Our Team

Lyndsey joined the PHASE Worldwide team in April 2023 as our new Director.

Before joining PHASE, Lyndsey was working as fundraising manager in a charity supporting people made destitute by the asylum system in the UK. With an MSc in Public Health Nutrition she has worked in small charities in the UK and overseas (mostly east Africa) for nearly 20 years in programme management and fundraising roles.

Outside of work, Lyndsey is busy with her two young boys and when she has time exploring the outdoors and travelling the world.

Camilla joined the PHASE Worldwide Team in December 2020 as our Trusts and Foundations Officer.

Previously, Camilla volunteered part-time with PHASE after she graduated from her International Development MSc (Distinction) from Bristol University in September 2019. Camilla has an undergraduate degree in Law and strong management background in social care, working for many years with marginalized and vulnerable communities within the UK.

Outside of work, Camilla relaxes by reading books from around the world and growing fruit and vegetables.

Together, Nick Cragg, Marie Cragg and Dr. Gerda Pohl co-founded PHASE in 2005.

Nick’s connection with Nepal began in 1997 on a construction related project for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. Nick interacted with many Nepali communities whilst on this trip, he left Nepal with a desire to provide them support and resources to overcome challenges of poverty. PHASE began from this desire, and has come a long way since.

Outside of PHASE, Nick is a chartered civil engineer and a major shareholder of the Nicholas Associates Group; the group’s most recognised brand being Stafforce of which he is Chairman. He is also a trustee for the ‘Titans Community Foundation’ and the chair and co-owner of the Rotherham Titans Rugby Union Football Club.

Nick devotes a great deal of time and energy to the charities he is involved with. He brings to PHASE his expansive business knowledge, boundless enthusiasm, ideas and experience of fundraising.

Dr Gerda Pohl is one of the founding members of PHASE in 2005, and since has worked endlessly to help improve healthcare for rural communities in Nepal.

Whilst growing up in Africa, Gerda decided she wanted to dedicate her life to improving healthcare across the world. She trained as a doctor and gained a post-doctoral qualification in tropical medicine. Her relationship with Nepal started almost by accident; she came on a short holiday and immediately felt at home with the country and its people. Gerda learned Nepali and then worked for rural hospitals and NGOs for three years in Nepal, before helping to found PHASE.

Gerda was a GP in the UK for a number of years but now lives permanently in Nepal. In Nepal, Gerda spends much of her time monitoring the health programmes run by PHASE and supports the activity of PHASE. Aside from PHASE, Gerda also runs a hugely sucessful volutneer scheme for NHS professionals to train Nepali health staff.

Gerda’s passion, energy and commitment provides the PHASE Worldwide team with daily inspiration.

Dilys joined the PHASE trustee board in 2013, and has since provided us with invaluable advice and guidance from her 30 years of GP experience.

Between 2011 and 2013 she visited Nepal three times to mentor and support the staff and to teach both PHASE staff and government nurses in Kathmandu and Aaraughat. Dilys has four children and lives in Sheffield, where she spent 30 years working as a GP.

On joining the trustee board of PHASE she told us this:

“Delivering primary healthcare and basic health education in Nepali villages to families is the most valuable and practical form of medical intervention. The core values of PHASE – empowerment, sustainability and partnership – are reflected in this work.”

Martin joined the PHASE Worldwide board of trustees in 2009.

Martin is the former Deputy Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police and a retired fellow of the Institute of Directors. He studied Social and Policy History at undergraduate level, before moving on to the Bristol University Law School. In 1992 he began forming professional and cultural links with organisations in South Asia. This involved police officers, teachers and students from South Yorkshire visiting India and Northern Pakistan, to share resources and experiences.

Outside of the PHASE trustee board, he is the former National Chair of the Emmaus UK and a Governor of the Rotherham College of Arts and Technology. Martin brings an extensive knowledge of charity management and charity legislation.

In 2007, Margaret had her first interaction with PHASE and has since been motivated to support our work in Nepal. In 2014 Margaret joined the board of trustees for PHASE Worldwide.

Margaret has spent her life working across the charity and public sector of the UK. She has held senior management roles at the British Red Cross, the Refugee Council, the NHS and the local government. All of these roles focused on improving the lives of vulnerable people; her experiences and knowledge has been highly valuable for PHASE Worldwide.

Margaret passionately believes in the core approach of PHASE – particularly she emphasises the importance of our integrated programmes that facilitate self-empowerment. As a trustee she wants to ensure that more people and organisations know about the work PHASE carries out in Nepal.

