Our Trustees

Ross Bryson

Ross Bryson has worked in primary healthcare development in a resource poor country and as a GP in a multicultural urban context for over 35 years. He has seen both the range of human need and the potential to meet that need through a compassionate and integrated primary healthcare team. Nevertheless, many needs exist which impact the health and wellbeing of patients which can't be met by the NHS. It is also true that there are resources within communities which can address patients' needs.

Ross helped to set up Karis Neighbour Scheme in the late 1990s to enable connections between those needs and these resources. Watching the way Karis Neighbour Scheme has developed, while staying true to its values, is a joy and an inspiration. Outside work he enjoys time hiking, cycling and holidays where the sun shines, with his wife, as well as times with his adult children and eight grandchildren.

Gill Harley-Mason

Chair of Trustees

Gill has been a GP at Karis Medical Centre since 1994. She loves helping people with their physical and psychological health needs through her work, and enabling Karis Neighbour Scheme to offer hope and support for social and practical needs, often where other services fail.

Gill has been on the Board of Trustees for many years, and Chair since January 2024.

She is married with three adult children and enjoys musicals and photobooking!

Henry Aggrey

For the past eighteen wonderful years, Henry has had the privilege of serving the Ladywood community as the Pastor of River of Life Church.

He is also honoured to be a trustee at Karis Neighbour Scheme. Throughout the years, Henry has witnessed many changes, and is excited to continue supporting Ladywood by fostering a strong, healthy community and sharing heartfelt prayers.

Henry and his wife Pamela are blessed to be both parents and foster parents.

In Henry's free time, he loves watching football, staying well-informed about international news, and he is also an enthusiastic cook!

Alex Elphinston

Alex worked as a lawyer in central Birmingham for the last twenty years of his career.

He is married to Ruth and has four adult children. When not visiting family – two of Alex's children live abroad – much of his time is spent helping and encouraging the many asylum seekers who come to the church he attends. Some of the asylum seekers are also helped by Karis Neighbour Scheme.

For light relief Alex enjoys doing a good jigsaw, a good book and live jazz.

Becky Cuthbert

Rebecca has been Involved with KNS for more than 20 years in different roles, and has been a Trustee since 2008. She is a big believer in the impact that meaningful social interactions and contributions can have on one's mental and physical wellbeing, and has seen the evidence of that over and over again at KNS. Her professional life has included quite a range of strategic and operational roles, including community development and career coaching.

As a Trustee, Rebecca brings her experience of managing many different projects across the health, public and third sectors. She likes seeing the potential in people and projects, and is motivated to develop that potential, always in partnership with others. Rebecca's motivation for being involved with KNS is that it's a small, local charity with a pretty simple yet profound vision, and it makes an unforgettable difference to the lives of many people.

KNS celebrates heart, human connection and looking out for others, which are rare and precious values that she wants to help grow. In her spare time she enjoys dog-walking in the woods, followed by a strong coffee with crusty bread and marmalade for breakfast!

Kathryn Miles

With a background in public health, Kat Miles works to enable new research to be developed within the university sector, often across academic disciplines and focused on creating solutions to real world problems.

Using her skills and experience in development, governance, management and planning, Kat has been a trustee since 2015, helping KNS make the best use of resources for the benefit of Ladywood.

Elizabeth Cudjoe

Treasurer

Elizabeth is an experienced finance professional whose career spans both the public and private sectors, giving her a well rounded and practical understanding of effective financial management. In her role as Treasurer and Trustee, she offers thoughtful oversight of budgeting, investment decisions, and financial controls.

Elizabeth joined the board to support the organisation's mission and to help ensure its financial practices remain transparent, responsible, and rooted in integrity. She is committed to serving the community with care and genuine stewardship.

Andy Northcott

Andy trained as an RE teacher and taught for over 20 years before taking on a full time role as the pastor of 'Church Alive'. He has been living in Ladywood since 2006 with his wife, Emma, and together they are raising their family of four children. They moved here to join the church and have loved being a part of the community which they serve. Andy and his wife came across KNS when they first arrived and have both been involved in various capacities, volunteering and working since then. He was delighted to be asked to join the trustee team in 2025.

Andy and Emma love the heart behind KNS to be a presence bringing hope to the community and see their involvement alongside many others from their church family as an important aspect of belonging to Ladywood. Andy loves playing table tennis, recently ran his first half marathon, has an 'unlikely to be fulfilled' yearning to get back into rowing coaching and loves growing things in his garden.