Patrons and Trustees

Patrons

Douglas Richard

Having appeared in the second series of Dragons' Den, Doug is the founder and Chairman of Library House www.libraryhouse.net ; Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Trutap www.trutap.com, Founder and Vice-Chairman of Cambridge Angels, Chairman of Hoopla TV and Chairman of the Conservative Party Small Business Task Force.

Doug is a successful entrepreneur with 20 years' experience in the development and leadership of technology and software ventures, both in the US and in the UK. Doug holds a BA in Psychology from University of California at Berkeley and a Juris Doctor at the school of Law, University of California at Los Angeles. In 2006 Doug was an Honorary Recipient of The Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion and has recently been made a Fellow of The Royal Society.

Esther Rantzen CBE

A graduate from Oxford, Esther’s career in broadcasting began with BBC Radio as a sound effects assistant. From there she moved into television as a researcher/reporter for Braden’s Week and then in 1973 as producer/presenter of That’s Life which was on air for 21 years. Esther has made a number of pioneering programmes on subjects such as British women’s experience of childbirth, stillbirth, mental health, child abuse and palliative care. She has also taken part in "reality shows" such as Strictly Come Dancing and the dating programme Would Like to Meet.

In 1986 she invented the concept of ChildLine, and chaired its Board of trustees for 20 years.   After the merger of ChildLine with NSPCC in February 2006 Esther became President of ChildLine and a trustee of the NSPCC.   She is a Patron of a number of other charities working with children and disabled people.

Esther contributes regularly to the Daily Mail and other publications and lectures on children’s issues, broadcasting and many other topics.

Peter K Smith

PETER K SMITH is Professor of Psychology and Head of the Unit for School and Family Studies at Goldsmiths College, University of London; he is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society.  He received his B.Sc at the University of Oxford and his PhD from the University of Sheffield. 

He is co-author of Understanding Children’s Development (Blackwells, 1988, 1991, 1998, 2002), and co-editor of School Bullying: Insights and Perspectives (Routledge, 1994), Tackling Bullying in Your School: A Practical Handbook for Teachers (Routledge, 1994), The Nature of School Bullying (Routledge, 1999), The Family System Test (Routledge, 2001) and the Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Social Development (Blackwell, 2002), editor of Violence in Schools: The Response in Europe (Routledge, 2002) and co-editor of Bullying in Schools: How Successful can Interventions be? (Cambridge University Press, 2004). 

He directed the DFE Sheffield Anti-Bullying project from 1991-94, advised on the DfEE pack Don’t Suffer in Silence (1994, 2nd edition 2000), and coordinated a European Commission funded project (1997-2001) on ‘The Nature and Prevention of Bullying’ (www.gold.ac.uk/tmr) and another project (1999-2002) on ‘Violence in Schools’ (www.gold.ac.uk/connect). 

He currently chairs the Research and Advisory Group of the Anti-Bullying Alliance.

Trustees of Red Balloon Learner Centre Group

S. J. Webster, OBE MA. - Chair of Trustees

Stan Webster retired as a Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in 2001, having served successively as Head of UK Operations for the consulting arm of the predecessor firm of Coopers & Lybrand and Executive Chairman of the East Asia consulting firm of both C&L and PwC.

Since then he has completed two terms as non-executive Director of RAF Personnel and Training Command, serving on the audit committee, and five years as a Board member of the National Probation Service for Cambridgeshire, the last three as Chairman. He is currently a member of the controlling Syndicate and the Finance Committee of Cambridge University Press (effectively, its Board in corporate terms).

He holds degrees in Economics from Cambridge University and in Statistics from the London School of Economics, and was appointed OBE in 1993. He is now 64 years old.

Stan has been involved with Red Balloon since 2002.

Michael Reiss

Michael Reiss is Professor of Science Education at the Institute of Education, University of London, Chief Executive of Science Learning Centre London, Director of the Salters-Nuffield Advanced Biology Project, a member of the Farm Animal Welfare Council, editor of the journal Sex Education and a Priest in the Church of England. For further information see www.reiss.tc.

Tony Dunn

Tony Dunn: After 26 years working for BT in a number of senior management posts, Tony retired to the Good Life. Tony and his wife, Sally, grow almost all their own herbs, fruit and vegetables organically and breed chickens. Tony is a Parish Clerk, is President of his local Rotary Club, is a Trustee of Red Balloon, Norwich and runs his own consultancy business.

Louise Janssen

Louise Janssen: Originally from the Netherlands where she worked as a physiotherapist, Louise now lives in Cambridge with her husband and two children. Louise helps Red Balloon through the submission of trust and foundation funding applications and through the organisation of national fundraising events.

Carrie Herbert

Carrie Herbert is the Chief Executive of Red Balloon Learner Centre Group and the Director of Red Balloons-Cambridge, Norwich and NW London. She trained as a teacher before emigrating to Australia but returned to the UK in the eighties to complete a Master's Degree at UEA and a PhD at Cambridge. Carrie began a consultancy business in Equal Opportunities before founding Red Balloon in 1996. She has written a number of books on the subject of bullying and harassment both in schools and in the workplace.

Alan Taylor

Alan Taylor recently retired from a career spanning procurement, quality and risk management for major global property and construction companies working throughout Europe and the Middle East. He has been involved in practical and administrative voluntary work for over 40 years with a number of different organisations and continues to serve as a charity Trustee. In addition to his role with the Red Balloon Learner Centre Group he is also Chair of Trustees at Red Balloon - NW London.