Christos joined the PHASE Worldwide trustee board in 2018, providing an extensive knowledge support in charity work and financial expertise.

Christos’ has worked in the professional services industry for over 30 years, working in senior management positions for organisations across the UK and Greece. Christos is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accounts of England & Wales, and has also stood as Chair of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund. He is currently a non-excecutive board member of Greek distribution company WS Karoulias and UK start-up BuyaPowa.

Rob is a fundraising and partnerships specialist with 17 years of experience working in large and small charitable organisations.  He is currently with Bristol University, heading up a team who work with the University’s major philanthropic supporters.  Before Bristol he worked for Send a Cow, a charity working in East Africa and as such brings experience of delivering fundraising appeals in the International Development sector.  He is an avid Ipswich Town football fan despite their steady demise from greatness.

Rosie became an official patron for PHASE Worldwide in 2013

From marathon running in the Sahara Desert (twice!) to a solo sail across the Atlantic Ocean; Rosie has overcome challenges that no other human being has before. Not only that, Rosie documents her journeys and shares them with the world as she hopes to inspire and motivate individuals to overcome any challenge in life. Furthermore, she was awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 2009 for her dedication to charity work. It is a great honour for PHASE Worldwide that Rosie Swale Pope (MBE) is one of our recognised patrons. Here is snippet of some of her incredible achievements throughout her life:

• Rosie has successfully completed an unsupported run around the world, travelling over 20,000 miles. Raising £250,000 for a charity in Russia that supports orphaned children.
• She has trekked 3,000 miles through Chile on horseback.
• Rosie has ran from one end of Nepal to the other in a world-record time of 68 days, to raise money for the Nepal Trust.
• She has 6 published books, including the infamous story titled ‘Just a Little Run Around The World’ in 2009.
• She ran 236 miles from Rosslare to Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, pulling her cart named ‘Icebird’ behind her to raise awareness of cancer and the importance of early diagnosis.

Brian Blessed (OBE) began supporting PHASE Worldwide in 2014

Brian Blessed is an inspirational figure, not only for his long and successful career in stage and screen acting, but also for his passion to support and catalyse positive change for disadvantaged communities through charity work. For Brian, Nepal is one of the most fascinating places in the world; he has had numerous visits to Nepal, spending time learning about Nepal’s wonderful people and diverse cultural traditions. Of course, Brian has also been captivated by the environment of the Himalayas and has attempted to climb Mt. Everest three times without supplementary oxygen. Outstandingly, in 1993 Brian reached 28,200 feet.

Together with PHASE Worldwide, Brian has channelled his motivation and beliefs towards supporting isolated communities in Nepal. An exceptional example of this was at our 2018 event An Evening with Brian Blessed, of which raised an overwhelming £17,000 for PHASE Worldwide. A pure entertainer, explorer, philanthropist and motivational speaker – PHASE Worldwide are grateful to have Brian Blessed as one of our Patrons.

Alex Staniforth became an ambassador for PHASE in 2016, in that same year, he attempted to climb the world’s sixth highest peak – Mt. Cho Oyu.

Alex Staniforth inspires people of all years to overcome challenges, challenge stigmas and believe in their own capabilities. The following year from Mt. Cho Oyu, at the age of 22, he set the record for the fastest person to climb all 100 UK county tops in just 72 days. He is a key tenet in the promotion of PHASE’s work in Nepal, having led two of our sponsored Walk for Nepal events in 2016 and 2017. Below is a list of Alex’s life achievements, we hope he inspires you as much as he inspires us:

• He has published his exploration journeys so far in his autobiography called Icefall (2016), which has been endorsed by adventurers Bear Grylls and Mark Wood.
• Alex has also raised over £50,000 for various causes including mental health awareness in the UK and for Nepal earthquake victims.
• Alex has attempted to climb Mt. Everest on two occasions, both times he faced significant adversity:
  • Alex first attempted to climb Mt. Everest at the age of 18 (2013). During this trip Alex made it to the Everest Base Camp, however, in preparation for the bid to the summit an avalanche fell. 16 Sherpas were killed in this fall, and as a result the climbing team decided to abandon the expedition.
  • Alex carried out his second attempt to climb Mt. Everest, just two years later in 2015. Disastrously, during this expedition there was a 7.8 earthquake in Nepal. At this point, Alex and his team were just below Camp 1 (6.050m high) when the earthquake struck. The team were stranded at Camp 1 for two days, until they were evacuated by a helicopter.
• He has also completed many solo endurance challenges such as Everesting, which involves cycling until you climb the equivalent height of Mt. Everest (8,848m) with no sleep breaks.