Meet our Trustees
Robert Kirtland
Chair of Trustees
Robert is a Chartered Accountant and Senior Partner of Gravita; he was the firm’s Managing Partner (2006–17) and, within this, Robert continues to lead the firm’s Charities and Education team. Robert has been a Deputy Lieutenant for Oxfordshire since 2020. He manages the promotion of the King’s Award for Enterprise scheme in the County. He was a Founding Trustee of Charity Mentors Oxfordshire and has held several other charitable roles over the years. These include Governor of Oxford Brookes University for 9 years; he chaired the Finance and Resources Committee. Robert was also Treasurer of the Dorchester Abbey appeal which raised over £4 million for its renovation in the early 2000s.
Glynis Phillips
Company Secretary
Glynis has worked in public service all of her adult life including the Civil Service, the NHS and local government as an elected member. One of Glynis’ NHS jobs was in the (then) Park Hospital, where she was lucky enough to work with Gillian (SeeSaw’s former chair) and saw the importance of giving children the opportunity to talk through difficult issues and be supported for as long as necessary. Glynis is proud to be a trustee of a charity which keeps the wellbeing of children at the heart of its work. She is a member of the fundraising subgroup and the Company Secretary.
Nick Couldrick
Trustee and Treasurer
Nick Couldrick joined SeeSaw as a Trustee and Treasurer in 2022. He is a member of the Finance Subgroup and is a welcome addition, bringing considerable finance knowledge and skills gained as a qualified accountant and in various finance roles within the NHS. Nick is a local resident and has a long-standing connection to SeeSaw, as his grandmother Ann Couldrick was one of SeeSaw’s founders. Nick is also a Trustee of Boundary Park Sports Association.
Debbie Chapel
Trustee
Debbie has been a Trustee with SeeSaw since 2020. Debbie is a qualified counsellor, play therapist and supervisor. She has been working for twenty years within Oxfordshire schools, colleges and the youth service supporting young people with a range of mental health problems. Debbie has always had a special interest in bereavement and was the Coordinator of Young Cruse and a Supervisor for SeeSaw.
Debbie is currently working at Oxford Brookes University as a Specialist Mental Health and Autism Mentor. She loves working on the family allotment and exploring the country side especially when the wild orchids are in bloom!
Kay Symons
Trustee
Kay is Vice-Chair of Trustees, Chair of the Fundraising Sub-Group and a member of the Finance Sub-Group. She is a freelance consultant and trainer for the educational publishing industry, specialising in strategy, marketing and finance. She previously held a number of senior posts in UK educational publishing, including 20 years at Heinemann Publishers in Oxford (now Pearson), where she was Managing Director of the secondary school and vocational publishing division. She holds a Masters in Business Administration.
Kay lives in Oxford with her husband and has two grown-up sons. She is a volunteer guide at the Pitt Rivers and Ashmolean Museums and helps to run the St Margaret’s Institute Community Centre. In her spare time, she likes to travel, go to the theatre, walk and sail.
Dr Marilyn Relf
Trustee
Marilyn is a founder trustee of SeeSaw, securing funding to research what children, parents and professionals would be looking for from a bereavement service for young people and thereby ensuring that SeeSaw was built on real need and firm foundations. Her background is in palliative care, and she was the Bereavement Care Lead for Sir Michael Sobell House, Oxford until her retirement in 2019. She has a wide experience of research, education and practice in relation to grief and loss, working with volunteers, supervision and service management. Currently Marilyn chairs the National Bereavement Alliance (bringing together bereavement services across the UK), is a commissioner for the UK Commission on Bereavement and is a member of the European Association of Palliative Care Taskforce on Bereavement and the International Working Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement. Marilyn loves walking and has completed several long distance paths including the south-west coastal path. She is a keen gardener, enjoys living in East Oxford and sharing food, theatre and music with friends.
Sheila Hurst
Trustee
Sheila has been a Trustee with SeeSaw since 2016. Having trained as a General Nurse worked once qualified in Emergency Care, moving to Mental Health Nursing where she worked for 30 years. This time gave her the opportunity to develop skills and qualifications in one to one support and group work with clients and in Family Therapy. Since retirement she has worked at Sobell House as a Volunteer Bereavement Worker and Supervisor of volunteers.
Sheila is an avid walker, loves singing badly, good films and enjoys family time with her sons and Grandson.
Kate Halkerston
Trustee
Kate joined as a Trustee in November 2025 and now sits on the Clinical Sub-group.
Kate is a Consultant in Palliative Medicine specialising in supporting patients and families facing serious illness and bereavement. Most recently at UCLH, she was Strategic Lead for Palliative Care for the Teenage & Young Adult Unit and for the Intensive Care Unit.
Throughout her career, Kate has witnessed the profound impact of bereavement on families and the critical importance of specialist grief support for children and she’s excited to support SeeSaw’s work.
Kate lives in Oxford with her family.
