Board

Steph Draper

Stephanie is a charity leader and experienced board member aiming to make a significant contribution to improving people’s lives. She combines a career focused on big issues such as climate change, food and equity, with an artist practice that seeks to engage people and improve wellbeing. 

She is currently the Director of Innovation and Practice at Involve, aiming to make public participation part of our everyday democracy. She brings a wealth of experience to Creative Response, including CEO of Bond, the UK membership body for international development organisations; Chair of the Sustainable Shipping Initiative; and Deputy CEO and Executive Director, Asia Pacific at Forum for the Future. She has an open and collaborative approach, underpinned by knowledge and experience of good governance, financial management, fundraising and people management. She is experienced at influencing government, engaging communities and driving scale through clear, impactful communications, speaking truth to power and understanding how change happens.  

Her art practice combines printmaking and painting to tell stories of the impact that we have on each other and the environment. Her work is grounded in place through maps and is increasingly about engaging others in how we live and what future we want. During lockdown she put together an art book ‘Words and Colours from lockdown’ based on weekly paintings that interpreted people’s moods. She is an avid cyclist who enjoys nature and the outdoors and spending time over good food with friends and family.

Ben Matthews

Ben’s background is financial services and management consultancy where he has worked with senior leadership teams, company boards and management teams on some of their most impactful opportunities and challenges. These include strategy design and implementation through to corporate governance, risk and compliance.

Ben has been an active fundraiser over the years, working with charities which have a personal connection (including The Challenging Behaviour Foundations, The Children’s Trust, Challengers and the Alzheimers society), and he is delighted to now have the opportunity to contribute more through his role as Trustee and Treasurer of Creative Response, where he has been inspired by the work and impact the team make each and every day. 

Lucy Simms

Lucy is a trained heritage conservator and worked at Sir John Soane’s Museum in London for over 10 years before moving into fundraising within schools. She has a deep desire to make a difference though her work and with her time and enjoys being part of, and learning from, a wonderfully broad and experienced board of trustees at Creative Response. She wishes to bring her experience both in the arts and fundraising to the charity and understands the transformative role creativity and access to a space in which one can be creative can offer for people.

Colette Lane

Colette has combined her background as a science teacher with her lived experience of mental health challenges to make meaningful contributions in the field of mental health care. Over the past decade, she has transitioned from education to a strategic management role within the NHS, where she focuses on service development. In her current role within a Mental Health NHS Trust, Colette has been instrumental 
in developing a lived experience workforce. This approach brings together the expertise of clinicians and the perspectives of those with personal experience of mental health difficulties, ensuring that services are more person-centred and inclusive. Drawing on her own experiences, she has contributed to service developments that aim to reduce stigma and provide practical, compassionate support. 

Colette’s involvement with Creative Response reflects her belief in the transformative power of creativity as a tool for self-expression, healing, and recovery.

David Beaman

After a 40 year career in the bus and coach industry which included establishing a small bus company in Dorset David Beaman is now an Independent Farnham Resident councillor representing Farnham North West – elected to Farnham Town Council in 2011 and subsequently elected to Waverley Borough Council in 2018.

Diagnosed with Parkinsons’ in 2000 David appreciates the importance of remaining as active as possible and the value that Creative Response provides for those who find the benefits of creative arts which make their lives meaningful.

Rosie Gunn

Rosie is an artist and academic who works with mixed media and performance including photography , film, textiles, music and dance. She has lectured at The University for the Creative Arts for around 25 years as a Senior Lecturer, a Course Leader and is currently a Link Tutor with UCA’s Global Partnership Office advising and supporting academic teams at The Millenium Universal College in Pakistan.  She campaigns for environmental and social justice and believes creative practice is key to the resilience and wellbeing of individuals and communities, both locally and globally.  Rosie forged links between the University and Creative Response since she became a trustee in 2019 and, as a result, wonderful projects and collaborations continue to be developed.