Our Board of Trustees

Dave Thomas

Dave is clinically and managerially trained. He is a senior business consultant and manager with 35 years’ experience working with and for the NHS. For the first 15 years he held a variety of challenging and often ‘difficult’ roles in NHS senior management, followed by a wide variety of consultancy/interim roles and improvement engagements in the public and private sectors.

Dave is often approached by NHS England, five high street consultancies and private companies to deliver pragmatic business solutions, to support Board leaders to deliver their strategy, mobilizing large scale transformation, restructuring and execution of effective stakeholder management from Board to Ward.  He brings a range of innovative solutions based on his experience of working with a variety of Trusts and private sector.

Dave has led improvement and efficiency programs at Executive and Board level including Clinical Improvement /Safety and Risk programs and Financial Improvement.  He has worked with the NHS leadership Academy in pursuit of national improvement programs.  Prior to this, he participated in delivery of the executive coaching program working with top leaders on their individual organization wide delivery plans.

Dave describes his style as open, honest, candid and inclusive. He describes MhIST, and particularly its staff and volunteers, as one of the most impressive, grounded and caring institutions he has seen in his career so far.

Dave is married with 3 daughters and a granddaughter and lives in Bolton. He is also part of an estimated 659 million strong global supporters club of Manchester United.

Philip Grierson

Philip worked in supported housing for a housing association until made redundant in 2015. Whilst unemployed for a short time he decided to do voluntary work at MhIST, some paid post’s became available as community facilitators for which he applied and was successful.

His job was to set up and deliver support groups within the community which ranged from depression and anxiety groups to confidence and self esteem groups to music for wellbeing.

In 2023 Philip retired and now sits on the board of trustees at MhIST, he now does voluntary work at MhIST for which includes cover filling in facilitation due to leave etc. He also helps with training of facilitators and volunteer staff, and because of demand he will be facilitating new self confidence and self esteem support group to run alongside existing group.

Martin Pilkington

Martin is an experienced business leader with a diverse professional background spanning various industries, including; travel & tourism, banking and healthcare.  Specialising in Strategic Transformation & Business change, Martin has helped businesses define their strategic priorities and turned great ideas into tangible business outcomes.

His passion for supporting communities, particularly in the northwest region, and driving positive change around mental health issues brought him to MhIST where he was elected as the Chair of the Board of Directors in December 2023. 

Kirsty Fitzsimons

Kirsty worked in frontline mental health and homelessness services for over a decade. During this time she worked in addiction and homelessness services, inpatient mental health services, and as a suicide prevention adviser for a national helpline. Kirsty also developed and delivered bespoke mental health training for organisations

She studied and practised as a cognitive behavioural psychotherapist, completing an MSc with distinction and also taught cognitive and biological psychology at the University of Salford as an hourly paid lecturer. 

Currently Kirsty works in central government administration, investigating service failure and avoidable deaths within NHS in England.

In her spare time, she loves rock climbing and spending time with friends. Kirsty is an avid reader and listen to podcasts. She also lives with her partner and their two cats.

Helen Ricketts

Helen is an experienced PMO and Portfolio Specialist with a diverse background spanning several industries, including banking, utilities, private equity, data, media, and nuclear energy. Over the years, she has cultivated extensive expertise in business change management, project leadership, and strategic portfolio oversight.

Currently, Helen is engaged as a PMO and Portfolio Specialist for Business Change at the National Nuclear Laboratory, where she has contributed since May 2022. Prior to this role, Helen served as Head of PMO – Technology Services at Kantar from July 2020 to May 2022, where she directed technology initiatives and supported transformation efforts.

Helen’s foundational expertise includes positions at Swinton Insurance as a Business Change Portfolio Manager and as a Programme Manager at United Utilities. She also held senior project management roles at COLT Telecom and Barclays, where her portfolio management experience began and deepened over several years.

Born and raised in Manchester, Helen has enjoyed a vibrant career that has taken her across the UK and around the world. Her love of travel and adaptability has enriched both her professional and personal life. Helen is a dedicated mother to one daughter and a proud grandmother to four grandchildren.

Outside of work, Helen is passionate about fitness and enjoys both swimming and boxing, hobbies she has pursued with enthusiasm throughout her life. Her commitment to staying active reflects her energetic approach to both work and leisure