Caroline Roberts-Cherry - Chair
Caroline Roberts-Cherry is an experienced Trustee and Chair; a local business woman she runs a TV and film production company in Manchester specialising in scripted and non scripted content. Known within her sector as being a Diversity Champion, Caroline’s Tv work platforms female writers, producers and directors. She is proud to be a local employer producing content for the local, national and international markets. A life-long feminist she was the Women’s officer at St Catherine’s College, Oxford where she was also first female JRC Vice President. She was also part of the cohort of women to establish Women’s Football at Oxford and played in the first female Varsity football game (on the winning side).
In 2018 she produced the award-winning documentary Emmeline Pankhurst; The Making of a Militant, presented by the actress & writer Sally Lindsay, for the BBC. The film was premiered at a special event at Radisson, Edwardian (the former Free Trade Hall) and led directly to the creation of GM4Women2028. The film has sold internationally and Short-form Emmeline films were also created for the website BBC Teach and Bitesize as part of the curriculum.
Caroline was born in Manchester and is married with two sons.
Sally Hobbs - Vice Chair
Sally’s background is in public service leadership, commissioning social care, health and housing services. She has worked at national, regional and local levels as part of leadership and improvement teams, headed joint commissioning for several North West health and social care authorities, and led local government transformation and improvement programmes. She has provided management consultancy in organisational and service change, undertaking research and innovation programmes, in public services. . Sally has substantial expertise and experience in financial management, and has delivered significant financial efficiencies to ensure that services are sustained and protected for the benefit of the people they serve. She has been actively involved in the development of domestic abuse services for over 30 years.
Janet Pickering - Secretary
Janet Pickering is a retired social worker. Domestic violence was a significant factor in her work with children and families and in 1998 she joined the management Committee of a women’s refuge in South Manchester. She continued to serve as a Board member following the merger of 5 refuges to create Manchester Women’s Aid in 2008 and was actively involved in effecting the merger of 5 refuges to create Pankhurst Trust in 2014. She holds the office of Board Secretary and also volunteers as a tour guide in the Heritage Centre. The woman who inspires Janet most is Ellen Wilkinson, a radical Mancunian and the first woman Labour MP, elected in 1924 who was passionately committed to improving the lives of vulnerable people and fought hard for the equal rights of women. Janet strongly supports the provision of specialist services to safeguard and empower women and children.
“The merger forming the Pankhurst Trust, has opened up opportunities to develop a resource for women in Manchester, at the birthplace of the Women’s Social and Political Union.”
Emma Wallace - Treasurer
Emma is a qualified chartered accountant who has specialised in forensic accounting for over 10 years. She is a Forensics Associate Director at Dains Accountants. Her skills consist of accountancy/finance, governance, charities audits and strategic planning and her qualifications include a Law Degree LLB, Legal Practice Course and the ACA. Emma is a Trustee and the Treasurer of the Pankhurst Trust. She is Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee and a member of the Pankhurst Committee which looks at how to secure the future of the Pankhurst Centre museum.
“The woman who inspires me the most? That would have to be Emmeline Pankhurst of course!“
Mary Watson
Mary is a retired social services senior manager working for first Manchester and then Liverpool City Councils. Until 2021, she was a Manchester City Councillor (Labour) for 13 years for her home ward of Whalley Range. She sits on the Audit Committee for PTMWA and is the Board's Safeguarding Lead. Mary was part of a group of women who helped set up the first Women’s Aid refuges in Manchester in the 1970’s inspired by her membership of the Manchester Women’s Centre. Mary was a board member of Manchester Women’s Aid that initiated the merger with the Pankhurst Trust to ensure its survival and is a member of the Pankhurst Trust’s Audit Committee
“I am inspired and excited by the opportunities this gives for women in Greater Manchester."
Melanie Sharples
Melanie has been a board member since 2009, initially of Central Manchester Women’s Aid before the merger of the organisations to form The Pankhurst Trust she held the position of Chair from 2011-2014 whilst the Trust was being formed. Melanie is a family solicitor, she specialises in Children’s Law which relates to arrangements for children and a large percentage of her clients have experienced domestic abuse.
“I enjoy the challenges of making decisions as a Board and the honour of working with strong, intelligent and enterprising women.”
Sara Radcliffe
Sara Radcliffe is an experienced management consultant. She has 25 years’ experience of working in NHS leadership. Sara has a background in strategic policy. An experienced service change manager within the NHS. Sara has an MA in Women’s Studies, BA Hons English Literature, DIP HSM Institute of Health Services and Management.
Yvonne Lauder
Yvonne is a retired teacher with a background in engineering purchasing. Her main involvement with PTMWA came about because she worked as a support worker in one of the refuges for almost a year.
Saleema Kauser
Dr Saleema Kauser Lecturer in the Organization Studies Group at Alliance Manchester Business School (MBS). First degree in Psychology from the University of London. She holds a masters degree in Information Systems and Technology from Cass Business School; an MBA from Aston Business School and received her PhD (2000) from the Warwick Business School. Dr Kauser has been lecturing for over 15years on strategic and organizational management issues. Her research interests include Partnership collaborations, religiosity, gender and inequalities and business ethics and she has a number of articles in peer reviewed journals. Before joining academia Saleema worked as an advisor and consultant in the private sector.
Liz Jones
Liz is a retired teacher, and during her career worked for 5 different Local Authorities, teaching in Infant, Primary and Secondary schools, both in mainstream and in the special needs sector. She has also been on the Governing Body of a number of schools as a Local Authority Governor. Liz was originally a committee member of South Manchester Women’s Aid and participated in the merger process of 5 Refuges across Manchester. She then became a Board member of Manchester Women’s Aid and was part of the Steering Group who met regularly with The Pankhurst Trust members for over a year, to achieve our recent merge.
“I have seen at first hand the effect physical and psychological abuse has on women and their children, and the positive effect MWA has had on their lives. I am really excited to be part of our new, dynamic organisation, as we go forward together.”
Saira Ali
Saira is an employment law solicitor and has over 15 years' experience of working with the public, private and third sectors. She is a specialist NHS employment solicitor and joined the Board in 2020.
Alison Sinderson
Alison is an experienced finance professional currently working with ATPI, a global travel business, as Chair of its ESG Steering Group and on the Group Risk Committee, reporting on numerous legal, governance, regulatory and sustainability issues. She was formerly a senior partner in EY, one of the world’s leading professional firms, working for some 25 years with a range of clients, in the UK and globally. As the first female audit partner outside London in the mid 1990’s, she characterises her journey, which included establishing Manchester’s first Women in Business networking groups, as of one of “constantly cutting my head on various glass ceilings”. She is a Fellow of the ICAEW, having qualified after studying law at Manchester University, and is a member of a number of expert communities, including the Charity Finance Professionals Community. During a career break, she was a keen organiser of children’s sports working to widen access to sport for children from all backgrounds and also worked with Young Enterprise, advising teenage girls on business projects.
Alison is joining the Board having also recently embarked upon training in the area of Domestic Violence / Abuse.