Our advisors
Nicola Tunbridge
Responsible Individual and Managing Director
Nicola’s background is in sales and marketing, initially working to fulfil agency sales contracts for a variety of multi-national FMCG-related companies from 1985-1989. In 1989 Nicola moved into pharmaceutical sales and the sales and marketing of infant and childhood nutritional products. A further remit was to develop and deliver training programmes on infant and child nutrition to health professionals, students and parents.
In 1997 Nicola became a foster parent for an independent provider and cared for ten children with a range of challenging behaviours and traumatic life experiences. In 1999, as a Project Manager, she developed a programme for unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors, incorporating a range of specialised services including education and therapy.
Whilst studying for her MA Nicola developed a therapeutic programme designed to facilitate attachment in fostered children and their foster parents. This programme was presented at the IFCO conference in New Zealand in 2007 and is currently taught by Nicola as one of the modules of the Certificate in Therapeutic Fostering.
Nicola co-founded By the Bridge in 2002.
John Parker
Chairman
John Parker was until recently the President of Europe for Cardinal Health. The group employs 6000 people and operates in twenty countries. Previous to this position John was the Chief Executive Officer for The Intercare Group which he transformed from a small but sprawling healthcare conglomerate with a market capitalisation of £15 million in 1995 to £238 million in December 2003 upon the sale to Cardinal Health Inc of the USA. Intercare transformed itself into a focused pharmaceutical business in the UK, Belgium and France, having been a disparate healthcare company operating in Holland, UK, Germany and South Korea. A combination of strong organic growth and 17 Merger and Acquisition deals were the key drivers for success.
Sir Cyril Chantler
Cyril Chantler is Chairman of the Board of The Kings Fund, London. Cyril Chantler was Dean of the Guy’s, King’s College and St Thomas’ Hospitals’ Medical and Dental School, where he was the Children Nationwide Medical Research Fund Professor of Paediatric Nephrology until his retirement in 2000. He was an Honorary Consultant to Guy’s Hospital (1972 – 2000). Previously, he was Principal of the United Medical and Dental School of Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospitals (1992 – 1998). He also was Chairman of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (2001 to 2008) and of the Clinical Advisory Group for NHS London 2007/2008.
Dr Gerald Bereika
Dr Gerald Bereika has a PhD in Clinical Psychology and more than 25 years experience in the planning, delivery and senior management of social and health care services in both the United States and the UK. He has previous experience of both state and independent foster care provision in the USA, and was an early member of the important Foster Family-based Treatment Association (www.ffta.org) who still use his pioneering definition of and work on Treatment Foster Care. More recently, he founded, developed and sold his own UK company called Lifeways, which developed support services for people with learning difficulties, mental health needs, challenging behaviours and other specialist needs.
