The Trustees

Jo Brown spent much of her early career working as a social worker with young people before training as a primary school teacher, and then working in Youth Justice. From 2008 – 2019 Jo worked as Anti-Bullying Co-ordinator for Oxfordshire County Council’s Children Education and Families Directorate. Jo currently works as a freelance restorative practitioner and trainer.  Jo has a particular interest in ensuring young people affected by bullying are supported by the project.

Karen Cushing is a Senior Crown Prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service, and specialises in youth justice. She has a Bachelor of Arts/Law from the Australian National University and after graduating and qualifying as a solicitor, worked for a judge in the Supreme Court in Sydney, before coming to the UK in 1996 and re-qualifying as a solicitor here. Karen is currently undertaking a Professional Doctorate in Youth Justice at the University of Bedfordshire.

Karen's main role as a trustee for SAFE! is ensuring that our support for young victims of crime in no way jeopardises potential or on-going criminal prosecutions. She also advises on criminal law as well as legal issues concerning victims, witnesses, procedures in the Youth Court, Magistrates' Court and Crown Court.

Mike retired as Chief Exec of Oxfordshire Association for Young People in 2004 having been there for 34 years, and is still acting as their treasurer. He is also treasurer and financial and HR consultant for the Carterton Day Centre as well as a volunteer driver.

Gordon Richardson has over 30 years' experience of working with young people in a variety of setting including Youth Work, Social Work, Youth Justice and even for ten years as a rugby coach. Gordon has completed a Bachelor of Arts in Photography, Master of Sciences in Applied Social Studies and Diploma in Social Work. He works as a Team Manager for Oxfordshire Youth Offending Service and his previous experience has included working in Youth Justice in Haringey and as being a consultant for Thames Valley Police. He also is a freelance Restorative Justice trainer and has trained for Transforming Conflict and Real Justice.

Through his work within Youth Justice and with the Police, Gordon recognised the lack of appropriate help for young people who have been victims of crime and has worked with colleagues from many other agencies in order to develop SAFE!

Gordon has worked for a number of voluntary sector organisations and is currently a Trustee and Vice Chair of Trax in Oxfordshire.

Being one of the founder Trustees for Safe has enabled Gordon to help steer the organisation from the start. As he says "SAFE! provides a vital service for many young people whose life has been blighted by being a victim of crime, it is an honour to work alongside my fellow trustees and the dedicated workers of Safe! to make a real positive difference for those young people."

Pete Wallis started his career teaching at a comprehensive school and then joined the Probation Service, undertaking an MSc in Applied Social Studies and Diploma in Social Work in 1994. He volunteered for Victim Support, and in 1996 became the Deputy Director of the Prison Phoenix Trust, a national charity offering support through yoga and meditation to prisoners. Pete currently works for Oxfordshire Youth Justice Service, where he has been employed since 2000. He has a City and Guilds Diploma in Restorative Justice.

Liz Jones (MBE) is the Anti-Social Behaviour Manager and Domestic Abuse Lead for Oxford City Council and was previously the Senior Manager of Berkshire Witness Service.  She is a trustee for two other charities and has been on the Board of SAFE! for five years.  Furthermore, Liz has been a volunteer for a charity for 10 years.

Tracey has worked for Local Authority Organisations for the past sixteen years, and is currently responsible for managing the Families First programme in Buckinghamshire.  This programme focuses on developing interventions and achieving positive outcomes for families with complex needs.  The areas the programme covers include crime and anti-social behaviour, education, children in need of help, domestic abuse, worklessness and physical and mental health.

During her time in Bucks, she worked in the Youth Offending Service for ten years, undertaking preventative interventions for those vulnerable Children and Young people considered most at risk of offending. Tracey also co-ordinated and managed the Restorative Justice and Victim work within the service and had an overview of the Referral Order and Support worker and Volunteer schemes.

Nadia Wager is a Reader in Forensic Psychology and Acting Director of the None in Three Global Research Centre for the Prevention of Gender-Based Violence at the University of Huddersfield.

Sarah Breton has lived and worked in Oxford for the last 30 years.  She is married with two grown children and a cantankerous old pug that she inherited!  Sarah’s career in the public sector has included working in the NHS as a Health Visitor, Public Health specialist, Service Director and more recently Children’s Commissioner for Oxfordshire County Council.

Ray Hipkin has been a Chartered Health and Safety Practitioner for 36 years, specialising in management systems and compliance. Ray has worked in the past for two major FTSE 100 companies. Ray is now in private practice, working mainly with small businesses, agriculture diversity projects and other organisations within the charity and voluntary sector.  Ray’s main role within Safe is to support and help the team in the field with managing their safety and the safety of their clients, a role he also is actively engaged in with other charities. 

Charlotte Buckingham has been working in the voluntary/not for profit sector since 2002.  She is currently working as a Regional Director for Two Saints a specialist housing association providing support services to people who are homeless, prior to joining Two Saints she was the Chief Executive Officer for a small charity in Oxford that specialised in working with people with multiple and complex needs. Charlotte’s broad range of experience has been developed through working as a front-line staff member and in various management posts. Charlotte has a keen interest in business development, outcomes for clients and organisational performance.

Sue’s career has been in both the commercial and charity sectors. She worked in the commercial sector until 2002, focused on business development, mergers and acquisitions and also qualified as an accountant. She moved to the charity sector in 2002, initially as a Finance Director and then as Chief Executive at Meningitis Now. She stopped working in 2016 to look after her Dad and now works as a consultant to various charities, assisting them with projects such as mergers, sustainable development and strategic finance. Sue has a particular interest in supporting young people and feels privileged to be involved with SAFE!.