Meet Our Board

Our Board of Trustees spearheads our commitment to innovation, impact and shared learning in tacking health inequalities. They cultivate an environment that values collaboration and innovation, utilising their extensive networks and years of experience in a variety of relevant industries and sectors to the benefit of all our projects and partners.

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    Prof Chris Drinkwater

    PATRON

    Prof Chris Drinkwater CBE, FRCGP, FFPH(Hon), FRSA is an Emeritus Professor of Primary Care Development at Northumbria University. Starting as an inner-city GP in Newcastle, he took a modest Benwell practice and developed it into the West End Health Resource Centre, establishing a charity to run the building and provide a range of additional services alongside the GP practice.  

    In a varied and impactful career, Prof Drinkwater led the establishment of Healthworks Newcastle, was VCSE representative for the Child Health & Wellbeing Executive and a former Director of the West End Schools Trust. Other prominent roles have included a trusteeship with Blue Stone Collaborative (where he led the Well Newcastle Gateshead project), President and Public Health lead for the NHS Alliance, Deputy Chair and Chair of the Philanthropy Committee for Northumberland, Tyne & Wear Community Foundation, and the Sir Roy Griffiths/Age Concern/RCGP Prince of Wales, Educational Fellow for Older People.

    Prof Drinkwater was one of the founders and former Chair of Ways to Wellness. He was part of the team that oversaw its successful merger with Blue Stone Collaborative in 2022. He is passionate about addressing health inequalities through a focus on the social determinants of health rather than on improved access to health services. This runs in parallel with a focus on the need to demonstrate the impact of these approaches in order to sustain new ways of working.

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    Dr Guy Pilkington

    CHAIR

    Guy Pilkington has been a GP and a partner at Cruddas Park Surgery for 35 years. Over the decades he combined clinical work with two main areas of interest - teaching at the medical school in Newcastle and health service development.

    For many years he was a clinical commissioner, initially as Clinical Chair of Newcastle West Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), subsequently Newcastle Gateshead CCG. He was particularly passionate about developing approaches to address health inequalities and was heavily involved in the evolution of Ways to Wellness. Much of his time was spent on supporting collaborations across health, local authority and voluntary and community sectors (VCS), with particular emphasis on prevention, social prescribing and mental health care transformation. For many years he chaired the Prevention Board for the North East and North Cumbria, (initially for the region’s CCGs, then for the Integrated Care Board, NENC ICB). This led to closely working with many public health consultants and directors, from whom he learnt a great deal. He was really pleased when colleagues nominated him for Membership of the Faculty of Public Health.

    His lifelong passion for working with communities, developing broader approaches to health care and working closely with VCS organisations, has meant that he jumped at the chance of joining the Board of Ways to Wellness when the opportunity arose.

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    Brendan Hill

    VICE CHAIR

    Brendan has worked in health since 1984 in both statutory and non-statutory sectors and has a clinical professional background in mental health nursing. He was CEO for 17 years at large third sector provider group Mental Health Concern and Insight IAPT. (now Everyturn.) He provided third sector representation and expertise on local, regional, and national forums with a focus on how to maximise cross-sector innovation and development. He is a Non-Executive Director of CNTW NHS Foundation Trust and a partner of the Human Learning Systems Collaborative.

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    Prof David Hunter

    TRUSTEE

    David is a graduate in political science, Emeritus Professor of Health Policy and Management, Population Health Sciences Institute at Newcastle University and Emeritus Professor of Health Policy and Management at Durham University where he directed the Centre for Public Policy and Health, designated a WHO Collaborating Centre. He is a King’s Fund Population Health Associate. David was a non-executive director at NICE and is a member of WHO’s Global Network on Long-Term Care, an Honorary Member of the Faculty of Public Health, and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh). 

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    Ian Dodds

    TRUSTEE

    Ian Dodds has over 35 years experience as a Civil Servant, retiring in 2016. His latter role as a Policy Officer in the Cabinet Office involved working on voluntary and community sector initiatives, including social impact bonds and social prescribing. He now works in the charity sector for North Tyneside VODA as its Sector Connector manager, linking community-minded businesses with voluntary and community organisations in need of support. He was recognised in the 2016 New Year's Honours for his work supporting the voluntary sector.

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    Mary Jordan

    TRUSTEE

    Mary has over 40 years’ experience as a Chartered Occupational Psychologist, comprehending human behaviour within organisations and utilising psychological principles to enhance organisational performance. She holds a Masters degree in Occupational Psychology, with a career that has included time working with Fortune 500 companies, Newcastle City Council, and Northumbria University, Saville and Holdsworth Ltd, pioneering digital assessment on-line. Mary’s passion for social responsibility, equity, and justice align with Ways to Wellnesses’ commitment to addressing health inequalities and a shared understanding of broader social determinants.

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    John Spurr

    TRUSTEE

    John is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales with a Diploma in Corporate Finance. He has over 40 years’ business advisory, consulting and non-executive director experience. John is Chair of Healthy Lives Together (Thrive.NEL), a social prescribing programme in North East Lincolnshire. He has strong financial and business acumen, bringing a calm, pragmatic focus on delivering results with his experience in whole health economy reorganisation, designing health authorisation guidance frameworks, evaluation, and service reviews.

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