THE TRUSTEES
George Butler, Chair
George is an award-winning artist and illustrator specialising in travel and current affairs. His drawings, done in situ, are in pen, ink and watercolour. Six months after his first trip to Syria in August 2012, he made a similar trip back to the north of the country to record stories from the refugees and field hospitals. His drawings have been reproduced by the Times and the Guardian amongst others as well as on the BBC, CNN and Al Arabiya. He has been with Hands Up since the beginning and when he isn’t adventure-bound, searching for the next scene to immortalise on paper, he acts as a trustee for Hands Up and leads the charge on our projects in Syria and Singing for Syrians.
Joe Roberts, Board Treasurer
Joe is our treasurer, and numbers are just one of his games. He studied economics at Bristol, cutting his managerial teeth with the football team he set up there, before moving into the great wide world of finance. He has now been at PwC for the better part of a decade, during which time he has undertaken secondments to the charity sector, leading the finance teams there. He has dealt with numerous charity boards and sat on some himself, so we are very excited to have him on the team.
Johnnie Barnett, Trustee
Johnnie started out as a classicist at Bristol University and enjoys fresh air and a good walk like Socrates himself. He works in asset management, having left Allianz Global to become the director of the New Amsterdam Group. Along with the rest of the Hands Up team, he was included in the Financial News Extra Mile Awards 2015. He has been with Hands Up since the beginning and was voted in as Board Chair in 2017. He is most often found volunteering his cocktail-making skills at our monthly Syrian Supper Club. Multitalented doesn’t even cover it.
Amanda Ogilvie, Trustee
Amanda is a charity and social enterprise solicitor at Bates Wells Brathwaite. She graduated from the University of Edinburgh, having read Law and immersed herself in the charity world, volunteering for both Amnesty International and Peace Child International. Not stopping there, she also worked for Plan International, one of the oldest and largest children’s development organisations in the world, so she brings a whole load of precious knowledge and experience to the Hands Up gang, not to mention being one of the nicest people we’ve ever met.
Louisa Barnett, Trustee
Louisa has the Middle East in her bones having read Arabic and Islamic Studies at Oxford University before moving to Damascus to work as a consultant on cultural heritage and economic development projects. For two years, Bab Salaam was her home. She returned to the UK in 2011 to work in business intelligence and political risk in the Middle East and North Africa. She then changed tack as an associate of the On Purpose social-enterprise leadership programme before returning to the world of political risk. She now acts as a consultant in the Business Intelligence arena. Louisa was there before Hands Up began and is also the leading light on Hands Up’s MarmalAid.
Nick Haslam, Trustee
Nick is another big hitter. He trod the boards in the Cambridge University theatre scene during his time there as a classicist before pursuing a masters in International Relations. More recently he has been based in Istanbul with Adam Smith International leading the team as Head of Syria, Afghanistan, the Middle East and North Africa. He brings extensive knowledge of Syria, the situation there and its infrastructure, making him a crucial addition to Hands Up’s Board. He also recently took to the Bosporus, swimming for Syrians to raise £5k for Hands Up.
Thierry Heathcoat Amory, Trustee
Thierry is a jack of all trades. She has assisted congressmen, MPs, Hollywood stars and beyond, as well as working in editorial for The Sunday Times and Prospect Magazine. As if that weren’t enough, she has experience in everything from horse guiding to real tennis and silver smithery, for which she cut her teeth in Bab Touma, Damascus. We like to have a board of Trustees with the skills to ensure we’re covered for any eventuality, and Thierry brings a host of these skills to the table.
Jack Coleman, Trustee
Jack Coleman joined the Board in 2018. He’s a keen legal mind, having studied law at Cambridge followed by working for Linklaters, he now works at Savannah Petroleum PLC. He’s spent time living in Russia and has a particular interest in fundraising. His extensive knowledge of all things legal is extremely valuable for Hands Up.
THE TEAM
Marina Carnwath, Project & Administrative Coordinator
Marina graduated from St Andrews University in 2017, where she studied Medieval History. While there, she helped to run the local chapter of Friends of Médecins Sans Frontières. Marina manages all things Hands Up in the office – that’s everything from ensuring that our Syrian Supper Club runs like clockwork to, more recently, taking over management of our Singing for Syrians campaign. We’re very lucky to have her on the team.
Rose Lukas, Managing Director
Rose switched to Hands Up full time in 2017 after 5 years with Save the Children International. After a language degree at the University of Edinburgh and a stint working in publishing, Rose moved to Damascus in 2010/11. She spent 9 months there, trying out the language and wandering the fruit and vegetable markets. Syria for her is the noise and colour of spice souks, the scent of orange blossom and the home of hummus. When she isn’t visiting our partner organisations on the Syrian/Turkish border, she can be found in the office in Clerkenwell leading the Hands Up team. Rose has been with Hands Up since the beginning and is also a Trustee.