Trustees & Special Advisors

Caroline is a senior HR and change professional with over 40 years’ experience across the corporate, public and voluntary sectors. After 13 years in the Army which included tours in Germany and Northern Ireland, she moved into advertising and then into management consultancy with PriceWaterhouse Coopers and British Telecom. She now works as an interim helping organisations deliver significant change initiatives. She has delivered a number of major change programmes including most recently for BP, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Tate and Lyle and Philip Morris International. Much of her work has focused on increasing capability and enabling people to learn, develop and grow. 

Her connection to the military goes back many generations and as an Army child has some experience of the challenges that military life can bring, having attended 10 schools by the age of 15 as her father was posted around the world.

Caroline brings experience as a trustee and Board Member having previously been Deputy Chair of Housing 21 and is currently a trustee and Board member for two schools.

Caroline feels really privileged to have the opportunity to be a Military Wives Choirs trustee and to use her experience to help the charity as it navigates its second decade. She believes passionately in the importance of women finding their voice and feeling empowered to fulfil their potential and the importance of women coming together to support each other to achieve this. During her working life she has experienced many of the obstacles that women have to navigate to succeed and balance their lives and is committed to helping others with this challenge. 

Caroline lives in North Hampshire. In her spare time, she enjoys walking and gardening. She is not a choir member but loves music, especially musical theatre, and is hoping to find a larger choir where she can sing 'loud and proud’ without diluting their sound. 

Alex is a Chartered Management Accountant and sits on the Board of Trustees as the Finance Trustee.

She is a keen supporter and singer having first joined the Military Wives Choirs in 2013 at Chicksands, and she currently sings with the Defence Academy Military Wives Choir. Having served herself, and being married to a serving member of the Armed Forces, she understands the unique situation that choir members face and the camaraderie and support that comes from being a member of the Military Wives Choirs.

Alex has over 15 years’ experience as an accountant and is currently the Head of Finance and Commercial at Swietelsky Construction Company Ltd.

The Military Wives Choirs is a charity Suzanne has admired for a long time. It has gone from strength to strength, growing in size and repertoire and the work it does in bringing people together and the support it gives is hugely impressive. The music speaks for itself- it is a joy!

Taking this important Trustee role is a fabulous opportunity to contribute to a family Suzanne has gained so much from herself. At University she was an Honorary Midshipman in the Universities’ Royal Naval Unit. Whilst just a taster of life in the military, experiences gained on deployment, and on training activities are amongst the most memorable of her entire life – with strong and long-lasting friendships made.

Suzanne has worked in the media for more than two decades, much of that time spent in the BBC. Starting as a reporter and producer, she now works as a Project Director.

Brooke has been involved with the charity as both a choir member and a Musical Director of two different choirs within the network since the charity began in 2012. Her partner is an active member of the Royal Air Force. Brooke is the Vice Chair of the charity's reference group,  the Regional Voices Group and she currently supports choirs in the South East of England. Apart from her family who live overseas, Brooke has benefitted from the support and music making benefits that the Military Wives Choirs charity provides to women in the military community. 

She says "These ladies have become my vast family of sisters over the years. Now I devote my time and energy to giving back to the choirs, the support and happiness that they have given to me as a member of the Board of Trustees."

Eileen is part of the Military Wives Choirs charity as a Trustee and a member of Shawbury Military Wives Choir. After serving in the Royal Air Force for 11 years as an air traffic controller, Eileen changed career path and moved into Financial Services. However, her love of aviation continued after leaving service when she attained her Private Pilot’s license. She is a qualified financial adviser but has spent the last 20 years in regulatory compliance and governance.

Eileen hopes that the experience she has gained through her time in the Royal Air Force, current career and ‘life’ allows her to give something back to the charity, who were a great support to her a few years ago when she sadly lost her husband in a plane crash.

Julian comes to the Military Wives Choirs with a broad spectrum of Operational Experience and knowledge, working in the railway industry for over 30 years at National Level Operations.

He has previous military service and a background with Major Event Planning. He was also one of the founding members of London Poppy Day Event Team, when it started back in 2006.

This is his first appointment as a Trustee and is looking forward to working collaboratively with internal and external partners to develop the Military Wives Choirs going forward.