Governance

Helen Jackson

Chair of Board

Helen Jackson is the Trust’s Vice-Chair and Safeguarding Trustee, chairing the Personnel and Remuneration Committees. She was a commercial lawyer for over 30 years, including 15 years at the University of Cambridge where she established its first in-house legal team. Helen became a Trustee in 2018, when studying at theological college, and this kindled her interest in the importance of Church Schools in the wider church. Now a Pioneer Lay Minster at St Barnabas, Cambridge, she works with Kids Matter, a charity delivering parenting courses to disadvantaged families through churches and does outreach work among young people in supported housing. She and her husband enjoy caravanning in remote and beautiful locations.

Keith Carne

Deputy Chair of Board

Keith Carne is a mathematician who lectured at Cambridge University. More recently he has been First Bursar at King’s College. He has now retired but remains a Fellow of the College. Keith first became involved with church schools as a governor when his own daughters were pupils at St Paul’s School in Cambridge. Since then, he has also been a trustee of the Church Schools of Cambridge. He regularly attends King’s College Chapel and is on the electoral roll of St Benet’s Church.

Adrian Ball

Chief Executive

Adrian Ball joined the Diocese of Ely Multi-Academy Trust as Chief Executive Officer in 2019, bringing substantial experience in driving transformational change in education settings. Prior to joining DEMAT, Adrian worked for Inspiration Trust, serving as a Principal, an Executive Principal and Chief Operating Officer, leading the transformation of two academies from schools which required special measures to institutes rated as Good with Outstanding leadership. Adrian is dedicated to ensuring high-quality, effective and sustainable education is provided through the Christian-based ethos and values of the schools in the Trust. Outside of his work, Adrian is a driven sportsman, having previously competed for Great Britain in duathlon at both European and World Championships.

John Bradshaw

John Bradshaw joined the DEMAT Board in 2018 and brought a considerable amount of business experience with him. He spent 34 years with the P&O Group, including 18 years as a Director and 12 years as the Chief Executive of the European Logistics division. The division had activities in 12 European countries, with 1,100 employees and a turnover of £400million. John has also served on the advisory board for GE Europe and DFDS Seaways and was involved in developing logistics strategies. For six years, he was a Non-Executive Director of the Harwich Haven Authority, a trust port regulated by the Department for Transport. Recently, he has worked for Cannizaro, a company specialising in efficiency programmes. John was also Chair of Governors at Fordham Primary School for five years.

Kate Griffiths-Lambeth

For Kate Griffiths-Lambeth, the CofE’s focus on providing high quality education and learning for all, within a caring and nurturing environment, really resonates. She is committed to offering her service and skills for the benefit of others. She has more than 15 years operating at board level across a range of sectors and has experience of assisting high growth organisations as well as those undergoing significant transformation and change. Kate, who read law at Queens’ College, Cambridge, is a Fellow of the CIPD and RSA and was granted the Freedom of the City of London as one of 100 female leaders selected to commemorate women’s suffrage. She is currently the Chief People Officer and member of the executive team at Gravita, a private equity backed consolidator and disruptor within the accountancy sector. Kate has volunteered in governance roles since 2010 for organisations including Christian charity Retrak and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust where she chaired the Patients’ Advisory Group, the Quality and Engagement Working Group and the MeDIC Working Group. Since 2022, Kate has been an independent advisor to the board of charity, Open Palm. Kate, whose maternal family come from Wisbech and Peterborough, has a strong affinity for the Diocese and the people within it.

Dr Peter Jarritt

A Chartered Scientist, Dr Peter Jarritt holds a PhD from King’s College, London and the National Institute for Medical Research, is a Fellow of the Institute of Medical Physics and Engineering in Medicine (FIPEM) and Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. He served a three-year term as President of FIPEM from 2011-2013 and was awarded a NHS Lifetime Achievement Award as NHS Chief Scientific Officer in 2021. His leadership experience spans more than 20 years including as chief executive of the Northern Ireland Regional Medical Physics Agency and as Head of Medical Physics at Cambridge University Hospital NHS Trust. He has also worked for the East of England Strategic Health Authority and the EMEE Genomics Laboratory Hub. Peter is a communicant member of the Church of England and regular worshipper at St Mary the Virgin, Linton, and St Botolph’s, Hadstock.

