Founding President & HOPE UK Trustees

Maureen Forrest

Founding President

Maureen Forrest, Cork woman, mother, grandmother and founder of The Hope Foundation, has spent her life working to make life better for people across the world and is guided by a vision for ‘a world where it should never hurt to be a child’. The Hope Foundation (HOPE), an Irish charity, was established by Maureen in 1999 to help the street-connected children of Kolkata. Today, under Maureen’s strategic vision and leadership, HOPE has provided shelter, education, healthcare and drug rehabilitation to hundreds of thousands of children and adults in India.

Maureen was a Trustee of HOPE UK for 15 years from incorporation to 2022.

Shiuli Davis

Trustee Director

Shiuli Davis worked for DMB&B advertising and ran a conference and event organising group in London before a 20 year career in interior design and property development. She has interior designed private homes for HNW clients in the UK, Europe and Asia culminating in her most fulfilling commission, a senior residential living facility, Aumorto in Kolkata, an initiative by SAIOC supported by TATA Trusts.

Bengali by birth, raised and primary school educated in Kolkata, Shiuli is all too aware of the plight of vulnerable street children in Kolkata and has been actively involved in HOPE’s child sponsorship scheme for the past 7 years.

Keen to give back to the city she loves, Shiuli is delighted to become a HOPE Trustee Director. She brings her passion and creative fund raising ideas to further HOPE’s efforts in providing much needed education, medical care and shelter in a safe environment for the poorest and most needy of street children in Kolkata and above all give them hope.

Katy Harper

Trustee Director

Katy Harper trained and worked in the fashion industry for 25 years at leading international fashion prediction agencies as both a General Manager and at Director level, managing divisions, overseeing cost control, running the administrative functions and a global network of sales agents. She has been a Visiting Lecturer at Kingston University and London College of Fashion and was External Examiner at Southampton Solent University for 3 years. Her interest in education led her to become Vice Chair of Governors at an Islington primary school. Latterly her administrative skills have been utilised at a London branding agency where she is Studio Manager. Katy became involved in HOPE after editing Bill Lathorn’s heritage book of family recipes for the charity and is privileged to be a trustee of HOPE UK.

Brendan Mackinney

Trustee Director and Treasurer

Brendan worked in the banking industry for 27 years most recently as a Chief Operating Officer in Wholesale, Private and Trade Finance banks. His roles involved considerable international experience offering services in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. After a short break Brendan is now an independent consultant currently working for clients in telecoms and finance.

After many years supporting charities that predominantly focus on providing education and support for people that require assistance in both the UK and abroad, which included attending fund raising events for the Hope Foundation, Brendan was delighted to take the opportunity in 2018 to apply his experience and skills as Trustee and Treasurer of the Hope Foundation in the UK.

Phil Mumby

Chairperson and Trustee Director

I’m with The Hope Foundation for Street Children (HOPE) as a result of a chance meeting with its founder, Maureen Forrest, while I was visiting Kolkata with HSBC. Soon after, I started fundraising for HOPE with the HSBC teams I worked with in the UK and Kolkata, and on later trips I met numerous members of the Hope Kolkata Foundation team and visited many of the organisation’s programmes and projects. It was an eye-opening experience for me, and it remains heartwarming to see the wonderful work being done and the joy with which the children participate and engage with HOPE’s programmes. After my time with HSBC, I was invited to become a Trustee Director of HOPE in the UK. This was both a privilege and a pleasure as Kolkata and India now have a special place in my heart. In this role, I work with our staff and trustees to help build awareness and raise funds in effective and appropriate ways.

Martin Venables

Trustee Director

Martin is a financial services professional, specialising in project management, strategy and product development. Martin works with Lloyds Banking Group in Wholesale Banking, at Executive and Board levels and his previous roles have been at RBS Private Banking, KPMG and Barclays. Martin’s focus is on improving business performance and he has a reputation for bringing new ideas and products to market.
In his gap year Martin volunteered at a school and skills training centre for the physically handicapped in India, so is aware of the plight of street-connected children. Martin offered Hope some pro bono time to help develop the business plan and, impressed by what he saw, was delighted to become a trustee in 2010.

Tim Sennitt

Trustee Director

Tim has worked in the marketing and communications industry for 33 years on the agency side. Having started out as Graphic Designer, he has run major international client accounts across sectors including Financial Services, B2B Tech, Travel and the Public Sector. Having worked in London, New York and Hong Kong, Tim provides strategic planning, insight and guidance to businesses large and small.

Having become fascinated with India after a number of visits over the last 20 years, Tim has supported Hope Foundation events and was delighted to be invited to become a Trustee in 2022, bringing his experience and skills to help the development of Hope UK’s social media and digital marketing presence.