Meet our Board of Trustees

The Edmund Trust is a registered charity which is led by its Board of Trustees. The board meets bimonthly. Our outstanding board generously give their time for free and work tirelessly to support all aspects of the charity.

Naomi Tomkys OBE - Chair

Naomi lives in Cambridgeshire with her husband and youngest son. Her eldest son, who has complex medical and learning disabilities, is supported by The Edmund Trust.

Naomi is Chief Executive of Sky Badger, a charity finding help and adventure for disabled children and their families all over the UK. In the last ten years, Sky Badger has helped over 1.5 million families and carers. Naomi is also Chair of Trustees at The Paypal Giving Fund and leads the Regional Stakeholder Network in the East for the Cabinet Office. She was awarded an OBE for her work with special needs education in 2018.

Ray Bragg

Ray has worked in the broadcasting industry for over 35 years. He started with the BBC in London and Birmingham and then moved to Central Television in Birmingham. He was then part of the team that built and ran West Country Television in Plymouth.

Subsequently he set up his own company providing project management and consultancy to a wide range of blue chip clients, managing the fitout of the Dock 10 Studios in Salford, ITV regional news studios and the move of the Coronation Street studios to their new site in Manchester. More recently he has been an owner of a media installation company based in Melbourne.

Ray lives near Bury St Edmunds and has two grownup children and four grandchildren.

Marianna Zaffaroni

Marianna is originally from Italy and has been living in Cambridge for the last 20 years. She is a primary school teacher with a degree in foreign languages. Marianna has three girls, one of whom has Down’s syndrome. She is very passionate about enabling people with different needs and skills to thrive and to achieve their full potentials.

Deborah Copping

Deborah lives in Cambridge  with her husband, daughter and cat. Her daughter has complex learning disabilities and other medical issues and enjoys support from The Edmund Trust in the community and respite.

She previously worked in the Financial Services Industry as an Operations and People Manager, stopping work to care for her daughter and two sons full time.

In her spare time she enjoys sewing, exercise, art and design. She now has more time to be involved with the Trust.

Howard Mason

Howard has lived in Cambridge for the last ten years. Before that he spent much of his time working in the tropics in various capacities: trading in the Pacific, telecoms in the Caribbean and a leisure business in the Indian Ocean. Being a Chartered Accountant can offer a wealth of improbable and rewarding experiences. Since arriving in Cambridge he has worked on a pro bono basis with several small international Charities involved in a range of areas of interest and geographies. A few examples: Providing health care and education to children in three communities in Rwanda. Advising and mentoring the finance function of the Lepra Society of India. Providing education and care for children in a poor community in Ecuador. Locally, he was Chairman and trustee of Cambridge Summer Music Festival for five years and Chairman of Cambridgeshire County Squash for eight.

In almost all environments raising funds is challenging and he is particularly interested in ensuring that funds raised by charities are tightly controlled and spent as part of a properly developed strategy with achievements measured and reported. This can be challenging..
In his spare time he swims, plays real tennis and has recently taken up kayaking on the Cam.

Elisabeth Kron

Elisabeth was born in Sweden, she moved to Cambridge 25 years ago and worked at a charity for homeless people.
She has two sons, the oldest has complex learning disabilities and Autism and he is supported by The Edmund Trust.
Elisabeth has worked in IT for many years now. She has had her own contracting firm and it’s been exciting and fun work. She has now retired and since then, has had the opportunity to be more involved with the Trust.
In her spare time, she enjoys reading, walking, cycling and swimming.

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