workforce & CPD, and is also the lead Director of Public Health for the Liverpool City Region Violence Reduction Partnership, and for Food Active.

Professor Lucy Bray

Professor of Child Health Literacy at Edge Hill University

Professor Lucy Bray is a children’s nurse and academic with over 25 years of experience of working with children, young people, and families, both clinically and as a researcher within a range of settings. Lucy’s national and international work explores how children, young people and their parents can be provided with information in a meaningful way to influence their ability to interact with health professionals and services and become involved in making choices and decisions about their health and well-being.

Lucy is passionate about improving the health and well-being of children and young people and most of her work uses innovative methods to empower and facilitate the involvement of children and young people in research.

Andy Cooke

HM Inspector of Constabulary and HM Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services

Andy Cooke joined Merseyside Police in 1985 having obtained an Honours Degree in Politics from Nottingham University. He served as a Detective at every rank. Throughout his career, Andy has had numerous roles including being in charge of the Robbery Squad and Target Operations at the Major Crime Unit. He became the first Commander of the nationally recognised ‘Matrix’ team, responsible for tackling gun and gang enabled crime. During his time as Area Commander for South Liverpool, Andy was instrumental in significantly reducing crime, antisocial behaviour and disorder and South Liverpool became one of the highest performing Basic Command Units in the country.

In 2008, Andy was appointed Assistant Chief Constable of Lancashire Constabulary where he held the roles of ACC Specialist Operations and ACC Territorial Operations. He returned to Merseyside in 2012, was promoted to Deputy Chief Constable in 2013 and in 2016 he was appointed Chief Constable. During this time, Andy led the biggest reorganisation in Merseyside Police’s 40 year history. Whilst he was Chief, the Force was graded as the highest performing metropolitan Force by HMICFRS. Nationally, Andy held some of the highest risk portfolios in Policing. In addition to leading the creation of the United Kingdom Protected Persons Service, he was the national policing lead for serious organised crime and national lead for crime. Andy has also been commended on 10 occasions and in 2014 was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal. He is a Deputy Lieutenant of the Merseyside Lieutenancy and an Adjunct Professor within the School of Justice Studies at Liverpool John Moores University.

He is married with twin daughters. He has a passion for football and rugby league and is chair of the British Police Rugby League Association. You can follow Andy on Twitter. Andy was appointed as HM Inspector of Constabulary and HM Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services in April 2021 where he was the HMI for Northern England and the SRO for PEEL Inspection. On 1 April 2022 Andy was appointed as HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary and HM Chief Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services.

Phil Garrigan

Chair – National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC).

Phil joined Merseyside in 1990 and during that time has served at a variety of Community Fire Stations - working in some of Merseyside’s most vulnerable and deprived communities. He brings a strong community focus to the Service, recognising the unique position of trust and respect in which the FRS is held, he has used this and the professionalism of Merseyside FRS staff to tackle the real underlying factors which affect risk.

Phil is the Chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC). He has previously served as former vice-chair at NFCC and as NFCC's National Lead for Children and Young People.

In addition to his role within the fire sector, Phil is a Trustee and member of the Board at both the Hive Youth Zone, Rainbow Trust Education foundation as well as being an Ambassador for the Cash for Kids Charity.

Simone Roche MBE

Founder of Northern Power Women, Northern Power Futures, the Power Platform and the Be Heard Platform

Simone has developed a specialist network of impactful women and men and curated a portfolio of campaigns, events and podcasts which reach globally. She is proud of her Liverpool roots and lives by paying it forward. Simone is passionate about gender diversity and championing all talent and believes in the ‘art of the possible’. Simone has grown Northern Power Women and Northern Power Futures into a community in excess of 70,000 across all sectors, genders and socio-economic groups and in 2020 created the Power Platform to better connect people with opportunities. She was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2018 for services to gender equality and appointed Honorary Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy in June 2020. Simone has been recognised on the Yahoo Finance Heroes List 2018, 19, 20 and awarded the IOD NW Chairs award for excellence in 2020.

Troy Townsend

Head of Player engagement at Charity Kick It Out

Troy is the current Head of Player engagement at Football’s equality and inclusion Charity Kick It Out. His core focus in his role, is to deliver education within professional football’s academy structure on racism and discrimination. He also chairs Kick It Out’s Player Advisory Board, which has recently set up to align the organisations work with professional players.

