Meet the Board

Hi everyone. I’m the Chairperson of the Non-Executive Board for Ansar Projects, a position I have held now since 2021. I’m very proud as a Board Member to represent Ansar Projects, its fantastic staff and the people we support. I am Head of Projects for Manchester Metrolink and have extensive leadership and delivery experience in police, social housing and public transport. In my spare time, I enjoy getting to the gym, and walks with our dogs and I am an avid supporter of Manchester United.

Gareth is the Operations Director of a company whose main fields span across the Health and Safety and Construction sectors with a background coming from Supply Chain and Operations. In his spare time, he likes to run and dance whilst also having a keen interest in the outdoors, foraging and charity work.

My name is Allan Fry I am married to Marie, and have three grown up sons and four grandchildren. I have spent most of my life working in retail.

I applied to join Ansar Projects to try and make a difference and to add my retail and board governance experience to the team, and I am committed to try and make that happen.

Seeing the way in which Ansar Projects works and the job that it does makes me feel confident about the future of social care in the UK I hope that going forward I can make a real difference once this pandemic is under control.

Living with and supporting a loved one with autism brings a unique set of challenges and needs. This is something I'm very familiar with. Since discovering Ansar Projects and learning what the organisation achieves, I was thrilled at the opportunity to become involved.
My varied background involves different areas of business and team management. I believe this grants me quite a unique and "big picture" outlook which I'm happy to bring to the board.
Since joining Ansar Projects I've been impressed by the innovative and care driven approach the organisation takes.

Jenny's day job is an executive director for Thera Trust where she shares her Learning Disability Leadership role with Matthew Smith, who brings his lived experience of learning disability to the role alongside his work in advocacy. Jenny was born and brought up in Angus, Scotland and qualified as a nurse (RNLD) in Dundee the mid-1980s. Since then, she has worked in both health and social care. Throughout her career, Jenny has focused on working with people to develop their opportunities and move on from institutional care. Jenny is dedicated to facilitating and enabling the leadership of Thera by people with a learning disability.

Christine started working in social care in the late 1980s as a Care Assistant in a home for the elderly. She joined Thera in 2006 as an Operational Manager in Essex, as she strongly believed in Thera’s vision and it was something she wanted to be part of.

In 2017, Christine took on the role of Lead Director for Ansar Projects, which she believes was an amazing opportunity. Christine believes that Ansar Projects is a great team with both people we support and staff working closely together, to set a direction for the company that will continue to demonstrate the wonderful achievements that can happen when people are given the right opportunities and support.