CWS Trustees  

Michael Jacobs 

Michael has been Chairman of CWS since 2005. He was a tax expert who retired after 35 years with a City law firm where he was also an adviser on charity and governance law.  He has inter alia been a member of the Governing Council and Honorary Secretary of the Academy of Social Sciences (of which he is an Academician), a Director of the Quoted Companies Alliance, Deputy Chairman of the Share Plan Lawyers Organisation, founder and Honorary Secretary of the Trust Law Committee, Deputy Chairman of the Young Committee on Investment for Charities and Editor and Consultant Editor of Trust Law International. He continues to be involved in various activities directed towards the reform of trust and charity law.

Douglas Maclagan – Founder

Douglas grew up in England and The Netherlands where he lived till he was 28 years old, thereafter moving to Nepal where he has been living since 1994. Trained as an English teacher and youth counsellor, Douglas founded the CWS in London and CWSN in Nepal in 1997. Since then, he, along with the teams in London and Nepal have grown the organisations to one of the largest children charities operating at grass-root levels in Nepal today.  Over the years, Douglas has been recognized for his work with CWS by receiving several international awards most recently the prestigious Stars Impact Award. Currently, he works as CWS’s Operations Director.  For more about Douglas, please see click here.

Philip Mann

Philip has been a Trustee of CWS since 1999.  He has been working in the energy and environment field for 20 years, specialising in improving access to energy services in developing countries. During his career Philip has worked on energy efficiency and renewable energy programmes for the UK’s ETSU and the International Energy Agency.  He has also worked for the European Commission’s DG Development, where he was an expert seconded from DFID for 4 years, responsible for energy policy.  In 2009 Philip became Technical Director of, CH4NGE Ltd, specialising in ‘high development’ value carbon offset projects. Philip is currently working on a PhD at Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute.  

Brendan Mannion  

Brendan Mannion is Senior Teacher and Head of English and History at St. Anthony's Preparatory School, Hampstead London. After a visit to Nepal in 1995, he became a co-founder of CWS and has been on the board ever since. He has also worked as a freelance economic journalist and published a number of reports analysing different UK sectors. In 2006, he was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn. He has worked for FRU, the Free Representation Unit, a charity which gives free advice and representation at employment tribunals.

Ajay Mehta

Ajay Mehta is a Management Consultant and founder of Ki-Rin, a social enterprise providing strategic and business development services in the voluntary and public sectors. With over 20 years of senior experience working with third sector organisations, he has pioneered numerous enterprising initiatives to help transform disadvantaged communities in the UK and internationally. He has interests in working with small to medium sized commercial enterprises in the area of ethical and responsible business practice and has also served on Boards of charitable organisations and NHS bodies.

Jon Rosser - Chairman

Jon is a management consultant and interim manager working in the public and not for profit sectors in the UK, and is also Chair of a community housing association working in the east end of London.  Until February 2010 Jon was Chief Executive of a regional housing association. He has considerable experience managing change and delivering business efficiency while still focussing on the charitable objectives. Jon set up a charitable trust to support excluded communities and successfully raised significant funds from private trusts, the Lottery and the Government. Jon has lived in Nepal and India in the past.

Sarah Stacpoole

Sarah has been a Trustee of CWS since 2005. She is a Head of Department and teacher at Bryanston School in Dorset. She has also been in charge of school charities for the last twelve years.  She has visited Nepal regularly both as a CWS Trustee and as a leader with children from Bryanston. She has written a Management Plan on behalf of the Nepal Cancer Society for the Sushila Hospice, the first cancer hospice in Nepal.

Jan Turner

Jan has been a Trustee of CWS since 2008. She is a qualified paediatric nurse, with a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and holds a degree in Geography.  Jan has 10 years experiencing working in the developing world from front-line delivery in conflict situations to developing and evaluating long-term health care programmes.  Previously, Jan has also worked for the European Commission as a Medical Geographer specialising in NGO development.  Jan currently teaches at a primary school in Kent.