LionHeart's Board of Trustees

CHAIR

Peter McCrea, FRICS FCIArb

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VICE CHAIR

Philippa Sampson-Bancroft MRICS

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Philippa has worked in housing and regeneration throughout her public sector career, qualifying as a Planning and Development surveyor in 2016.  She currently works at the Greater London Authority as Senior Manager for the Public Land team supporting public landowners release land for housing and has a wide range of development experience.

Philippa became particularly aware of LionHeart's work when she was preparing for her own APC. She says: "As a trustee, I now hope to support LionHeart's work both in helping as many people as possible through challenging times but also in building resilience in professionals to help prevent crisis." 

Simon is a chartered quantity surveyor and a director of Arbicon, specialising in dispute resolution, adjudication and mediation in the construction industry.

He said: "Having worked with Lionheart as a volunteer ambassador, I was pleased to be able to contribute to the charity further by joining the board of trustees. I hope to be able to assist in the delivery of the charity's strategic priorities and see LionHeart support more and more RICS members and their families."

Caroline Legg, FRICS

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After graduation from Sheffield Hallam University in 1999, Caroline started her career in social housing development which provided a varied experience base to enable her to complete the RICS APC process. 

After qualification Caroline moved into residential survey and valuation work with Countrywide Surveyors in London, before moving back to her native Yorkshire with the same company.

More recently she has been involved more in project management than field work.  

She initially became involved with LionHeart's work as one of our mental health ambassadors, and hopes to contribute further to work on wellbeing and mental health awareness as a trustee.

James Williamson, FCA

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James is a Chartered Accountant, and is the first trustee of LionHeart not to be a member of the RICS.

He spent much of his career working for an American multinational in financial and general management roles at European Director level and, before retirement, worked as a non-executive Finance Director for several small business across a broad range of industry sectors.

He has considerable experience of being a charity trustee as board member of two large Housing Association groups and as chair of the Shropshire Hills AONB and a trustee and Hon Treasurer of the National Association for AONBs.

He says: "For most of my career I gave nothing back to society and now in retirement get a huge amount of satisfaction helping those in less fortunate positions than myself."

Dr Diane A Dumashie FRICS, CEDR

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Diane currently serves as Vice President of the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) and has previously been on RICS Governing Council after many years on RICS regional and faculty boards and international expert group panels. 

Starting her career in commercial property management she moved into the retail and hospitality sector. She gained her doctorate in coastal land policy and business strategy before joining the development consultancy division at Grimly JR Eve. She then founded her own practice supporting UK public sector client organisations in property development and regeneration. Internationally she works across Africa, helping public sector and multilateral agencies to benefit local communities through land and economic development, and has also established 'Leadership 4 Change' programs to assist African professionals and community groups. 

She says: "The work LionHeart does is truly inspiring: the charity is an unsung hero of our profession. I look forward to contributing."

Philip Nell, MRICS

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Philip Nell is Head of UK Real Return Assets at LaSalle Investment Management with overall responsibility for ensuring effective investment of approximately £2.5 billion of funds.

He joined LaSalle in 2018 after 25 years in the real estate industry, including director positions at Hermes Investment Management and Aviva Investors. 

He is a former member of the Governance and the Regulations Committees of the Association of Real Estate Funds, the Build to Rent Sub-Committee of the British Property Federation, and the Academic Faculty of the Investment Property Forum. He is currently a member of the MSCI UK Client Group, the RICS Commercial Property Forum and Investment Property Forum.  
He says: "I look forward to using my experience to support my involvement with LionHeart's investment committee, as well as contribute to the lives of those in the surveying profession, and their loved ones."

Amy Leader, FRICS MAPM

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Amy began her career as a Building Surveyor, progressing on to Project and Programme Management, and is currently Partnership Director for NPS London.  Amy has been actively involved in the RICS since joining her local RICS Matrics group as a student; since then she has sat on several boards including the Transitional Governing Council.

She is currently an RICS East of England Judge and also an Assessor.

Amy is passionate about the concept of 'paying it forward' and says: "I am delighted to be appointed as a LionHeart trustee so that I can help support my fellow RICS professionals and their families."

Shashi Sharma FCA CTA

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Shashi is a Chartered Tax Adviser and Chartered Accountant, beginning her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She has significant experience across all taxes and commercial expertise gained working in-house in large multinational groups for over 15 years. Most recently she held a vice-president position for West Europe with beverage giant Molson Coors before setting up as an independent consultant earlier in 2020. 

Shashi has always sought to balance her corporate work with voluntary work, most recently at Aquarius, a substance misuse and gambling support services charity.  She is also a mentor on the One Million Mentor programme.

Having been supported herself in the past by her own profession's charity, CABA, she says: "There are many similarities between the professions, including a reluctance to ask for help and/or accept it I've been there and was fortunate to have CABA to help: I want every RICS member to know that they have LionHeart to support them throughout their professional and personal life."

Neil Worrall, FRICS

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A qualified accountant as well as a chartered surveyor, Neil Worrall is a partner and head of asset management at Montagu Evans. He has more than 20 years' experience in UK real estate and has a keen interest in the importance of mental health, wellbeing, inclusion and sustainability within the industry.

He said: "The safety net and broad range of support that LionHeart offers, from the very beginning of RICS professionals' careers as an APC candidate or apprentice, right through to retirement is a critical pillar for many. I hope to bring a combination of my lived personal and professional experience to support the continued great work of the LionHeart team."

Neil A'Bear, MRICS FRSA

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Neil started his career working with Fund Managers on Fixed Income, Equities and Real Estate fund distribution before joining CBRE in 2017. During this time he gained an MSc in Real Estate Investment & Finance at Heriot Watt University, going on to become a Chartered Commercial Surveyor and RICS Registered Valuer in 2019.

He first became involved with LionHeart as an APC ambassador, having admitted he "over-studied to an unhealthy level" during the process himself.

He said: "I decided to become an ambassador having benefitted first-hand from the work LionHeart does. I had some excellent support and coaching which was integral to me passing my own APC."

He later sat as a co-opted member on LionHeart's investment committee for the past two years before becoming a full board member in December 2022.

So Sum Lee

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One of LionHeart's very first associate board members, So Sum applied for the new role after using our coaching and support services during her own APC preparations.

She holds a BSc (Hons) in Surveying from City University of Hong Kong and a Masters in urban regeneration from University College London and is now working towards MRICS in planning and development. Her voluntary experience includes working with Planning Aid London, UrbanPlan and Architecture for Humanity UK.

She said: "LionHeart helped me structure my study better, manage my stress and build up my confidence again. I believe the services they provide are so useful to all RICS professionals that I would like to contribute to the organisation. As someone who has used LionHeart's services, I hope my experience can help benefit and inform future services."

Grace Conisbee

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Grace graduated with a Masters in Planning and Development from NTU in 2018, and started working as a graduate surveyor with Innes England. She became MRICS in May 2022 and works in property asset management. She has also completed Carbon Literacy training, helping to embed sustainability within her firm and for its clients.

She says: "I admire what LionHeart does and what they offer to the wider surveying industry. Being an associate board member is a great opportunity to be part of a team that aims to help others. I hope to gain real life tangible board experience, share and develop ideas, while bringing a positive, can-do attitude to the team."