Executive Board

Professor Emerita Sue Read, Chair, Board of Trustees

I began my nursing career in 1975 and qualified as a Learning Disability nurse in 1980. Having worked in health for 44 years, I have built an international profile around my professional interests of loss, bereavement and end of life care, specifically, but not explicitly, for people with a learning disability. I have published numerous articles and written four books around this topic area.

I retired from Keele University in July 2019 but maintain emerita status. I am the CEO of the Beth Johnson Foundation in Hartshill, a local charity that supports older people and aims to champion positive ageing by promoting the health and wellbeing of older people.

I am a strong advocate for marginalised populations and have been the Chair and Trustee of a number of Trustee Boards across Staffordshire. I have lived all my life in Stoke-on-Trent, daughter of a coal miner and local pottery worker. Whilst I have never lived more than five miles from where I was born, I have travelled extensively with my research. I love reading, travelling and walking my dachshund, Alfie.

Barbara Martin

My name is Barbara Martin, and I have been involved with the charity since the early 1990s, firstly as their auditor working for the company that was appointed by them and subsequently joining the Trustee Board in 2020 once I had retired from employment.

During my working career of 30 years I specialised in charities, non-profit-making organisations, academies and companies, starting by carrying out the required work to managing the teams doing it. Since retiring, I have been self-employed as a management accountant and bookkeeper, working from home.

I have been a member of both Girl guiding and Scouting for over 30 years and always feel privileged to be a part of these organisations that provide such wonderful opportunities and experiences to the younger generation. I enjoy socialising and going away on holidays and breaks in our motorhome.

Jeremy Boughey

I am Jeremy Boughey and since 2017 I have worked independently as a counselling psychotherapist. Post-qualifying, I lectured as part of Staffordshire University’s psychotherapeutic counselling award. I studied at postgraduate level (Staffordshire, 2017) and prior to this achieved a Masters award in health policy (Birmingham, 2007). 

I have a longstanding interest in working with people with complex emotional, psychological, and mental health issues and have managed clinical services and worked at board level for a specialist NHS trust in North Staffordshire. I have a longstanding association with Asist advocacy, having twice served as a board trustee. I have also worked at Asist and led its independent mental health advocacy (IMHA) service from 2012-2014, working as an IMHA as part of this role. 

At 62, I am part-retired but hope to continue to positively influence the provision of effective, person-centred support for people who are or become vulnerable due to the difficulties and challenges that they experience in life. 

Mark Ashton, Asist Director & Treasurer

I joined the ‘Steering Group’ which oversaw the creation of what is now Asist in the autumn of 1993, taking great delight when it came into being in July 1994.

With a background in Finance, predominantly in the ‘Private Sector’, my role has been to work with the other Directors in supporting our various Chief Officers over the years, and particularly our Finance Manager, through the many iterations of our wonderful organisation.

Change has been a constant across the decades, with contracts, projects and funding streams coming and going, our advocates being developed into the admired sector leaders that they are, the organisation’s reputation enhanced, and many buildings worked from.

A couple of the many highlights for me have been, the development of ‘The Watching Brief’, and the enshrinement in UK Law of Independent Advocacy.

Judi Thorley

Judi is both a Registered Learning Disability and Registered General Adult Nurse with over 38 years’ experience working within the NHS. Judi has worked in a range of services in senior leadership and clinician roles within Learning Disability, Acute hospital services, Education and commissioning.

She uses her person-centred style to inspire others and respectfully challenge unhelpful actions, inaction or behaviours. Her executive board level experience within the NHS working with multiple partners has given her a developed leadership skill set to support and lead individual, organisational and system change.

Judi retired from her fulltime NHS role in 2019 and continued in a part-time non-executive role within the NHS until July 2022. Judi is a Trustee with a local charity, the End of Life Partnership.

Judi brings her passion and skills focused on person centred thinking and feeling to all that she does. Judi has her own business through which she supports individuals and organisations to reflect, thrive and grow.

Areas of expertise include service, organisational and individual leadership development, culture and values: individual, organisational and partnerships, safeguarding adult reviews, restorative supervision, executive coaching, person centred approaches, co-production and much more.