Nigel Atkinson has been HM Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire since 2014 and is HM The King’s personal representative in the county.

He is responsible for the organisation of all official Royal visits to Hampshire and on the day of an engagement he escorts the Royal visitor. The Lord-Lieutenant also carries out other duties in the county, such as the presentation of National Honours and The King’s Awards for Enterprise and Voluntary Service.

The Lord-Lieutenant is involved with numerous charitable organisations around the county and is Patron or President of a number including the Blue Lamp Trust.

Susie Sheldon has been Lord-Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight since 2019.

She had a career as an Accountant with KPMG and then set up her own accountancy practice specialising in small businesses with a particular emphasis on insurance. She now runs a number of small businesses in the rural sector.

She has been a Trustee of many charities including the Hampshire and IOW Air Ambulance, Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy and the Jubilee Sailing Trust. Her voluntary support to organisations on the Isle of Wight has concentrated on Education and Youth. She has been a member of advisory bodies such as the Local Access Forum and Harbour Advisory Committee and has run a rural education programme.

Her experience as High Sheriff of the Isle of Wight in 2011, subsequently as a Deputy Lieutenant and now Lord -Lieutenant gives her a wide ranging knowledge of the wider community on the Isle of Wight.

Fiona spent 22 years practicing as a solicitor with IBM United Kingdom Limited, where she gained varied experience working in many aspects of IBM’s business both in the UK and in Paris.

As Senior Employment Counsel for IBM UK she spent her last 15 years there specializing in employment law. In 2009 Fiona left to spend more time with her family whilst her three sons were still in education. Fiona was a Governor at a Hampshire prep school for 10 years. She was Chair of the Finance Committee for 4 years and for the last 3 years, she was Chair of Governors.

Fiona has experience of governance strategy and structure, and is trained in safer recruitment and various aspects of good governance practice. Fiona lives in Hampshire with her husband

Alongside being a Trustee of the Blue Lamp Trust Fiona is also an independent director of Blue Lamp Trust (Services) Ltd

Sarah grew up and, apart from breaks when working overseas, has lived in Hampshire all her life. In her professional life, Sarah has been a chartered accountant and also worked as a tax lawyer in London, Southampton and New York.

Sarah was a Magistrate for more than 10 years, sitting in both the Criminal and Family courts. She also worked for 6 years for the Citizens Advice Bureau, has spent many years on the Board of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Youth Clubs charity and is now Chair of the appeal for Maggies Cancer Care charity for their proposed centre at Southampton General Hospital. She is also a Parish Councilor in her village of Upham.

Carole join the Board of Trustees in April 2025, bringing a wealth of experience. With over 30 years in Human Resources, she is a Chartered MCIPD and currently serves as the International HR Director for Motorola Solutions. In this role, she leads a team across multiple countries. Her career spans various business sectors, from Life Assurance to Telecommunications, at companies of all sizes. Her experience has been predominantly focused in the UK so Carole is highly skilled in UK Employment matters. Having lived in the Basingstoke area for 40 years, she also has a strong local connection

Nick owned and ran the Seaview Hotel, Seaview for 25 years. During this time the business won a number of awards including the Meridian Television Business Excellence Award, the national UK Award for Business Excellence and the Queens Award for Sustainable Development.

Since retiring in 2005 Nick and his wife Nicky, along with another island couple, set up a charity called Building Schools for Africa. Over the past ten years they have built over 90 schools, along with medical centre’s and technical colleges, in Cameroon, West Africa. By paying all their own expenses in the UK and their travel costs when visiting the schools, every penny donated goes to the projects. Which has enabled them to raise over £2 million from worldwide donations.

In addition, Nick was a Trustee of the Isle of Wight Youth Trust, a counselling service for troubled youngsters, for 8 years until 2012.

Nick was High Sheriff of the Isle of Wight 2012/2013 and during his term he started the island Mock Trials Competition with all the secondary schools, which he still runs today.

In 2013 he was asked by Lord Nash to set up and chair a project integrating business into education. He now runs this in conjunction with the IW Chamber of Commerce and the LEP.

He is also President of Age UK Isle of Wight.

Fergus has been in the telecommunication industry for over 20 years and is currently the UK & I Country Manager and Head of Sales for Motorola Solutions. He leads a team responsible for looking after the Blue Light, MOD and non-blue light organisations with mission critical communications, video & analytics and leading edge command & control solutions.

Previously to this he worked for BT as the Sales Director for Central Government and Health, managing a range of customers from the NHS to HMRC to the Maritime & Coast Guard Agency.

Fergus spent the first 10 years of his career in the British Army.

Rachel is the Operations Director and Deputy CEO at Stop Domestic Abuse and has been with the organisation since 2011. She began her career in frontline service delivery, gaining hands-on experience supporting those affected by domestic abuse. Over the years, she has progressed through several leadership roles, overseeing both operational and strategic aspects of service delivery. Her work has included securing and mobilising new commissioned contracts to ensure services address the needs of vulnerable communities.

Rachel holds professional qualifications, including the Level 7 Executive Leadership Programme. Her experience spans leadership, HR, change management, and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) advocacy. She draws on her extensive background to support governance, ensure compliance, and contribute to the organisation’s growth and sustainability.

Rachel joined the board of Trustees in April 2025

Mark was appointed as a director of Blue Lamp Trust (Services) Ltd in September 2024. 

He is currently Commercial Director at Hendy Group and brings with him a wealth of experience from the commercial sector.

In his role on the Operations Board at Hendy he is experienced in managing the businesses through significant scaling; managing the change and challenges that rapid growth and acquisition can present.

Mark is also a trustee of the Hendy Foundation, playing an active role in ensuring that their charitable fundraising is awarded to those local causes that are so worthy of our support.

Keith started his career in the British Army before leaving to train as a chartered accountant with KPMG.

Keith specialised in advisory work for a range of corporate and private equity clients before taking on several management roles.

Keith has worked in Germany, Turkey and in his last executive role was KPMG’s Chief Operating Officer for the Europe, Middle East and Africa Region.

Keith lives in Hampshire, and in April 2025 joined our board of Trustees. 

He also holds a number of Trustee/Non-Executive roles. 

Emma was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Trust in March 2025, having been an integral part of the organisation for over a decade. Throughout her tenure, she has held a variety of roles across both the charity and business functions of the Trust, gaining extensive experience and in-depth knowledge of its operations.

Before joining the Trust, Emma built a strong foundation working in supply chain, purchasing, business administration, and health and safety.

Joanna joined the Blue Lamp Trust in August 2022 as part of the Bobby Scheme admin team. She comes to us with 10 years’ experience in administration and customer service.

As Driver Training Lead Liz manages customer training requirements.

Liz started at the Blue Lamp Trust in July 2023 working within the Training and Assessment Team as an Assessment Administrator.

She has over 25 years of experience in administration, including 6 years working in education settings. Prior to this Liz has worked within government departments helping members of the public complete the census and other government surveys.

Prior to joining the Blue Lamp Trust’s Training & Assessments Administration team in May 2017 Christine worked in administration positions for over 35 years. She has worked for both commercial organisations and the NHS providing support to customers, staff and patients.

Mia joined the team in August 2022 to administer Taxi Driver training courses and support the Taxi admin team. She has gained experience working with customers in both an admin and retail environment.