PlayMakers

Neil McLeman

PlayMAKER

After starting on local papers and business titles, Neil has worked as a sports reporter in Italy, Hong Kong, Scotland and now the Daily Mirror/Express. Available to give advice and support on breaking into journalism – and how to make the next step.

Neil Bennett

PlayMaker

Neil Bennett is a freelance journalist with a long reporting career at the BBC as a reporter and broadcaster. Neil got his first break in journalism thanks to a kindly editor at the Croydon Advertiser and has never forgotten that first opportunity. He aims to help others at the start of their working lives using his position as a PlayMaker with the Foundation.

Chris Grant

PlayMaker

Sport England Board Member and former Charity CEO, Chris has led major projects in sport, retail, banking and other sectors. An expert in group dynamics and organisation development, Chris has been a tutor to coaches and leaders in Olympic and Paralympic sports as well as football. Chris will be using his vast experience to support the Foundation.

Mark Silverstein

PlayMaker

Caroline Keefe

Playmaker

Group Pensions & Reward Manager for Synthomer plc, a specialities chemicals company and a FTSE250 PLC, Caroline enjoys the challenge of catering benefits to different nationalities and cultures. She previously served over 10 years on the Pensions Management Institute London Group Committee, spending some of that time as business secretary organising industry events for local pension professionals. Caroline is a keen sailor with an interest in health and wellbeing, and supports the Foundation by leading workshops and volunteering at events.

Martin Tempia

Playmaker

A producer working in film, television and the theatre. He has been involved in a number of training initiatives in the TV industry and has a played a leading role in establishing a charitable trust to take over the governance of Crystal Palace Park where he serves as a trustee. He has been using his wide and varied social networks to connect the Foundation with other valuable PlayMakers like himself.

Darren Amer

Playmaker

Customer experience and UX designer who has run design projects for companies such as Virgin Active, Money Saving Expert, Lord’s MCC, and P&O Cruises. Darren is a lifelong Palace fan who is supporting the Foundation by giving his advice with experience and design while unlocking the creative potential in the local area.

David Goddard

Playmaker

Managing Director at iHasco Limited and a lifelong Palace fan & long term season ticket holder. David has 25 years of experience overseeing the creation of engaging video and animated content to help thousands of businesses train staff online in a wide range of subjects covering Health and Safety, HR and Compliance. David hopes to use both iHasco products and his knowledge and experience to support the Foundation.

Mark Wright

PlayMaker

Mark Wright is a former professional cricketer who has represented Hong Kong and is returning to the UK after spending 15 years working for some of the leading Sport’s Clubs and National Sporting Associations in Hong Kong (Hong Kong Cricket Club, Cricket Hong Kong and Hong Kong Golf and Tennis Academy).

Mark is a regular contributor across some of Hong Kong’s leading NGO/Non-Profit organisations including Hands On Hong Kong, Christina Noble Children’s Foundation and the Crusaders Soccer program at the Hong Kong Football Club.

Mark is an avid sports fan who is a father of 3 young children (Willow 3.5 years and Twin sons Theo and Rory both 21 months).

Julian Tucker

Playmaker

Senior Lawyer at Deutsche Bank with over 30 years’ experience in financial law. Julian is also a member of the Palace for Life Foundation’s Investors Club, a British archery coach and a singer in the East London Chorus. He will be supporting a range of programmes with his diverse skill set.

James Allen

Playmaker

Director of Policy, Governance and External Affairs at the Sport and Recreation Alliance. James is passionate about the role that sport can play in tackling inequality and in making communities healthier, happier, more inclusive and more resilient. He is proud to support the great work of the Foundation in areas including political strategy and engagement, developing evidence of impact and communications.

Vivienne Inglis

Playmaker

Housing Fraud Investigations Manager with Wandsworth and Richmond Councils. A Palace season ticket holder and Marathon March veteran, Viv has supported young people on the Opportunities for Success programme with one-on-one support to improve their CVs.

Andrew Brown

PlayMaker

Chief Executive, of the Croydon BME Forum and with over 30 years of mentoring and training, Andrew Brown helps local organisations, with capacity building, fundraising, Training.

