David Nash
Chair & Trustee
David has spent the last 18 years of his career working with charity partners both in the UK and overseas. He has been a school governor, local councillor, and head of a charity in India and currently runs a major international climate change program for the Z Zurich Foundation. He joined CFS in 2021 to better connect with his adopted local community in Selby. Outside of work David is most likely to be found at the cinema or with his head in a book.
Tony Jameson-Allen
Vice Chair & Trustee
Tony spent many years working in mental health and social care, as a nurse and later in national policy and knowledge management. He went on to co-found social enterprises and national charities in England, Wales and Scotland supporting people with dementia, depression and tackling loneliness. In 2023 he was awarded an MBE for this work by King Charles. After 10 years he stepped back from the role and moved to Scarborough, where he can often be found walking the family’s two rescue dogs around Marine Drive
Katy Ridsdill-Smith
CEO
Katy moved to York in 2023 after several years in London leading a homelessness charity. Prior to this, she worked in organisational development at the mental health charity Mind. A passionate advocate for social justice, she believes strongly in the power of community to address local need. In her spare time, she’s a keen rower and can often be found on the water!
Prakash Mistry
Treasurer and Trustee
Qualified accountant with over 30 years of experience in FTSE 100 organisations. Skilled in partnering with operational teams to drive business performance and in working closely with finance teams to strengthen control, governance, and strategic decision‑making.
Outside of work, I stay active by playing football, table tennis, running, and doing yoga.
I’m also a loyal Coventry City FC supporter.
Vera Van Gool
Trustee
Trustee
Vera likes to think of herself as a bit of an ‘eco warrior’ and does her best to contribute to the goal of minimising people’s impact on the environment. Pertaining to this goal she’s found her way into Environmental Ethics as a career at Aviva, where she works on sustainable insurance.
She’s built up 7 years’ worth of experience at Aviva, working in a variety of roles. Starting off she worked for the IT side of the business, including IT support, delivering good IT services, managing risks & governance, and ending up being the right-hand person for a Chief Information Officer. But the real passion remained sustainability, so she then moved to work on the Greening Finance programme, looking at the climate impact of pensions, before taking on her current job in Net Zero Insurance, looking at how much our policies and claims contribute to climate change.
In parallel she also seized every opportunity to be an active ally and member of the Aviva communities, where members support and stand up for people who might be discriminated against purely because of their background or how they identify. This first got her involved in CFS, when she arranged to donate a host of disused, Aviva laptops to help close the digital-poverty gap.
In addition to ‘activist’, ‘busy bee’ also aptly describes her. This theme continues outside of work where she keeps active with sports, and the arts. In her spare time she enjoys singing in the York Theatre Royal choir and playing and coaching rugby for York RI.
Miles Goring
Trustee
I’m Miles, a director of Lived Insights CIC (livedinsights.org), and joined as a trustee of the Community Furniture Store family in the latter end of 2024. A dad of two, my work background is over twenty five years within the Financial industry and a further five years leading a housing scheme for the eight former councils across North Yorkshire. More recently, having had a very dark period in my life, facing homelessness and other health issues, I co-founded Lived Insights where we support community driven change research initiatives around various issues and systems to inform policy and social changes needed to support people and community better. Its an exciting time to align my work with the values and beliefs that the Community Furniture Store have, so I look forward to being of service to everyone.
Joanne Roberts
Trustee
Joanne Roberts has over 25 years of experience in the retail bakery sector, having spent her career as an Area Manager leading teams, driving performance, and supporting stores to deliver great customer experiences.
Throughout her career, she has worked across busy, fast-paced environments, developing people, improving standards, and helping businesses rise-sometimes quite literally.
With deep knowledge of retail operations and team development, she brings a practical, people-centred approach to everything she does. Her long-standing career in he bakery industry has given her a passion for quality, community, and the small details that make a big difference.
Outside of work, she enjoys a balanced and active lifestyle. She practises yoga, loves swimming, and spends peaceful hours tending to her allotment-growing, nurturing, and cultivating things from the ground up. These hobbies give her space to unwind, stay grounded, and reconnect with the natural world.
Thomas Meares
Trustee
Tom is the Head of Community Development at Up for Yorkshire. He has spent 14 years working in the charity sector, specialising in project development, strategic planning, process improvement, and grant funding. Before joining Up for Yorkshire, he served as Chief Executive of the Welfare Benefits Unit and also worked for the Community Furniture Store.
Tom became a trustee of the Community Furniture Store because he simply can’t stay away. Having first joined the organisation as a volunteer, he eventually completed his time there as Interim Chief Executive. He is passionate about helping charities operate effectively so they can better support their local communities. His experience spans city-wide strategic planning through the Digital Friendly York programme, HR and people management, operational planning, and building strategic partnerships.
Emma Thorne
Trustee
Emma works in marketing in B2B communications, with experience across charities and purpose-led organisations. Her background spans digital marketing, fundraising and content, with a focus on clear communication and practical delivery.
She joined as a trustee because she believes in practical, community-led solutions that make a real difference locally, and is particularly interested in helping organisations communicate clearly and operate effectively.
Outside of work, Emma can usually be found planning her next trip, attempting to improve her baking skills, or at the gym.