Conference and AGM 2026

Stuart is a Chartered Accountant with more than 50 years' involvement in charities and the voluntary sector, having first become involved while still at school. He previously served as a trustee and Chair of Communities 1st and has held a number of senior public service roles, including Magistrate, Mayor and Leader of Hertsmere Borough Council, and Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire. He is currently a Deputy Lieutenant for Hertfordshire.

Akhtar has lived in St Albans for over 50 years. As a Computer Science graduate, he has spent his career with multinational digital companies including the role of CEO for a start-up company.

He has been active with many voluntary organisations and charities. Currently, this includes being a trustee and chairman of three organisations.  Areas of interest include helping the disadvantaged, community cohesion and promotion of digital initiatives in the community.

In 2016, Akhtar was honoured to be appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, and has since supported many organisations and charities across the county. Akhtar is a governor of a Deaf school in St. Albans, a Trustee for a Computer Training charity and trustee with CASTAD. One of his main roles is as a president of the Islamic Centre enabling him to focus on community cohesion.

Richard J. Cole, also known as Radha Mohan Das, is a senior monk and communications secretary at International Society for Krishna Consciousness’s Bhaktivedanta Manor. He is a writer, editor, and public speaker specialising in the Hare Krishna movement and Vaishnava Hindu traditions as a whole. He is also known for devotional drama productions and community outreach work, especially within interfaith circles.

Will Gibbs is the Canon for Mission and Pastoral Care and oversees the pastoral care and support of the regular Cathedral congregations, teams of lay pastoral assistants and bereavement visitors, homegroups and coordinates weddings, baptism and funerals. He is Chapter Lead on Safeguarding and the Environment, coordinates the Cathedral's partnerships with charities and their social justice work and chairs the Mission and Ministry Committee. He is married to Claire who is a primary head teacher and they have two daughters. Will is Chair of the House of Clergy of the Diocesan Synod, sits on the Bishops Council and Diocesan Board of Patronage and chairs the Diocesan Wellbeing Group. He captains the Diocesan Cricket Team and is in his happy place cooking and watching Hemel Storm Basketball team.

Aimee Venner is a senior NHS leader currently working as Associate Director of Integration within the South West Herts Health and Care Partnership. She has over a decade of experience working across both acute hospitals and wider health and care systems, leading large-scale transformation programmes and building partnerships that deliver meaningful change for communities.

Originally trained as an Occupational Therapist, Aimee brings a strong clinical foundation to her leadership, alongside extensive operational and strategic experience. Her career has spanned frontline clinical roles, senior operational management, and system-level leadership, giving her a deep understanding of how services connect across organisational boundaries.

Aimee is particularly passionate about creating partnerships that go beyond structures and meetings to achieve real impact for residents. She has worked closely with NHS organisations, local authorities, and the voluntary sector to design and deliver integrated models of care, including neighbourhood approaches that bring services together around the needs of local populations.

Known for her collaborative and inclusive leadership style, Aimee excels at bringing people together around a shared purpose, turning strategy into practical delivery, and navigating complexity to achieve results. She is driven by a clear focus on improving outcomes and experiences for patients and communities, and believes that strong, purposeful partnerships are essential to making this happen.

In this Artificial Intelligence (AI) session, you’ll explore what Artificial Intelligence is and how it appears in everyday life, from chatbots to recommendations. You’ll gain an understanding of how AI works, what it can and can’t do, and why it’s important to use it responsibly. We’ll also understand the key risks, including misinformation, over-reliance, and bias, helping you build confidence in using AI safely. The session will bring this to life through discussions and activities, while showing how AI can be applied positively in a volunteering setting.

Learn what AI is and how it’s used in everyday life

Understand the risks, such as misinformation, bias, and over-reliance

Explore how to use AI to support volunteering, inclusion, and community impact

Chris joined the Communities 1st Board of Trustees in autumn 2019.  He has a career in the charitable sector, having worked for the Runnymede Trust, London Voluntary Service Council, Task Force, and Age Concern England. He was a vice president of the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association, and until recently the independent chair of the Guildford Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Panel. He is a volunteer with the National Trust at Shaw’s Corner, near Wheathampsted as is slightly crazy about all things Shavian. During the 25 years he worked at the NSPCC he had a number of responsibilities but focusing on influencing policy, public education, and developing awareness. As Head of Safeguarding in Communities, he became aware of the importance of building and supporting communities. It was this that attracted him to Communities 1st.

As well as being the lead trustee for safeguarding, Chris is also a volunteer with Communities 1st.

Jason was a trustee of Community Hertsmere prior to becoming a trustee of Communities 1st, following the merger between Community Hertsmere and Community Central St Albans. He became Chair of the Trustee Board in September 2020. In his working life, Jason has been a management consultant for over 25 years and is currently a partner at Deloitte UK, focusing on digital transformation within the Financial Services industry. Jason has lived most of his life in Hertfordshire. 

