Our team

Amanda Van Duyvenvoorde

Yaseer Ahmed

Yaseer is the Director of Strategy, HR, Organisational Development and Marketing at Roccia tiles, bathrooms and kitchens, and also sits on the Board of Trustees for the British Red Cross.

With expertise in entrepreneurship, marketing and brand development, promoting equality, diversity & inclusion, Yaseer is passionate about emotional, cultural and social intelligence, people development, spirituality and in particular well-being.

With 30 years’ worth of professional experience, spanning the private, public and social sectors together with volunteer work in the charity sector, Yaseer believes through inclusive and effective collaboration, there is absolutely no challenge too difficult to overcome.

Yaseer’s values include love, trust, integrity, well-being, making a difference, meaningful engagement, diversity and inclusion, resilience, continuous learning, and leadership.

Yaseer is married with six amazing children which keep him healthy and active.

At St Catherine’s, he sits on the People, EDI & Governance Committee, and the Communications & Engagement Committee.

Bonnie Hodson

Bonnie is Fractional Chief Finance Officer of UAP Ltd and has over 20 years’ experience in strategy, leadership, and financial control.

During her years at UAP she has been instrumental in doubling the company’s turnover and presiding over four acquisitions and establishing two overseas entities. Bonnie is an expert in refinancing and restructuring, and has been nominated, on more than one occasion, as Finance Director of the year.

Bonnie sits on the hospice’s Finance & Audit, and Income & Business Committees. Bonnie says: “It is such an honour to be appointed as trustee and I hope I can utilise my business and finance experience to add value to St Catherine’s Hospice.”

In her spare time, Bonnie enjoys walking Lola the Cavapoo and watching live music.

Peter Franks

Peter Franks has more than 44 years’ business experience in many roles within the food retail sector, starting his career as a van salesman for Unigate Foods. His last 16 years were as Managing Director of Dr. Oetker (UK) Limited; he launched the business in the UK in 2002, building a multi-million pound, brandleading company, employing over 500 people at two sites in Leeds and Leyland.

Peter oversaw a ten year re-development of the Leyland site, upgrading and refurbishing the total site. He was responsible for sales, marketing, category management in Leeds; and manufacturing at the Leyland site. He was also responsible for the business development in the Republic of Ireland and served on several strategic international boards.

Since his retirement, he has been spending more time with his family and enjoys walking and cycling; he is a keen Blackpool FC fan and has a passion for all types of music.

He said: “I was delighted and proud to be asked to join the St Catherine’s team; I am aware of the importance of the hospice to the Central Lancashire community and the amazing work of the staff and volunteers there.  I hope I can utilise my business experience to make a difference and add value enabling St Catherine’s to carry on serving the community into the future so positively.”

Peter sits on the hospice’s Income & Business, and Communications & Engagement Committees.

Tim Frier

Tim Frier, Head of Communications at Star Academies, sits on the hospice’s Income & Business, and Communications & Engagement committees. One of his key focuses is offering insight and advice on the direction and delivery of the organisation’s communications strategy.

Tim has more than 15 years’ experience in marketing and communications across a range of sectors, including housing and education.

A chartered marketer and UCLan journalism graduate, Tim is excited to serve on the board at such an important time in the development of the charity’s marketing and communications activities.

Tim said: “St Catherine’s plays such an important role in the Central Lancashire community by providing invaluable care. It can only do so thanks to the generosity of its wonderful supporters, and I am proud to be part of the dedicated team which really makes a difference to local people.

“Marketing and communications are fundamental to any organisation’s success, but particularly for a charity which is so dependent on its strong reputation and ongoing public support. It is an exciting time for St Catherine’s as they work to deliver their ambitious communications and engagement strategy, and I am pleased to work with them to maximise its potential to deliver the best outcomes for the charity and the people it serves.”

Dr David Shakespeare

Dr Shakespeare is a Consultant in Neurological Rehabilitation Medicine at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where he works with the specialist in-patient rehabilitation team and also provides outpatient care for patients with some disabling neurological conditions.

He has worked closely with St Catherine’s to support patients with disabling neurological conditions over the years, and also provides training for palliative medicine registrars undertaking training in neuropalliative rehabilitation. Dr Shakespeare sits on the Patient Care, and IT Data Committees and the Research & Innovation Sub-Committee at the hospice.

He has experience in a number of clinical leadership roles within the health economy and is enthusiastic about continued education and research.

Professor Rob Aspin

Professor Rob Aspin is an Associate Dean and Head of Computing in the School of Engineering and Computing at the University of Central Lancashire. Current activity is split between strategic leadership of the computing subject domain and activity related to the development of the Cyber, AI, and wider Digital eco-system across Lancashire and the wider North West. In this he sits on various boards and committees including the Lancashire Cyber Partnership (LCP), Northwest Cyber Corridor group, NW Regional Defence and Security Cluster, GMCA Cyber Advisory Group (CAG)  and is a governance board member for the NW Cyber Resilience Centre (NWCRC). He is a CI on the North West Cyber Comm project and was an organizer for the Lancashire Cyber Festival (2023), with additional funding granted for the development of the Lancashire cyber eco-system and novel immersive display systems to support data visualisation for cyber and security systems.

Professor Rob sits on the St Catherine’s Knowledge Exchange and IT & Data Management Committee.