Trustees

ANDREW FRANK
Chair

Andrew Frank was appointed Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine and Rheumatology to Northwick Park Hospital in 1980, and Professor (Associate), School of Health Sciences and Social Care, Brunel University in 1997. He was part-time Medical Director of Kynixa Ltd, 2007-2009.

He was President of the British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine, 2000-2002 and was the founder Chair of its Vocational Rehabilitation Special Interest Group. He chaired the BSRM Working party that reported on Vocational Rehabilitation, 2000–2003. He has served the VRA as a Trustee since 2005, chairing the Professional Development Committee, 2007-2009, becoming Vice Chair in 2008 and Chair in 2009.

Andrew is a founder member of the UK Rehabilitation Council and also sits on the Council for Work and Health. He has published widely in the fields of back and neck pain, disability/ rehabilitation and powered wheelchairs in addition to vocational rehabilitation. He was awarded an honorary DSc from Brunel University in 2003 and became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2005.

JOY REYMOND
Treasurer

Since moving to the UK in 2000 Joy has led Unum´s Rehabilitation Services, responsible for the provision of vocational rehabilitation services to its clients and their employees throughout the UK. She is currently working with NIDMAR to introduce an international occupational rehabilitation training programme to the UK and has been appointed the Secretary to the International Disability Management Standards Council.

Joy has been a trustee with the VRA since 2005. She is the VRA´s treasurer, and has participated on both our Standards Working Party and our Professional Development Committee.

MICHAEL CLARKE
Trustee

Mike has worked in the area of disability and employment for over twenty years. In addition to his role as Chief Executive of VRA he is currently Head of Rehabilitation division for Remploy where he initiated and led the establishing of a national vocational rehabilitation business providing VR services to a broad range of Employer and Insurance Liability clients. He is also Director of the Vocational Rehabilitation Association which is taking a central role in developing recognised standards for practitioners providing Vocational Rehabilitation services in the UK.

He graduated with an MBA from Cardiff Business School where he specialised in researching career Opportunities for People with Disabilities and has a particular interest in employment issues facing people with Common Mental Health problems. He has contributed to a number of advisory groups both at UK and devolved government levels and is a Board member of the Welsh Assembly Government´s All Wales Mental Health promotion Network.

Mike is also active in the voluntary sector where he is Vice Chair of Cartrefi Cymru Ltd, providing a range of support to people with severe learning difficulties and a Director of Victoria House Ltd providing supported living in the community.

DEBORAH EDWARDS
Chair - Personal Development Committee

Throughout Deborah’s career as a rehabilitation case manager, her main aim has been to provide support and where indicated guidance in the use and development of rehabilitation services.

In 1994, Deborah moved from the US to the UK and feels  privileged to have become one of the first case managers in the UK to facilitate rehabilitation services to the insurance industry.  In recent past Deborah co-authored the first University accredited Case Manager training programme in the UK, Fundamentals of Case Management.

After 10 years with Crawford Healthcare Management, Deborah founded RTW Plus Ltd. which merged to form Argent Rehabilitation.  Currently Head of Rehabilitation Services at Broadspire Deborah is responsible for the development and implementation for disability management services for employers and insurers focused on maximising recovery and reintegration of injured and ill clients into work and society.

Having been the first Chair of CMSUK and now a VRA Trustee and Chair of the Professional Development Committee, her experiences have provided insight into political, economic, social and technological challenges that rehabilitation providers and recipients face in the UK.

Gary Johnston
Trustee and PDC Committee Member

Gary has over 20 years’ experience in working within the VR sector.  He first trained as a rehabilitation counsellor and was heavily involved in Australian Society of Rehabiltiation Counsellors and later review of workcover rehab services in both New South Wales and Victoria Australia.  Gary is now Head of Health and Wellbeing and Shaw Trust. 

 Gary is an active member of the VRA’s Professional Development Committee and involved in organising the 2011 conference prior to becoming a trustee.  

JOHN WILLIS
Company Secretary

I was a solicitor for 12 years, mostly in the City of London. I am now the chief executive of the sister charity of the Papworth Trust, which is committed to Vocational Rehabilitation.

DAVID BOOTH
Chair - Continuous Education Group

David is a Principal Occupational Psychologist for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) working out of Sheffield although his work and remit covers Great Britain. He manages a team of psychologists who are responsible for running corporate and professional services to the 80+ team of field psychologists within JobCentre Plus. This includes: recruiting, training and developing the professional skills of this group as well as assisting in the development of the service through operational-policy development. His team also works on a range of operational projects within DWP and develops its own proof-of-concept pilots in the field of employment disadvantage. A third responsibility is to provide advice and guidance to ministers, senior officials and policy teams on issues where psychology is likely to play a significant role. These roles have meant that he has worked on various policy, project and operational programmes including those specifically aimed at, for example, employment and mental health, ex-offenders and drug users.

Prior to this David has worked as an occupational psychologist in a variety of fields across the public and private sectors including human factors (specialising in accessible IT solutions), vocational psychology and in the personal injury field. He has worked, in one capacity or another, on most of the major welfare-to-work programmes over the last 2 decades.

David is a past Chief Assessor for the British Psychological Society (Occupational Psychology) and is an editor of the Journal of Occupational Psychology Employment and Disability. He also writes regularly and lectures on his areas of interest including employment and disability, self-efficacy and learning technologies.

CHRISTINE PARKER
Trustee, PDC and CEG Committee member

Christine qualified as a physiotherapist in 1980. Her earlier clinical background was largely in the management of musculoskeletal disorders and dealing with complex rehabilitation cases in community settings . She held posts in NHS managment and took a lead on developing clinical quality and effectiveness.

In 1998 Christine moved back into the acute setting as the clinical lead for an interdisciplinary pain management service at Blackpool Victoria Hospital and eventually moved out of the NHS to an academic post at the University of Salford. As well as teaching on undergraduate and postrgraduate programmes, Christine developed the Vocational Rehabilitation masters level module at Salford and is currently developing further modules for a Masters award.

She is involved in research into improving staff health in the NHS and is one of an internal team of workplace mediators at the University. Christine has a Masters in Practice Development (Pain Management) and a PGCert in Higher Education Practice and Research. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and is currently working towards a PhD.

ALI GIBSON
Trustee & PDC member

Ali is a research associate and PhD student at the University of Central Lancashire, researching vocational rehabilitation services for people with long-term neurological conditions.

She has been a VRA trustee since 2010 and participates on our Professional Development Committee with a special interest in student representation & participation. Ali is also a council member of the Society of Research in Rehabilitation (SRR).

Ali has firsthand experience of returning to work, following a spinal cord injury in 1996, and has subsequently attained a first-class honours degree in Psychology and commenced a new career in rehabilitation-related research.