Operating nationwide, The Hygiene Bank is made up of a coalition of volunteers, our Central Team and the Board of Trustees.
Central Team
Ruth Brock
CEO
Ruth brings 15 years of leadership experience and passion to our team. Her previous role, leading the Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation (CSSF) for eight years, demonstrates her commitment to social justice. Prior to CSSF, Ruth was a primary school teacher and also ran East End Shed, a small, community arts charity that champions inclusivity through the performing arts, fostering social cohesion, and essential life skills. Years of working with families living in disadvantaged communities have shaped her perspectives on campaigning and the societal change that THB is working towards. With several years’ experience working in Westminster, encompassing research, campaigning and media, Ruth’s leadership of THB is focused on shaping our strategic approach and maximizing our impact.
Amy Harris
Head of Brands & Corporates
Amy joined THB in September 2018 as Head of Brand and Corporate Partnerships. Her work focuses on identifying, managing and building relationships with Brands and Corporates to generate support, awareness and funds for the charity.
She joined the charity after she saw Lizzy’s initial post on social media asking for donations and she dropped some at her house. She says ‘I had taken access to the basics for granted and having met Lizzy felt I had to get involved.’ Amy is also the Volunteer Project Coordinator for THB Tenterden and Cranbrook.
Her favourite part of the job is working with Brands, Corporates and the Team to make a difference in local communities across the UK.
Meri Jimenez
Head of Communications, Fundraising and External Engagement
With a background in brand development and campaign management and a passion for driving social change, Meri joined THB in November 2023. She brings over 15 years of experience in crafting compelling narratives, using storytelling and advocacy to mobilise communities for change. Her strategic approach to communications has helped organisations like FareShare and Business in the Community amplify their mission and reach new audiences. Meri joined THB because she felt inspired by the power of collective action of the charity and would like to inspire others to create a better world. She enjoys brainstorming sessions with the team and embracing creative thinking to make a difference.
Georgina Loom
Head of Operations
As Head of Operations, Georgina leads many functions and operational processes within the charity, overseeing all our work with local projects and ensuring we are operating within our charitable objectives and capturing the data we need to allow us to continue and deepen the impact of our work.
Georgina joined THB in 2018, after having met Lizzy Hall, when the charity was just a few months old, she was inspired by her passion and commitment to highlight hygiene poverty, and the effects it has.
She loves being part of a relatively young charity. She works closely with her team to support our projects and help them grow within their community, - reaching those who need our support through our community partners and hearing the difference the donations make.
Chris Stead
Head of Finance
Chris joined THB in March 2023 to help develop and implement the finance function for the charity and to ensure the finances of the charity are managed to the highest standards. He is grateful for the opportunity to work with the Trustees, Head Office team and volunteers at THB in making a real difference to those who struggle to afford the basic necessities of life.
Steph Barclay
Communications Officer
Steph’s passions are making people’s lives a little bit easier and shouting about great projects on social media, making THB the perfect place for her to be!
If you’ve got a story from your project that you want everyone to hear about, or that could inspire other projects, please do get in touch.
Sarah Belger
Fundraising Officer
Sarah joined The Hygiene bank in 2024 to work on all things fundraising; She helps our incredible volunteers with funding applications for their local Hygiene Bank projects and works on our central fundraising strategy.
Sarah loves celebrating successes, big or small, with our volunteers and seeing their confidence increase when it comes to local fundraising.
Cath Foster
Senior Fundraising and Comms Manager
Cath’s work focuses on raising awareness of hygiene poverty and the charity, communicating our messages, building funds and working to make sure our volunteer experience is the best it can be.
Charmaine Binns-Muhammad
Partnership Manager
Charmaine has a background in Community Development and has spent over 25 years working in Project management, collaborating with a wide variety of local Community groups and Voluntary Organisations including Health and Social Care professionals
She joined THB as a volunteer in 2020 and joined the Central Team in 2021 as Partnership Manager, she enjoys using her skills to contribute and support the charity in benefiting others.
Sue Lindsay
Partnership Manager
Sue joined THB in June 2022. During Covid, she became aware of the enormous support charities such as THB gave to people in their local communities and seeing a plea for donations from her local project, she was inspired to become involved in the charity. After volunteering with the Central Team for about a year, she applied for the role of Partnership Manager. Sue loves working with our volunteers, who are the beating heart of the charity.
Lee Pillar
Partnership Manager
Lee brings over a decade’s worth of experience supporting individuals facing homelessness and poverty to his role as Partnership Manager at THB, where he builds foundational relationships with Project Coordinators to support the development and sustainability of our hygiene bank projects. As a passionate advocate for changing the landscape of social justice issues, he takes great pride in his compassionate, collaborative, and creative approach to the role.
Julia Westgarth
Partnership Manager
Julia is the Partnership Manager for the largest THB projects. She works alongside the Project Coordinators to support them in the day-to-day running of their project, sharing best practice and helping them to tackle the challenges that come with running a big project. Having been a volunteer for over 2.5 years, seeing the great work the charity was undertaking nationally, Julia was keen to apply when a part-time role came up within the Central Team. The core values of the charity align with her own, and she wanted to continue doing whatever she could to support the charity in its mission to eradicate hygiene poverty.
