Mike Gardner is the new Chairman of the Board of Trustees at The Children’s Centre. Mr Gardner has been a trustee since 2011 and takes over from Paul Cashin who is stepping down after seven years as Chairman and 10 years as a trustee. The new Chairman is a retired Chartered Accountant who spent all of his career with KPMG. Mr Gardner, who lives in Kirk Michael, grew up in Bolton and moved to Liverpool as a young child. He began his accountancy career in Liverpool with KPMG in the late 1970s. During this time he worked within the company’s north west region, which included the Isle of Man, and made regular visits to the Island. In the 1980s he spent five years working for KPMG in the Cayman Islands and, in 1988, he came to the Isle of Man to live and work and has been resident here ever since. He retired from KPMG Isle of Man in 2008. His association with The Children’s Centre goes back some time as he has taken part in several adventure challenges to raise funds for the charity including endurance cycling, running and walking events.
Commenting on his role as Chairman, Mr Gardner thanked his predecessor Paul Cashin for his valuable contribution and added:
“The Children’s Centre is facing a number of challenges in the next few years. I’m looking forward to working with the Board of Trustees to help meet these challenges and allow the Chief Executive, Senior Management Team and dedicated staff members to continue to provide the many services which benefit families and children across the Island.”
The Children’s Centre – which is the Island’s leading charity for children and families employing more than 160 staff – is governed by a voluntary Board of Trustees which delegates the day-to-day running of the organisation to a Chief Executive and a Senior Management Team. Also on the Board are Jonathan Hall, Director of Obbligato Consulting Limited, Stuart Colligon, Managing Director of Auxesia, Findlay MacLeod, Managing Director of Isle of Man Creamery, Pat Heggs and Jaqui Dunn, both formerly of the Isle of Man Government’s Department of Health, and Mark Humphrey, a partner in Long and Humphrey Advocates.
The charity’s Trustees bring with them a wide range of professional skills in areas such as commercial law, mental health and finance. They meet on a formal basis bi-monthly, and hold sub-group meetings quarterly to review more specifically the areas of risk and finance. The bi-monthly meetings review key operational matters within the charity, and take a strategic view on future direction.
Photo - Mike Gardner, the new Chairman of The Children’s Centre’s Board of Trustees.