Kieran Mackle

Kieran Mackle is a Primary Mathematics Specialist Teacher with a keen interest in class-based research and evidence-informed practice. In 2008, Kieran moved from Northern Ireland to Medway, where he taught and led in areas of high socio-economic deprivation. At the beginning of 2017 he was appointed as the Mathematics Specialist and Collaboration Lead for three Gravesham primary schools, where he oversaw a five-year project funded by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths', created with the aim of enhancing the quality of mathematics education provided for vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils. In October 2023, he founded ALTA Education with the aim of continuing this work through the provision of high-quality and sustained professional development for schools around the world. Author of two books on primary mathematics, in his spare time he hosts the Thinking Deeply about Primary Education podcast.

Jon Young

Jon joined the Board of DEMAT in September 2024, when he took up the post of Director of Education for the Diocese of Ely. In this role, he leads a team that help to deliver the educational priorities of the Diocese, including in relation to its multi-academy trusts. Following periods working as an army officer, a management accountant and an economist at the House of Commons, Jon turned to teaching and spent 15 years in the independent sector teaching maths and economics. Immediately prior to joining the Diocese of Ely, he was the Academic Deputy Head at the Stephen Perse school in Cambridge and a Senior Examiner for AQA. Jon read Economics at Cambridge University and more recently completed an MEd degree in Educational Leadership & School Improvement.

Dr Mohamed Chatra

Mo Chatra is an accomplished finance and operations leader with extensive experience across the education, public sector and academy trust landscape. He currently serves as Chief Finance & Operations Officer at Academy Transformation Trust (ATT), a national multi-academy trust comprising 21 academies and a further education provider operating across the Midlands, East and South East of England. In this role, he has executive responsibility for finance, estates, information technology, human resources, procurement, data and marketing, providing strategic leadership across a complex and diverse organisation. Mo obtained a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Birmingham before qualifying as a Chartered Public Finance Accountant (CPFA) through CIPFA. He later completed a Diploma in Applied Management at Warwick Business School and is a practitioner in PRINCE2 and Managing Successful Programmes. With over two decades of public sector experience, Mo has built a reputation as a results-oriented and strategic leader with strong commercial acumen and a deep understanding of financial management, organisational transformation and operational excellence. Prior to joining ATT, he has held a number of senior positions, including a Chief Financial Officer role within the academy trust sector and leadership positions within local government, the NHS and the Department for Education. Throughout his career, he has successfully delivered large-scale change programmes, financial turnaround initiatives and efficiency projects that have strengthened organisational performance and long-term sustainability. Alongside his executive responsibilities, Mo has a strong commitment to governance and public service. He has served as a parent governor, chair of governors, academy trustee and governance representative across a number of educational settings, bringing valuable strategic insight and leadership to the organisations he supports.

Lorraine Turner

Awaiting information

Rob Needle

I served with Cambridgeshire Constabulary from 1981 to 2011. In that time, I worked in several different roles, progressing through the ranks from Police Constable to Chief Superintendent. I finished my career as Commander of Cambridgeshire Southern Division, based at Parkside Police Station, the same police station that I had started at as a young PC thirty years earlier. Having retired from the police, I spent two years working for the University of Cambridge, managing projects relating to emergency response and energy and carbon reduction; also a review of the management of sport at the University. In 2013 I set up The Children’s Society bookshop in Sawston, managing the shop and raising funds to support the much-needed work of The Children’s Society. I retired from that job in 2025. I continue to volunteer on behalf of The Children’s Society as the Ely Diocesan Ambassador. I am a member of St Andrew’s, Stapleford.