As a registered charity, The Whitechapel Centre is governed by a Board of Trustees who are committed to the work of the organisation and prepared to offer time to ensure that it is run efficiently and effectively.

For the Board to function properly, some members have specific allocated roles. The Chair, has a high profile role, and not only presides over trustee meetings but usually takes on a PR role and works closely with The Whitechapel Centre's Senior Management Team to ensure good communication between staff and trustees. The Vice Chair deputises for the Chair when necessary.  

The Company Secretary, supported by paid staff, provides administrative support to the Board, arranging and administering meetings and keeping trustees up to date with information and news. 

The Treasurer provides financial information to the trustees and maintains accounting standards. She may also act as an "interpreter" for trustees who have little understanding of financial affairs so they can make informed decisions.

Join our Board

The Whitechapel Centre is always on the lookout for people with a range of skills and experience, who have integrity, commitment, good common sense and judgment who can join our Board. We are looking for people with the vision and flair to steer our organisation to fulfill its commitment to the provision of support services for some of the most vulnerable and isolated people in society.

As a Trustee, you will work with other Trustees in governing the affairs of the Charity, determining strategy and policy and ensuring the charity is well managed and meeting its objectives.

Val Metcalf MBE (Chair)
Val has worked at a senior management level in the community & voluntary sector since 1984. Managing a range of services including childcare, family support, homelessness & employment & education for ex-offenders. Mostly latterly before retirement Val spent 7 years managing services for people affected by dementia in Sefton. Val was awarded an MBE in recognition of services to Equal Opportunities.

Terry Crolley MBE (Lifetime President)
Terry has been associated with Whitechapel for over 25 years.  Prior to his retirement Terry was National Vice Chair of the Research Officers Association, a Member of the Home Office Working Party on race and Ethnic Monitoring, Secretary to the Board of the Merseyside, Cheshire and Lancashire Council on Alcoholism, Chair of Netherley CAB, a school Governor and a member of the Liverpool Detached Youth Work Committee.  He was also a part-time lecturer on the Social Science Post Graduate Course at Liverpool University. Since retirement, as well as being a former Treasurer of the Trustees, Terry is a contributor to the new Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and is the author of various publications.  His professional specialism is Social Policy, with particular reference to organisational research. In the 2025 New Years Honours List Terry was awarded an MBE for his services to homelessness. 

Ryan Young – (Trustee)
Ryan qualified as a doctor in 2014. His time is mainly spent as a GP with an interest in inclusion health, covering people experiencing homelessness and vulnerable migrants, but maintaining more regular GP work for a half day a week at Brownlow’s Princes Park site.
 
Ryan works with a variety of Whitechapel teams on a case by case basis and provides clinical leadership for the Whitechapel/Brownlow Health Hospital service, in-reaching into Liverpool hospitals to provide care for patients who are experiencing homelessness. 
 
Ryan also works for Freedom from Torture, providing Medico-Legal reports to document evidence of torture that can be used to support asylum cases or for appeals in court.  Recently he has agreed to work with Transforming Choice to provide clinical oversight for individuals during alcohol detoxification and rehabilitation. 

Katherine Sheerin (Vice Chair)
Katherine has worked in the NHS for over 30 years in a range of roles, many of which were in commissioning, in and with primary care in Liverpool, Leeds and currently Greater Manchester.  From early in her career she worked on projects which addressed the causes of ill health, including poverty, unemployment and poor housing, recognising how health services alone are not enough to improve people’s lives. 
 
As a trustee of the Whitechapel, Katherine is really keen to use her health commissioning experience and knowledge to support the organisation to continue its fantastic work for many years to come.
Originally from London, Katherine came to Liverpool in 1988 and never went home, settling in the city and having 3 children. 

Sue Thomas (Trustee)
A qualified Town Planner, Sue has held various public sector positions in urban regeneration, housing and social policy.  As Head of Community Affairs at the east end London Borough of Newham, she led the local authority’s special community development programmes and relationship with its extensive voluntary sector. She has lived and worked in Liverpool since 1993, when she took up the post of Director of Community Services at the Liverpool Housing Action Trust, working with tenants, built environment experts and housing/health professionals on a long-term programme to create resilient communities in over twenty high rise estates. Sue also has over 15 years of non-executive Board experience.  She was Deputy Chair of the Mersey South Divisional Board of Riverside Housing, Deputy Chair and Chair of the Lee Valley Housing Association and Chair of the Lee Valley Neighbourhood Board.  She is currently a member of the University of Liverpool’s Research Governance Committee and of its Committee for Research Ethics. 

Margaret Woods (Trustee)
Margaret has over 40 years experience within the Department for Work and Pensions. Holding a Masters Degree in Public Service Management (Social Security), Margaret's working life has been focused on helping people who are unemployed or unable to work because of a health condition or disability, to move from benefits into work. Prior to retirement, Margaret worked for many years on the governments transformation of the welfare system, implementing Universal Credit across the North West region. Margaret has volunteered on a wide range of projects within her local community, including being a School Governor for 15 years. 
 

Alice Brown (Treasurer)
Alice has worked in finance since 1975, first working as an Assistant Accountant in the Littlewoods organisation, then moving to the voluntary sector in 1985 to take up the post of Finance Manager for MCVS. In 1989 she moved back into the public sector as Finance manager for Walter Craven Funeral Directors where she remained until retirement in 2013. For the past 30 years she has been responsible for all aspects of the financial integrity of the companies she has worked for. Since retirement Alice has balanced her passion for foreign travel and photography with her volunteering commitments. 

Steve Collett (Trustee)
Steve's longstanding commitment to the voluntary sector and to tackling homelessness and its associated problems encompasses 36 years working within the Probation Service and 30 years involvement with the Liverpool Simon (Petrus) Community, including 15 years as the Chair of Trustees. He is currently Chair of the Rhodes Foundation Scholarship Trust which supports North West probation staff to undertake short research scholarships in rehabilitation. Steve is an adjunct Professor in the School of Justice Studies, LJMU, and holds honorary academic positions at Liverpool and Manchester Universities.

Brother Ken Vance (Trustee)
 
Ken studied social worker in Glasgow and has substantial experience of developing, establishing and managing a variety of youth projects in Worcester and Greater London. He was chair of Westminster Diocesan Youth Committee, Vice-chair of the National Catholic Youth Services Council, and was also chair of the Inner London Education Authority's City of London and Tower Hamlets Youth Committee. Whilst in London, Ken was involved in the early days of Centrepoint, which started at St Anne's, Soho, and was also a member of the working group which established The Cardinal Hume Centre. He has experience of working with client groups with a diverse range of needs, and is a prominent member of the community, participating and representing a number of organisations and agencies at board level. For the past fifteen years he has coordinated the work of the ten Catholic parishes staffed by the Jesuits in England and Scotland.  Ken’s particular specialism is around training and governance.