Claire Wickham – Chair of Trustees

I have worked with Deaf and Hard of Hearing people for over 35 years. I started as a teacher in a residential school and then moved into adult education. I have also supported Deaf students at the University of the West of England and worked with Deaf and Hard of Hearing people on employment and research projects. I believe that society must change so that all Deaf and Disabled people have equal access to education, health services, employment and everything else that non-disabled people have and use. Deaf and hearing people need to work together to achieve this.

Gill Behenna – Trustee

I have worked in Deaf Communities as a Chaplain in Salisbury, Exeter and Bristol for just under 35 years (in Bristol since 2005). I am also a Registered BSL/English Interpreter and occasionally work as a freelance interpreter. For the last three years I have also been the National Adviser for Deaf Ministry in the Church of England. This enables me to keep in touch with the wider Deaf community. As a Christian Minister I have the privilege of leading the Bristol Deaf Church that meets regularly for worship. I also support people at some of the most difficult times of their lives as they experience illness or bereavement, and some of the best times as they prepare for marriage or celebrate the birth of a child. Access for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people to everything the Church can offer is very important to me. I am a Trustee of three small national Deaf-led charities and the voluntary administrator of a national charity. I have served as a Director of the Association of Sign Language Interpreters (ASLI) and was Chair of Governors at Elmfield School for Deaf children for five years.

Alasdair Grant – Trustee

I am profoundly Deaf and bilingual in English and British Sign Language and a cochlear implant user.  I have had a 18 year career in the Civil Service with a range of government departments.  I was involved in the creation of two new National Parks for the New Forest and South Downs and the establishment of National Park Authorities to manage those new parks.  I was a participant in Defra's four year Into Leadership Development Programme.  These experiences have given me a thorough understanding of Government and Local Government processes and procedures and I have business skills in finance, HR, programme and project management, recruitment, town planning and conservation ecology.  In recent years, I have been a Trustee of West of England Centre for Inclusive Living and run two Deaf and Disability Careers Fairs in partnership with the Mayor of London and the Bristol Northwest Parliamentary Constituency Office whilst a voluntary Programme Manager with Deaf Unity.  I was very active during the pandemic involved in the processing of COVID19 data to support the Government's response to the pandemic.

Faye Stewart – Trustee

Faye is Deaf, and uses British Sign Language, working with a pool of BSL interpreters daily in her work as a Senior Project Manager, Access Changemaker for Arts Council England.  Faye has also worked as a curator, a coordinator for RNID craft workshops and an outreach manager for art + power, a participation organisation in Bristol.  Faye re-established the Disability Network at the Arts Council after she recognised the need to provide mutual support and a collective voice for deaf, disabled, and neurodiverse staff, especially through the pandemic. Re-establishing the network has enabled Faye to support her workplace in being disability inclusive and confident.  Faye has been a trustee since March 2018.

Frank Evason – Trustee

Formerly hearing, I am now profoundly deafened and have a cochlear implant. Over a period of 40 years of increasing deafness I learned first hand about the problems of hard-of-hearing and Deaf people. During this time I learned BSL. I became a member of Bristol Over 50’s club and over about 8 years improved my signing so much that I was able to pass level 2. I volunteered for over 3 years at Poolmead in Bath, helping Deaf people who had additional imapirments with craft and woodworking. I spent 6 years as Treasurer of Yate Deaf Association. I have experience of owning and managing small companies, including running the finances, so I hope I will be able to be useful to CfD.