Duncan joined St Alban’s based homelessness charity Emmaus Hertfordshire as CEO in May 2021. Emmaus Hertfordshire provides up to 39 people who have experienced homelessness with a home for as long as they need it, tailored support, companionship and work opportunities. He is also Chair of the South East region of Emmaus in the UK and sits on the boards of Emmaus Europe and Emmaus International, helping to oversee the work of more than 450 communities in 45 countries.

Prior to that he was Marketing and Fundraising Director at the youth sports development charity, the Lord’s Taverners for just under five years.

He spent two spells working at Commonwealth Games England, heading up marketing, commercial and fundraising activity for Team England at the Glasgow 2014 and Delhi 2010 Games. In between he also spent two years as Group Marketing and Development Director of Age UK.

Duncan was Group Marketing Director at FTSE 100 property developer Land Securities between 2006 and 2009.

He held a variety of senior marketing and operational roles at Barclays from 1999 to 2006 and his early career was spent in the travel industry at retail chain AT Mays, RCI Europe and Thomson Travel.

  Emmaus 

Michael leads Wenta’s Business Coaches and is a degree-qualified Sustainable Business Manager and award-winner in 2024 and 2025, in overseeing Wenta’s Action Zero support for over 20,000 small businesses, VCSE clients and the planet to benefit from being greener.

During the last thirty years, Michael founded five ventures, including three as employer, one as an exporter, two sold as going concerns and as the unsalaried founder of a registered charity. Michael has assisted clients to raise over £3m in grant awards, financing and and equity investment.

Michael’s accredited advisory background encompasses cross-sector start-up, strategy, investment-readiness, growth, distribution, export, IP & IPR, licensing, operations, marketing, sales, L&D, business transfer and acquisition, decarbonisation and sustainability. Sector-specific: charities and social enterprise, education and training, cycling industry, creative fields, textiles and Wearable Tech.

Outside of work, Michael enjoys buying pre-loved loud shirts from charity shops and donating them, too. He’ll do a sound-check during the session, to make sure that you can hear his shirt at the back.

  WENTA 

Alan Mordey joined Hertfordshire Constabularies Serious Fraud and Cyber Unit as an Investigator in December 2014. In October 2024, he changed roles within the department to a Cyber Protect & Prevent Officer. Alan delivers awareness, education and prevention advice to businesses, charities, schools, and local communities to increase cyber resiliency and reduce the cyber threat against both the public and businesses, collaborating with partners in both the private and public sector, including peers at a regional and national level.

Online Fraud and Cybercrime

Annie Stevenson is passionate in her role as Lead Ambassador for Age Friendly:Live Better Herts and St Albans District. She was born and brought up in East Hertfordshire and settled in St Albans. She is aged 68 and is a carer for her mother aged 102. Annie is aware that they are both technically in the ‘older people’ box but are actually a generation apart!

Her entire career has been working with and listening to, people of all ages, originally as a hospital social worker and manager in London. She then focused on best practice for older people for 20 years in the voluntary sector, notably as Care Policy Manager for Help the Aged for ten years until it became Age UK. She remembers reading the WHO report on Age Friendly communities in 2007 and being inspired by the content which she is now thrilled to be applying in her home county and place. In 2023-24, she was Mayoress of St Albans and District with her partner, the Mayor for that year, Cllr Anthony Rowlands. Their theme was All Ages Together, connecting the generations to challenge loneliness and isolation and they highlighted the many organisations that achieve that whilst encouraging more to do likewise. 

Age-Friendly Communities

Anna C. Park is a teacher, trainer and care consultant who has spent over 30 years supporting all ages and abilities to feel truly heard, valued and encouraged to follow their bliss. As a community musician, circle dancer, ceilidh caller and communication specialist, she uses a range of creative tools to ensure people have the opportunity to develop and explore their personal creativity at every stage of life. She assists people living with dementia to rediscover the joy of piano playing and uses accessible tech to provide enriching art, nature and music experiences for all.

Anna is a Special Adviser for NAPA, (the National Activity Provider’s Association) and is a Trustee of Ready Generations, the award-winning charity who have successfully embedded a children’s nursery inside a Chester care home. She is passionate in her belief that bringing the generations together is hugely beneficial for everyone’s wellbeing and lies at the heart of a nurturing community. Anna worked alongside Annie Stevenson and Cllr Anthony Rowlands on the Mayoral campaign theme of All Ages Together 2023/4 and champions the aims of Age Friendly Hertfordshire to support and empower older people to live their best lives free from ageist thinking. 

Age-Friendly Communities

Judit brings a wealth of experience from her background in education and management. Over the course of Judit's career, she has worked as a senior ESOL teacher, a key account manager at a language school in Budapest, and a primary school teacher in both the Netherlands and the UK.

At Communities 1st, Judit manages our inclusive coffee cart at St Albans Civic Centre, run by dedicated volunteer and lead employment support hubs and training programs that empower individuals to overcome barriers and achieve their potential.

Judit's passion lies in fostering growth, inclusion, and community well-being through innovative initiatives and tailored support.