Tackling poverty locally
Our Key Partner
In June 2023 we entered into a formal partnership with CAFS.
CAFS is a not-for-profit organisation which provides an inclusive and secure space developed with love and care where children, adolescents, adults and their families can access high-quality care and support.
CAFS have been a friend to Asha for a number of years providing Art therapy and other psychosocial activities.
In June 2023 CAFS took on the role of leading and coordinating much of the work at the Asha Centre
The Board
Steve Bynon
Steve Is a founding trustee of Asha Trust since 2004. He has worked within a number of charities and community organisations in the UK and overseas.
Steve also volunteers with a number of charities including Care4Calais and Face work
Radhika Bynon
works as Portfolio Manager at Impact on Urban Health, a foundation working to reduce health inequalities in London. She is Chair of the Global Fund for Women UK, a women’s fund partnering with human rights activists around the world. She is a trustee at the Magpie Project, a small charity supporting mothers and children living in temporary accommodation/hostels in East London and also Kineara, a social enterprise working with families in challenging circumstances.
Julie Thomson
Julie's family went on the inaugural trip to Sri Lanka when Asha was founded and she returned three times. Having worked as a teacher in the UK, she is particularly interested in Asha helping with education in Athidya. She volunteered in the local school there for a few weeks in 2007, which was a challenge!
Now retired, she helps keep in touch with donors in the UK and enjoys being part of forward planning for the charity.
Glenda Abbott
I am a retired textile tutor. I have travelled to Sri Lanka three times and I have been able to help the women’s groups by sharing sewing skills. Building relationships with this community and especially those that lead the projects has deepened my commitment to the work. Watching Asha Trust grow and encourage the work of local people to make realchanges in a challenging community is a huge privilege
Katherine De Krester
Katherine lived in Sri Lanka for 10 years and coordinated Asha projects on the ground as well as being the main link between the team in Sri Lanka and the board of trustees in the UK. Recently returned to the UK, she is delighted that she can continue to contribute to the work of Asha by being a trustee. Katherine has experience in many aspects of running a small charity including governance, finance, fundraising and project management. She now works for a charity in London that supports the voluntary and community sector through training, capacity building and advocacy.
Stephen Carrick-Davies
is a social entrepreneur with experience of leading non-profit and social entereprises over the last 30 years (including at CEO level). He has been a Trustee of the Asha trust for over 8 years and has had the privilege of visiting and learning from the team in Sri Lanka on two separate occasions. He currently is developing the Facework project in India and in the UK.