As a family man and trustworthy friend to many, he has kept close to the roots of his work by living in Croydon for over 25 years, alongside having worked with Palace For Life, for over a decade.

His specialism in mentoring and working with young people, focuses on helping them to get back into employment and training, if they have been faced with adverse situations in society.

David Grippman

PlayMaker

David has over 17 years of experience in working for the Financial Regulator, educating consumers about the financial industry, volunteering for fundraising events in the community, and chairing the Diversity & Inclusion Network, where he specialises in mentoring. David also specialises in working with young people (The Boys Brigade London District) as an Officer with over 10 years’ experience of mentoring – empowering young people in the community to reach their full potential. As a qualified Football Coach with over 4 years plus experience in working with Grass Roots clubs in delivering football sessions to young people, David currently runs a local junior team (AFC Whyteleafe) in the Epsom & Ewell league. David fully appreciates the positive impact that football has on the kids involved, and the togetherness that it has on the community.

Khalil Campbell

Playmaker

Qualified Social Worker of over 25 years with a specialism in safeguarding vulnerable children and young people, Khalil is currently Public Law Service Manager of the Children and Families Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) in South London. He has had a lifelong interest in working with vulnerable people and in social justice and has been a magistrate for over 10 years. Khalil is a season ticket holder at Crystal Palace and a qualified referee with Surrey FA. He will be supporting the Foundation by volunteering at events, organising educational access to the local courts, mentoring and advising on safeguarding issues.

Matthew Angel

PlayMaker

A solicitor who has worked in the television industry for many years, including serving as Chief Operating Officer for a large television production company.  Matthew currently runs his own TV consultancy, Aquilanta, providing business affairs and deal-making expertise to television production companies and individual creators.

Scott Hart

PlayMaker

Having worked in the leisure business for 33 years, initially as a Lifeguard at South Norwood pool, Scott is now the General Manager of Croydon Sports Arena. He has worked with Palace Guard FC (Eagles ball boys) as a coach and also took part in the Marathon March in 2017 and 2018. Scott will be sharing his knowledge of the leisure industry to enhance the work of the Foundation.

Tom Franks

PlayMaker

Science teacher and Second Lieutenant in the Army Cadet force. Tom has a keen interest in mentoring young people and has taught and lived in south London.

Jack Rowlands

PlayMaker

Inspector in the Metropolitan Police and lifelong Crystal Palace supporter, Jack has spent the majority of his 16 year policing career in Croydon and Lambeth focused on helping young people move away from crime and negative choices. In 2015 Jack founded the ‘DIVERT’  programme which steers young people that come into police custody onto positive pathways. In 2018 DIVERT started working closely with the Foundation and we now have a Custody Intervention Coach based directly in Croydon Police Custody Centre who helps young people who are arrested find employment, training and education by referring them onto programmes offered by the Foundation and other partners.

Sak Rafique

PlayMaker

Managing Director and Lead Executive Wellbeing Coach at ORANGE BALL. Sak combines his passion for sport, education and positive psychology to develop the mental fitness and wellbeing of individuals, groups and organisations. He has supported the Foundation by creating resources for the Team Mates programme and delivered training for Foundation staff in the areas of strengths, wellbeing and performance.

Lol Hammond

Playmaker

DJ and former Drum Club member who is the Music Supervisor for Vertigo films. Lol has been responsible for the soundtrack for a number of Sky productions including: Bullet Proof, Obey and Britannia. Other productions include Football Factory, The Business, Bronson, The Sweeney and many more. He will be working with our Premier League Kicks Community League programme giving participants, volunteers and coaches the opportunity to showcase the Kicks programme while giving those interested in media the chance to learn the skills necessary to put together a short documentary film.

Robert Murkin

PlayMaker

Rob worked in accounting and finance for 35 years but gave it up to work with horses for the benefit of his physical and mental health. Rob loves sport and plays football for a local mental health charity in a wellbeing league. Rob has also returned to tennis after a 20 year break and is about to embark on playing on the ITF Seniors Tour.

Dave Moore

PlayMAKER

Senior Stakeholder Engagement and Public Affairs Manager at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust, Dave has 10 years of experience in NHS communications and engagement, many of them in South London. Dave wants to share his experience of working for the country’s biggest employer on projects ranging from national campaigns, service change, internal and external communications, and media management.

Louise Court

Playmaker

former Editor of Cosmopolitan Magazine. She has pledged her time to provide life and career coaching for Foundation participants, as well as sharing her expertise in shaping the new Healthy Eagles programme.

Vladi Dermendjieva

PlayMaker

Assistant Manager in Data Analytics at EY and a chartered accountant with the ICAEW, Vladi is currently supporting the digitization of the Audit practice at EY. Vladi is an active volleyball and football player and has a keen interest in personal wellbeing through sport, mental health and sport psychology. She is looking to support the Foundation by delivering workshops to help young people develop technical and soft skills that would help them with future employability.

Jack Snell

Playmaker

Teacher and running enthusiast. Jack has competed in marathons an ultra marathons all over the world. As an ex-running coach and physical trainer, Jack is looking to support the Foundation by encouraging fans to take on their own Palace for Life fundraisers and assist with any advice and tips along the way.

Saima Mohsin

Playmaker

Broadcaster and journalist, who has anchored for CNN, Channel 4 and the BBC. She has supported year 10 pupils develop their presentation skills as part of the Premier League’s Enterprise Challenge, which the Foundation delivers.

Paul Tilley

PlayMaker

Recently retired from the Community Section of the London Fire Brigade. Prior to that Paul worked in international banking for over 40 years including living in Frankfurt, Germany. Paul loves sport and is a keen cyclist having participated in the London to Brighton Cycle ride 5 times.  Paul is now keen to start volunteering for the Palace Foundation as he feels passionate about helping young people, sharing his experience and knowledge and enabling young people to access opportunities and have fun.

Andy Street

Playmaker

Co-founder of popular Crystal Palace fanzine, the Five Year Plan podcast, as well as a solicitor at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, working as a litigator with a specialism in sports law cases – and has acted for a number of international footballers. Andy will use his experience to help on the Foundation’s schools programmes, speaking about how his school years shaped his future.

Emma Bradman

Playmaker

Head of Talent at Prospectus, one of the largest charity recruitment companies in the UK. A local resident and lifelong Palace fan, Emma is helping young people on the Opportunities for Success programme with their interview and presentation skills.

Dave Burn

PlayMaker

Lifelong and third-generation Palace fan, Dave has over 35 years of Local Government experience and is now a consultant providing and training support to local authorities across the UK.

Whilst Dave was at the London Borough of Lambeth he worked successfully to develop links with the Council and the Foundation. Dave will use his experience to support the Foundation in any way he can, with a particular emphasis on coaching and mentoring.

Kevin Martin

Playmaker

Operations Director at Superunion, a next generation brand agency, Kevin also runs a local design consultancy, KM Design. A Palace fan for nearly 30 years, Kevin has worked as a steward at the club for 22 years. Having worked as a consultant for the Foundation since April 2017, he also volunteered a day of his time, producing on a range of design work to support Foundation programmes and events.

Andrew Cawker

PlayMaker

Most importantly Andy Cawker is born and bred in South London and is a 3rd generation lifelong Palace fan. He has been a season ticket holder for over 30 years, through the many ups and downs since the late 80’s.

Over the years, he has taught sailing to the blind and the deaf and to teenagers with special needs; and has been a trustee of a Charity focussed on improving the lives of Aphasia sufferers. He has been a supporter of Palace for Life Foundation for many years.

In his career as a Fund Manager he has met and invested in businesses across Europe (including Football Clubs). As a Business Manager his role is to encourage idea generation and to bring new strategies through research and development to market testing and launch.

Stephen Barton

Playmaker

Has worked as an IT Trainer for over 20 years at a range of professional services companies, creating engaging learning experiences in virtual or real-world training rooms and designing accessible user guides. More recently he is enjoying a role at global law firm Kennedys Law as an e-learning developer where he makes complicated software easy to understand by creating interactive online media. Stephen will be using his experience to support the Foundation and its beneficiaries.

Alan Dunt

PlayMaker

Retired electrical engineer who worked for Croydon Council for over 40 years, Alan uses his free time to volunteer and will be supporting the Foundation with mentoring young people not in education, employment or training onto positive pathways.

Paul Coen

Playmaker

Director of Paul Coen Wealth Management Ltd providing financial advice including investment, retirement, and tax planning. Paul offers bespoke advice to individuals and companies. He will be supporting the Foundation by delivering workshops to provide financial education for children, young adults and senior management.

Lisa Goodchild

PlayMaker

Lisa Goodchild is an experienced and passionate devotee of digital, having spent over twenty years in the industry. The agency she founded, Digiwoo, enjoys huge influence over a range of sub-sectors of the digital industry. Lisa’s latest venture, Digilearning, is arguably the most ambitious and important project of her career to date. Digilearning is an undertaking that aims to change the way that digital skills are delivered to young people across the world. Lisa will not be happy until digital is held in the same regard as mathematics, English & science as a core totem of the education sector. Digital changed Lisa’s life from humble beginnings. Now she wants to help underprivileged and marginalised young people (&=and adults) realise it can do the same for them. Lisa believes everyone has a superpower.

Rhys Jones

Playmaker

Director at Blueberry Pictures, an award winning professional video production company with over 20 years experience in the film industry working with international companies, leading brands and a wide range of businesses in and around London.  Rhys is helping produce promotional videos for Train Like a Pro soccer schools, engaging with both kids and coaches to exhibit the benefits of this youth initiative. As a qualified coach himself who runs a local junior team, Rhys appreciates the positive impact on both the kids and community that football can have.

Sabirina Mohamed

PlayMaker

Undergraduate studying International Development at King’s College London with a passion for creative writing, Sabirina started her Palace for Life journey as a participant on a PlayMaker initiative which saw 20,000 copies of a special youth edition of The Thornton Heath Chronicle printed in July 2018. As a reward for her commitment to another PlayMaker led creative writing project, Sabirina also had a poem she wrote published in a CPFC match day programme. Sabirina wants to empower other young people, like she has been, with the incredible support of the Foundation.

Craig Constantinides

Playmaker

Director of Go2Games, the Award Winning Croydon-Based Gaming Retailer. Craig has been using the power of his company to support the Foundation by sponsoring the Down’s Syndrome Eagles team and gifting gaming consoles to vulnerable young people and families who might be struggling to cope at home during the Coronavirus crisis.

Jemma Lawley

Playmaker

Former Great Ormond Street Hospital nurse who has retrained as an athletics coach in order to align her lifelong interests in both health and sport. Jemma offers a huge amount of enthusiasm and an ever increasing athletic knowledge along with a great deal of experience of working with children and families across all socio-economic backgrounds in health and ill-health. Jemma will be supporting the delivery of the Healthy Eagles programme.

Angus Robertson

Playmaker

Former Director of Operations at London Sport, Angus has committed his time to deliver a workshop on opportunities in the sport and leisure industry to participants of Palace for Life’s College Academy programmes at Bromley College, Carshalton High School for Boys and Harris South Norwood.

Owen Brice

PlayMaker

Having worked in various communication roles in charities and the NHS, Owen now works in a group of schools for children with autism and social and emotional mental health needs. With a keen interest in photography, graphic design and the written word and a background in care giving, Owen is looking to share his skills and experience with the Foundation.

Emma Wright

Playmaker

Senior Account Director at Hill + Knowlton Strategies, one of the biggest PR agencies in the world, where she leads international PR campaigns for Adidas in football and for Facebook’s virtual reality arm Oculus. She has also founded a new division of the agency H+K Better Impact which helps brands support social and environmental issues. Emma will be visiting children who are moving up to secondary school and helping them prepare for this big change.

Len Bennett

PlayMaker

Len has over 10 years of communications experience behind him including managing the press office at Nestlé and media relations at Network Rail for the Southern region. He currently works for Atos, a global leader in digital transformation. The purpose of Atos is to help design the future of the information space and their services support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach. He has lived in Croydon for over 40 years and hopes to use his skills and passion to empower young people to reach their potential.

Dan Cudmore

Playmaker

Health Partnerships Manager at Cancer Research UK, Dan works with corporate partners such as Tesco to improve the health and wellbeing of the UK population and raise money for vital cancer research. With previous experience at Croydon Council and London Sport, Dan will be using his wealth of knowledge and expertise to support community organisations.

Andrea Perry

Playmaker

Editor of the Croydon Chronicle. She oversaw a special youth edition of the Croydon Chronicle to provide local young people with hands-on experience of publishing a community newspaper.

Ross Lovelock

PlayMaker

Ross Lovelock is the founder of SCQuARE International a management consultancy company that has worked across the world in 86 countries and every industry specialising in strategic planning and story telling. Ross is a lifelong Palace fan seeing his first game when Palace beat Accrington Stanley 9-2 on the opening game of season 1960/61. Today his family are also life long season ticket holders.

Darren Randon

PlayMaker

Poet and Co-Founder of Well Versed Ink, a community company that runs spoken word events and workshops, Darren is a qualified teacher who uses his experience working with young people excluded from school or who have experienced homelessness, to deliver workshops designed with the individual in mind. He has run sessions for the Foundation and recently wrote and recorded a song for the Club’s collaboration with BBC Super Movers.

Daz Smith

PlayMaker

Having had a varied career as a HM Forces chef, a teaching career in FE & HE education and Senior management in Global IT. Daz wants to share his experiences in these fields to help develop, coach and mentor the young people within the Foundation.

Andrew Harvey

PlayMaker

BDO LLP Talent Acquisition Manager for one of the world’s largest accountancy firms. Andrew has 15 years’ experience of interviewing and recruiting individuals at all levels in small start-ups through to corporate organisations. Andrew will be providing training, guidance and support on how young job seekers can set themselves up for success and how to give themselves the best opportunity when interviewing or looking for employment.

Andrew Graham

Playmaker

Retired professional who possesses 28 years of experience with Barclays Bank internationally, and 11 years of experience working in Sutton Council’s housing department. He is on the Board of Trustees of Croydon Community Mediation, is the treasurer of Croydon Dyslexia Association and spends two days a week supporting administrative duties at Palace for Life Foundation.

Pete Trainor

Playmaker

Author, Mental Health Campaigner and Co-Founder of Us Ai. Pete is a man on a mission-to bring design, data, Ai and technology together to empower humans to be happier and do more of what they’re good at. Pete champions mental health and, with his very simple philosophy: don’t do things better, do better things, will support the Foundation to get young people thinking about how they can use the skills they have to support their own mental resilience, and also support others.

Chris Waters

Playmaker

Chief Financial Officer at the white space innovation consultancy Bow & Arrow. Chris has been a season ticket holder for over 20 years, writing for the match day programme and serving as a Board member with the Crystal Palace Supporters’ Trust for 9 years. After qualifying as a chartered accountant, Chris has worked a number of finance roles at the likes of Sony Music and will be sharing career advice to young people on our Route to Employment programmes.

Khalil Goddard

Playmaker

Secondary school headteacher and writer who has had work published in books, magazines, and on radio. Having lived in South London for 25 years, Khalil has developed an affinity with the local area and is a proponent of unlocking potential within the younger generation. He will deliver a series of creative writing workshops which will provide young participants with the support to produce an anthology of their works.

Patrick Stevens

Playmaker

Lifelong Palace fan Patrick is the former International Head of the Crown Prosecution Service and now a Director at Optima. Patrick is giving his expertise, experience and networks to support young south Londoners.

Dev Thakker

Playmaker

Junior Doctor, currently carrying out his surgical training in the South East. He has delivered motivational talks in schools for the Healthy Eagles programme and will support the community engagement team to continue to improve health and wellbeing in south London, as well as educate and make positive changes.