Ellie Verity
Brand Coordinator
Working for a design agency in New York, Ellie grew into a role as Client Relationship Manager from Account Manager and absolutely loved creating meaningful partnerships and new business opportunities for her firm.
Sarah Cassia-Davies
Finance Officer
As a Finance Officer for the Hygiene Bank, Sarah is dedicated to ensuring that every donation and grant is maximised to help improve the health and wellbeing of those in hygiene poverty. With 10 years' experience working for charities and 25 years working in finance roles, she manages budgets, track expenses, and creates financial reports for projects to help them track their income and expenditure.
Through her work as a finance officer, she is committed to ensuring that every penny entrusted to the charity is used efficiently and effectively to make a lasting impact on the lives of those in hygiene poverty.
Board of trustees
Lizzy Hall MBE
The Hygiene Bank Founder
Late August 2018, Lizzy watched the Ken Loach film ‘I Daniel Blake’. Moved by the scene where a single mother is caught shop lifting for basic toiletries, Lizzy sent a WhatsApp to friends saying she was collecting items to take to her local foodbank. Driven by a belief that everyone in society deserves to feel clean and dignified; that no-one should be left struggling to wash their hair, brush their teeth, or be unable to change their baby's nappy as often as needed.
Dr James Dray
Chair / Trustee
Dr James Dray is an established and high-profile leader within the charity sector, bringing valuable experience from his roles as current Chair of Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation, the world’s largest amateur dramatic youth festival. He also sits on the boards of the National AIDS Trust, the Coalition for Global Prosperity, and Coram the UK’s longest running children’s charity.
Lorraine Waters
Trustee
Lorraine Waters is a former Managing Director and Chief Data Officer for Global Compliance at HSBC, and she is now a consultant on all things Data to the private and charity sectors, as well as a volunteer at THB Bromley. Prior to setting up her own consultancy company, Lorraine has had an illustrious 30 year career in Financial Services covering Data, IT, Transformation and Operations. She has been a life long champion of diversity and inclusion, has a daughter at the University of Edinburgh and two sons and she lives in Kent.
Guy Davies
Trustee
Guy joined The Hygiene Bank as a Trustee and Treasurer in March 2023. He is also a Trustee of the Social Business Trust and Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation. Guy is a chartered accountant and previously was a partner and head of financing for Permira, an international private equity firm.
He lives in Wimbledon.
Rahul Moodgal
Trustee
Rahul joined The Hygiene Bank as a Trustee in September 2020. He has spent the last 23 years working in financial services. Prior to that he was an academic and worked in Russia, Japan and the USA. Rahul is also a Trustee to British Exploring Society, The CrEdo Foundation and Girls Are Investors. He serves as a Patron to Centre for Social Justice, Team GB, The Mulberry Bush School, The British Museum and The Oli Leigh Trust.
Paul Pashley
Trustee
Paul is an experienced financial services executive with a successful career in business operations spanning over 30 years including working with Barclays and Nationwide groups. More recently as Chief Operating Officer for Invest & Fund, a regulated development finance marketplace. He is a member of the With Profits Advisory Panel for Forester Life and provides business consulting services. Paul was appointed a trustee for THB early in 2021 and chairs the Operations Committee.
Paul is married and lives in Kent and is a keen golfer and tennis player.
Caroline Parr
Trustee
Caroline comes to THB with fifteen years’ experience in marketing and digital communications. She has been Head of Digital and Corporate Communications at Action for Children, a leading UK children’s charity, and Head of Digital (EU Europe) at The British Council. Caroline now runs her own consultancy helping charities and small businesses communicate online.
Caroline lives in rural Hertfordshire, where she first learnt about THB from seeing her local project in action in 2019. She has followed their journey ever since and is thrilled to join the team in 2021.
Mark Phillips
Trustee
Mark has over 20 years' experience working in technology across a wide range of industries, from media & entertainment to finance, property and healthcare. He has held numerous Chief Information Officer positions as well as provides board level advisory services to organisations embarking upon large-scale change.
He lives in East London with his wife and two children. He enjoys weekends away with his family in their VW campervan and, when time permits, playing tennis, running and cycling.
Elaine Jackson
Trustee
After many years of working in Insurance, Elaine set up a consultancy business to blend work and family life. She has specialised in large transformation and change projects and more recently has undertaken interim assignments at Chief Officer level in the NHS and Strategic Director level in local authority. She is skilled at collaborating at system level and has a strong track-record of delivering measurable and sustainable results.
In addition, Elaine has held the Chair position in the charity Face to Face and is currently Vice-Chair at Springboard where she has been a Trustee for over 12 years. She is driven to use her skills to help others and is passionate about the benefits of the wider community contribution.
Morag Punton
Trustee
Morag, a registered pharmacist, joins us with over 25 years experience working in a variety of roles within Boots UK. Her most recent position as Head of Corporate Social Responsibility is where Morag first became aware of the issue of hygiene poverty and the work of THB. Morag’s expertise in forging and developing strategic partnerships between charities and corporates will support our ambition as demand for our services grows due to the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Morag lives in Nottingham and in her spare time loves hiking, a passion she found 9 years ago after signing up to a charity trek to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and has been hiking ever since.