Troy previously spent 15 years working in the education sector, predominately through his former business that provided PE tutors to schools in London but also as a member of senior leadership and a school governor.

He has received various accolades throughout his working life with the most prestigious amongst them all being selected as one of The FA’s 150 Grassroots Heroes, which included a visit to Buckingham Palace to receive his award from Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge. Whilst also receiving two awards for The Football Blacklist, which focuses and celebrates the contributions of black people working in football.

His work with young people has included developing his own football academy to support the growth of boys and girls in the game. Creating mentoring events and opportunities through Kick It Out’s Raise Your Game program and as a patron of the youth led organisation Football Beyond Borders.

David Wafer

Founder and MD of McIver Scott Recruitment & Chair of the Institute of Directors

David has 20 years experience of working with senior leaders to help them shape their businesses and careers. Using psychometric personality profiles with both clients and candidates to maximise the “fit” and success.

Under David’s stewardship, IoD has become the fastest growing networking organisation in the North West and attracts speakers from senior politicians to business leaders. Connecting, developing and influencing the business agenda locally and nationally.

A respected business leader, David works with the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and LFC Foundation as an advisory board member to give advice and guidance.

David is a passionate advocate of using his platform for good and helps a range of charities to add value in the North West and beyond.

Serena Kennedy KPM

Serena is an experienced public sector leader with a strong passion for early intervention and prevention within organisations and a deep commitment to building trust and confidence in communities.

From 2021 to 2025, Serena served as Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, leading 6,500 officers and staff with a £450 million budget across five local authority areas. Under her leadership, the force was graded as the best-performing metropolitan police service in England and Wales by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services. She also established dedicated policing functions for Prevention and Protecting Vulnerable People - now recognised as national best practice - and pioneered the largest integrity screening project in policing history.

Alongside her role leading Merseyside Police, Serena chaired the National Police Chiefs’ Council Prevention Coordination Committee, contributed to the Youth Endowment Fund Advisory Board and Youth Justice Board, and served as a Cohort Director for the National Executive Leadership Programme at the College of Policing.

Serena has demonstrated exceptional leadership in national prevention strategies. She worked with the Home Office to influence, shape, and develop three of the Labour Government's key pieces of work to support the Safer Streets mission: the Prevention Partnership Strategy, the Young Futures Hub, and the Crime Prevention Accelerator Initiative. Her efforts have significantly contributed to the advancement of these initiatives, ensuring a safer and more secure environment for communities.

In 2023, she was awarded the King’s Policing Medal in recognition of her long-term commitment to policing.

Widely recognised for her inclusive, people-focused leadership, Serena has consistently delivered transformational change, strengthened workforce capability, and driven efficiency across complex systems. She remains deeply committed to developing the next generation of leaders through coaching and mentoring, with a particular focus on building diverse, high-performing teams that can thrive in challenging and rapidly changing environments.

Anneliese Midgley

Anneliese Midgley is the Member of Parliament for Knowsley, elected in July 2024, and is Secretary of the Trade Union Group of Labour MPs.

Raised in Cantril Farm in Knowsley, she began her career in the music industry before moving into political and trade union work. She entered politics through a role in the Mayor of London’s office, where she was part of the team delivering key reforms in housing, transport, and public services across the capital. She later joined Unite the Union, where she served as Political Director for a number of years, leading the union’s political strategy and working closely with elected representatives, party officials, and members, responsible for linking the political to the industrial.

Anneliese subsequently served as a senior advisor in the Leader of the Opposition’s Office under Sir Keir Starmer, contributing to policy development and political strategy. Prior to entering Parliament, she worked as a Political Advisor to the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress, focusing on employment rights and industrial strategy at a national level.

Since entering Parliament, Anneliese has led a successful campaign for Olivia's Law, which will ensure that convicted offenders are present at their sentencing hearings. She has done this on behalf of her constituent, Cheryl Korbel, whose nine-year-old daughter Olivia was tragically murdered in her own home by Thomas Cashman, who later refused to turn up to his sentencing hearing and hear Cheryl's victim impact statement.

She has been a consistent advocate for stronger employment protections, having pushed for a new Employment Rights Bill both during her time in the trade union movement and now as an MP. Most recently, she served on the committee scrutinising that Bill.

In addition to her parliamentary duties, she is Secretary of the Trade Union Group of Labour MPs and sits on the Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee.