Michael is married to Vicky and they have two children and four grandchildren. He retired from his career as a Chartered Town Planner in 2019.

Michael has been involved with Dorothea Court in Bedford since 1996, when he was first invited to lead a Sunday service in the home. In 2004 he became a Trustee of the Dorothea Trust, which previously ran the home, and was instrumental in handing the work over to Pilgrim Homes in 2008. He then became a Trustee of the Society until 2013 and, after a break, rejoined the board at the end of 2019.

Michael supports two churches: Providence Baptist Church in Bedford and a new church work in the Wixams just outside Bedford. He also preaches regularly at other churches and in the open air.

Alan Copeman is a chartered surveyor by profession and has recently retired after many years in the industry. He is a member of Pains Hill Chapel, Oxted and a long-standing member of the Grace Baptist Trust Corporation, where he's served as Deputy Chairman and Chairman.

Married to Jackie they have two adult children. He is committed to the work of Pilgrims' Friend Society where he has served since 1995.

Alan enjoys horse riding and gardening.

Judy has been a trustee since 2003. Her family has been involved with the Society for many years and she remembers attending fundraising events in her early childhood.

Judy works part-time as a General Practitioner and has a particular interest in the care of the elderly and those with dementia. Knowing the needs of the community in which she works, and then seeing the way that Pilgrims' Friend Society meets such needs in our homes is very rewarding. Our increasing expertise in dementia care is of special importance.

Judy is a member of Westgate Evangelical Free Church, Bury St Edmunds, where her husband Duncan is a deacon. They have three children. Judy has a special interest in our home at Gt Finborough where she chairs the Home Support Group. She has been involved with the home for more than 20 years.

Married with one son, Genefer is now retired from a long career in Education (a substantial part as a Head Teacher). Now a member of Cheam Baptist Church, Genefer was brought up by a Baptist Minister father and spent many years in Northern Ireland where she grew her faith.

Genefer first became acquainted with Pilgrims' Friend Society through Milward House, where her mother was a resident for many years. She developed a love and understanding of elderly care through her experience with Milward House, and valued the Christian care that her mother received there. Her vision is to do all she can to support PFS in their aims to make the lives of older people, whether in residential care or in the community, richer and more fruitful.

As well as being a Trustee of Pilgrims' Friend Society, Genefer also sits on the Independent Monitoring Board of High Down Prison in Banstead, Surrey.

John was born in Chippenham and studied Economics and Accounting at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Graduating in 1983 he trained as a Chartered Accountant with what is now the medium sized West End firm, Alliotts.

Marrying Margaret in 1986, John returned to Wiltshire and worked in accountancy for 18 years. Needing a career-break he briefly worked as a driving instructor, before accountancy clients still wishing for his services persuaded him to start his own company and he continues to serve small business clients and have an increasing interest in charity accounts.

In addition to an inevitable interest in the Society’s accounts, John has a broad overview of the society’s care home operations through the involvement of his family. His mother, Betty, was a member of the Bath and District Auxiliary when funds were being raised for the Bristol and Chippenham homes, became a care worker when the Chippenham home opened in 1974, was a home visitor when she retired and then was a resident, first of the flats and then, as her needs increased of the care home, working her way through self-funding, local authority funding and continuing health care provision. John’s sister is credited with spotting Framland as a suitable property for the Wantage home when it came on the market in the 1980s and worked there as a member of the senior team.

John and Margaret serve in their local Baptist Church, where John is a deacon and Margaret the treasurer. They have two grown up daughters.

Sheila is a Chartered Health and Safety Professional, with a career in credit, project and quality management. In addition she has inspected several care and nursing facilities in Suffolk in her role as a Healthwatch Suffolk Enter and View Authorised Representative.

In 2015 Sheila came into contact with Pilgrims’ Friend Society while a Trustee for a small Christian care home. Since then she has been involved in their vision of providing quality care for older Christians, becoming a Trustee in 2019.

She attends a Christian assembly in Lowestoft and is particularly involved with children’s work through Sunday school and summer camps.

Andrew Symonds is a widower with three children and seven grandchildren, who has been involved with the Society from a very young age. His earliest memories are of singing in the "wards" at the Brighton Home in the late 1940s in the run up to Christmas. His parents were both involved in the Brighton home - his mother as the Lady Visitor and sometimes committee chair person and his father as the Home committee chairman for a number of years, later a trustee of the Society, where he served for many years.

Andrew's great uncle William Falkner was also a trustee of the Society in the early 1920s and his wife a Lady Visitor in the Camberwell Home.

Andrew himself has been a trustee since 2003 and continue to have an active involvement in the Brighton Home.

Sylvia worked on the Pilgrims’ Friend Society Marketing and Communications Team until her retirement around three years ago.

Before that, Sylvia had over 25 years’ experience of strategic HR management and consultancy. Sylvia has held various trustee/volunteer positions with charities and community organisations concerned with older people, mental health, homelessness, social care and substance misuse.

Sylvia heard about Jesus from her maternal grandparents, and when she was 15 she gave her life to Christ and was baptised. Sylvia is a member of the Christ Church Leyton PCC and the Communications subcommittee. She assists with children’s and women’s ministries; is a co-leader on Christianity/Hope Explored courses; facilitates one-to-one ministries; and gets involved with other things as they come along!

Mark was brought up in Northern Ireland and became a Christian in his early teens. Moving to England to attend Warwick University, Mark joined Canley Community Church in Coventry. He has worshipped there ever since and is now an Elder and leader.

After university, Mark spent 25 years in international business building process plants around the world and travelling extensively. In 2004, Mark moved into the retirement sector, first with the ExtraCare Charitable Trust, building 14 large affordable retirement villages across England, and latterly as Development Director at Anchor, the largest provider of older people's accommodation in England – so he has experienced plenty of encouraging and challenging issues in the older people's sector.

Mark has recently retired. He is married to Karen and they have three married children and nine grandchildren.

Chief Executive since January 2015, Stephen began his career as a mathematician and worked in the banking industry for 17 years. In 2000 he was appointed a director of Tearfund, with responsibility for its use of business as a tool of development, before his move to UK Community Foundations in 2005. Stephen has enjoyed the company of older people from his student days when he was part of a team that led worship in a care home and visited those who were housebound. The loneliness of older people was one of the key priorities that UK Community Foundations addressed latterly through its award-winning "Surviving Winter" campaigns that Stephen co-ordinated.

Stephen worships at Christ Church Harpenden and for many years ran the Crusaders (Urban Saints) youth group in the town. He still helps occasionally but is now part of the team that reaches out to the residents of a local residential care home.

Stephen is married to Susan and they have three grown-up children.

Having spent much of his working life with tech companies, last year Julian felt a heart to join a Christian charity that makes a difference to the world. He is delighted to be leading the finance team in living out Pilgrims' Friend Society's values of Compassion, Community, Transparency and Excellence.

Julian and his wife Debbie and have been at Christ Church Ewell since 2015. They have three grown-up girls who they love spending time with. Julian also loves long distance walking, Tottenham Hotspur, and chocolate!

Alexandra has been at Pilgrims’ Friend Society as Director of Marketing and Communications since September 2019. Previously she was part of the communications team at the Evangelical Alliance having worked for Release International in the supporter relations team. Alexandra has a Masters degree in Democracy and Democratisation from University College London and spent time with the Baptist Missionary Society in Kosovo. Alexandra is part of the leadership team at her church.

Maureen began her career as a student nurse at the Hammersmith hospital in London. After she qualified she specialised in coronary care until she married and moved to Leicestershire, where she worked for a number of years for Leicestershire Health Authority as a Health Education Officer.

When Maureen’s children were very young she led the children’s and young people’s work in her Church in Sileby, Leicestershire. She also worked for a nursing agency which sent her regularly to the Pilgrim Home in Evington, Leicester. The one thing that Maureen never wanted to do was work with older people. God obviously had other ideas and although it took the manager of the home at least a year to persuade Maureen to take a permanent position at the Evington home, she did eventually agree.

Maureen worked for a number of years as a night nurse and when the administrator left she offered to help out with the administration. This eventually became a full time job and a short while later she was offered the Managers post. After managing the Evington home for seven years she was offered the post of Director of Operations, overseeing all the homes. Over the years Maureen has seen the homes through many changes and difficult challenges and is so grateful that she works for a Christian organisation where the work is surrounded by prayer.

Hugh is a Chartered Surveyor, Chartered Builder, and member of the Institute of Customer Service, with a 35-year career in construction and property. He has been a Christian since his teens and after a year volunteering for a church in Huddersfield and several years working in London and abroad, has spent most of his working life in social housing. He has held various senior roles in Housing Associations and Local Authorities, with a recent role as Managing Director for a property management company in the retirement sector.

Hugh, who has four children, moved from Dorset to North Wales this summer to be nearer his wife Sally’s family in Snowdonia and they have recently started worshipping at St Catherine and St John’s Church in Old Colwyn.

Josh has been Director of Human Resources at Pilgrims' Friend Society since March 2021, having previously led the HR function for Tasty PLC who operated over 60 casual dining restaurants. Josh has been familiar with the work of Pilgrims' Friend Society due to family and friends who had both worked with and been supporters of the charity. He is delighted to be in a role where he can support our teams in creating environments of love, care, and flourishing. After graduating from Loughborough University Josh volunteered with University Christian College Fellowship (UCCF) for a year on their relay programme, he is part of the leadership team at Christ Church Leyton where he has been a member since 2013. Josh is married with three young children and enjoys playing and watching almost all types of sport!

Barbara has worked for Pilgrims’ Friend Society for nearly 25 years, initially as manager of our Framland care home and from 2006 within the Operations Team. Prior to this, she worked as a nurse in elderly care as a ward sister, district nurse and then within the management, and training and development teams for community services. When not working, Barbara enjoys walking with Callie (her daughter’s dog!), running, and exploring the beautiful area of North Wales where she now lives with her husband, Chris.

Barbara and Chris have three daughters, two son-in-laws and two granddaughters who they love visiting – all living in ‘the south of England’. She is blessed to have a church family at Criccieth Family Church where she sings and plays guitar in the music group and serves as a deacon within the leadership team, as well as being safeguarding lead.

Margaret Joined Pilgrims' Friend Society in November 2017 as Operations Manager. Prior to this she had 25 years’ experience managing care homes.

As well as supporting our homes with day-to-day management, she is our lead in the electronic systems on care planning and medication management.

Margaret lives in Derbyshire and enjoys spending time with her grandchildren and her church groups as well as being part of Derbyshire Scouting as a cub scout leader.

Jane Trimarco has been an operations manager with Pilgrims' Friend Society for over six years. She looks after three care homes and also has a specialism in heading the Activities and Community Engagement (ACE) Programme within the organisation.

Her background has been predominantly within the care sector and she has been a carer, senior carer, deputy manager and then registered manager. She has always had a passion for activities and volunteers and is proud of the work that the ACE Facilitators are delivering in our care homes.

Jane lives in Northamptonshire and has one son. Her family originate from Tresco on the Isles of Scilly. She was privileged to be the care manager on the islands and carry out church services on the off islands, often taken by lifeboat! Her other passions are singing, acting and swimming. She has sung with Aled Jones as well as performing a solo at the Symphony Hall. Last year Jane swam the length of the Channel to raise funds for our Hummingbirds as part of The Pilgrimage.

Friederike joined Pilgrims’ Friend Society in February 2022 after almost 35 years in the NHS. Friederike is a Queen’s Nurse and leads on the development of care and dementia care (The Way We Care). In her role as Site and Operations Manager she oversees Middlefields House in Chippenham as well as supporting other homes.

Friederike is married with two sons. She enjoys walking, cooking, and gardening. Friederike and her husband worship at Widcombe Baptist Church in Bath where they are also involved in home group and children’s ministry.

Carol joined the Operations Team, November 2022. Carol lives in a coastal town in Devon and initially trained as a nurse, before moving her career into social care settings. She has experience in inspection, worked for Devon County Council for 23 years in various roles managing services for adults and was the Registered Manager of an ‘Outstanding’ home.

She enjoys travel, going to live theatre and music and worships at St. James’ Church very close to where she lives in Teignmouth.

Carol married her husband Paul five years ago in Reykjavik Iceland, shortly followed by a church blessing at her home church.

Stuart joined the Operations Team in November 2023. With 11 years of experience as a Senior Operations Manager in the purpose-built student accommodation sector, Stuart has enhanced his skills in operations management, compliance, coaching, mentoring, and leadership.

Stuart is a father to three girls. Outside of the work environment, he is a keen sports fan, with Notts County being his favourite football team, causing him more stress and anguish than his three girls combined!

Stuart is actively engaged in his local church community. He has been involved in the prison ministry team and the compassion team, where he helps reach out and provide food, clothing, and furniture to the city's most vulnerable residents.

Alexandra has been at Pilgrims’ Friend Society as Director of Marketing and Communications since September 2019. Previously she was part of the communications team at the Evangelical Alliance having worked for Release International in the supporter relations team. Alexandra has a Masters degree in Democracy and Democratisation from University College London and spent time with the Baptist Missionary Society in Kosovo. Alexandra is part of the leadership team at her church.

Helen has been with Pilgrims' Friend Society since March 2020. She has a Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism Studies from Cardiff University and has worked in comms for a number of charities, including The Children's Literacy Charity.

Among other things, Helen edits The Pilgrims' Magazine, looks after the website, oversees social media and acts as a first contact for press. Her favourite part of her role is finding stories about our work and ensuring they gain wider media attention.

Outside of work, Helen enjoys outdoor swimming and learning German. She is part of the church family at Christ Church, Crouch End.

Louise has been with Pilgrims’ Friend Society since 2000, working first as publicity manager, producing all our marketing materials. In 2008 she published her first book (Lion Hudson) that described living with dementia within a Christian context. Altogether she has published six books (Lion Hudson and SPCK), and gives talks and training to churches and faith groups. She holds regular Zoom meetings and also writes a monthly E-Send with news of developments in dementia and health of older people.

Louise is an experienced cognitive behavioural therapist, with a Master’s degree on the effects of dementia on family caregivers.

To find out more, visit our Louise Morse hub.

Miriam has been at Pilgrims’ Friend Society as Supporter Engagement Manager since September 2024. Previously she worked at Noiser as Production Manager, making history podcasts. Prior to this, she worked in the charity sector in several roles which supported the well-being of older people including setting up community befriending initiatives in Hammersmith and Fulham for Creighton House.

Miriam has a degree in English Literature from Royal Holloway University and a Postgraduate Diploma in Theatre Studies. Outside of work, Miriam enjoys going to the theatre and reading. Miriam is married with two sons, and the family are active members of their local church.

Tyler has been part of Pilgrims' Friend Society since September 2024. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Multimedia Journalism from the University of Westminster and has worked as a journalist for various UK publications, including Artists and Illustrators Magazine.

In her current role, Tyler edits and publishes articles on the website, manages social media, and contributes to the magazine. Her favourite aspect of the job is creating impactful content that showcases the daily lives of the family members and staff in the care homes.

Outside of work, Tyler enjoys synchronised swimming, reading the Financial Times, learning Portuguese, and actively participating in her church's youth group.