Our trustees - The Pear Tree Fund

Introducing our trustees

Say hello to The Pear Tree Fund's trustees!

Candace Imison

Candace joined the Pear Tree Fund in 2024 andtakes the lead on governance processes and policy.

Candace has had a career working in healthcare across all parts of the health system, including carrying out research and developing health policy. She also has extensive senior management experience in the NHS, including at board level for healthcare providers, commissioners and regulators.

"My family has benefited from the services of the Pear Tree Fund," said Candace. "I have seen at first hand the positive difference the Pear Tree makes to people's lives."

Philip King - treasurer

Philip is a qualified accountant and fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, and has spent virtually his entire career to date working in public sector finance and accounting.

This has included both audit and accounting advisory roles for the Audit Commission and EY LLP. Philip currently holds a senior accounting and finance position at a large local authority. He became treasurer trustee at the Pear Tree Fund in October 2022 and brings knowledge and expertise of public and not-for-profit sector finance.

“I first became aware of the Pear Tree Fund, and their incredible work in the community, through events held in my local village,” said Philip. “It is a real privilege to now be part of the Pear Tree team and I look forward to advising and supporting the charity going forward."

Dr Dinah Morley - chair

Dinah joined The Pear Tree Fund in January 2017 and was appointed chair in August 2021.

She brings with her experience of teaching, social services and health, having worked in education, youth services, community care, mental health services and the voluntary sector, both locally and nationally.

Dinah is a fellow of the Social Policy Unit of the Dartington Service Design Lab and a Suffolk governor of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.

“It is good to be working with an organisation which is so important to people at their time of greatest need,” said Dinah. “We are very lucky to have such an amazing staff team and wonderful volunteers.

“It is an honour to be part of the trustee board which works hard to ensure the good governance of the fund and to support the work done by the staff and volunteers.”

Nikki Sawkins

A trained nurse and midwife, Nikki spent 28 years as a district nursing sister at Cutlers Hill Surgery before moving to the national Gold Standards Framework team for five years, where she worked as nurse lead and contributed to strategic developments in end-of-life care and dementia across the country.

Nikki is a founder member of our charity. Although she has now retired from full time work in the NHS, she continues to spend one day a week as a supportive care lead nurse in the Louise Hamilton Centre at James Paget Hospital. She also supports local and national developments in healthcare, and played an instrumental role in helping to establish the Halesworth Dementia Carers’ Fund.

“It is so heart-warming to hear that the care and support the charity gives to local families makes a difference to people’s lives at a time they most need it,” said Nikki. “I am very proud of what the charity has achieved over the years and excited about the future with the Pear Tree Centre being able to offer help and support to the wider community.”

Sean Verrall

Sean is currently a senior manager at Sizewell B Power Station, where he has worked since the station was built in the early 1990s. His background is in science and engineering, and he started his career as a nuclear physicist. Over the past 20 years, Sean has held a range of different managerial positions at Sizewell B, including engineering manager and most recently as technical and safety manager.

Sean is married to Jo, who is a volunteer with the Pear Tree Fund, and has lived in Halesworth for over 30 years. He and Jo have three grown-up sons who were all educated and grew up around Halesworth.

"I first heard about the Pear Tree Fund when Jo started volunteering at the centre after retiring from teaching in 2023," said Sean. "As I started to understand more about the fund I realised what an amazing job it does in the local community.

"Halesworth is so lucky to have such a unique facility. I've always been interested in volunteering, having previously been a school parent governor, but when the opportunity to join the trustees came up, I jumped at the chance. It is such an amazing place, run by an equally amazing group of staff, trustees and volunteers. I feel truly honoured and proud to be part of the Pear Tree Fund and hope to be able to to make a valuable to contribution to its future success."

Debra Willetts

Debra has more than 30 years' experience as a procurement specialist working in various sectors ranging from private healthcare to IT systems.

She was inspired to join the Pear Tree Fund following a chance meeting with one of the charity's volunteers after she moved to Halesworth following her retirement.

"The more I looked into the Pear Tree Fund, the more interested I became," said Debra. "Every town should have a Pear Tree Centre and I am honoured to be a part of this amazing charity."

Dr Guy Peryer

Guy is a chartered psychologist and a chartered scientist. He studied the psychology of music for his master’s degree and went on to complete a PhD in applied psychology and complex systems.

In 2023, Guy was awarded an advanced fellowship by the National Institute for Health and Care Research which will run until 2027. This work aims to mobilise death literacy knowledge across non-clinical community networks in the east of England.

As a Pear Tree Fund trustee, Guy hosts Compassionate Communities working groups.