Meet the Team
The Friends for Life team is made up of a small number of staff, and a Board of Trustees. Together we look after our growing team of volunteers. If you would like to join us, please get in touch.
Kathryn Hughes - Fundraising Lead
Kathryn has been leading our fund-raising work for several years. She’s recently returned from maternity leave and an integral part of our team.
Neil Khandke - Joint Chairman
Neil is married with 3 children and 3 grandchildren. He had a career in Quality Assurance/technical management working for some of the biggest brands such as Unilever, Cadburys, Dairy Crest and Walgreens Boots Alliance. His roles involved leading large Global teams in the areas of quality management, regulatory, product safety, health and safety, sustainability and ethical sourcing. Most of his roles have involved driving significant change in the function and led strategy development and business integration. Having to spend a lot of time away from home Neil now enjoys spending time with his grandchildren and his hobby of photography. He does have a guilty pleasure which is playing PC games and he enjoys building and upgrading PC’s with my 2 sons.
Mike Elliott - Treasurer
Mike became the Honorary Treasurer for Friends for Life over a decade ago. He keeps a very close eye on the charity’s finances and makes sure we adhere to all the rules and requirements of a registered charity.
Lisa Lindfield - Trustee
Lisa has lived in Bedford since 2020.
Running her business in the document storage industry for 23 years Lisa has always had a passion for helping others and during covid she worked for a care company looking after the elderly in their homes. Lisa has been a Befriender since 2023
Pauline Carter - Volunteer Lead & Trainer
Pauline trains and leads our growing team of volunteers. She has extensive experience in nursing, social care and the chartable sector.
If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer, Pauline would love to hear from you.
Alison Flashman - Administrator
Alison works part-time to support our small staff team and our board across all of their activities.
Keyur Bhatt - Trustee
Keyur changed profession just over ten years ago after having the opportunity to run a Care business. He has since been primarily involved in the Social Care sector. His knowledge from the frontline is vital to us.
Gillian Basnett - Manager
Gillie joined the team in July this year as general manager. She has a long career in nursing, working at a senior level. She recently returned from living in France for several years where she ran a gite and small holding.
Michael Ridley - Joint Chairman
Michael has lived with his family in Bedford for more than 20 years. He brings with him 27 years of experience within the civil service, most recently at the Department for Education where his policy responsibilities included governance within the further education sector. He was appointed as a trustee at Friends for Life in November 2023, and chairs the board committee focused on governance, risk, and policies. Outside of his trustee responsibilities, he enjoys cycling, sailing, and swimming, and is also trying to improve his French.
Beth Parkinson
Beth recently joined the team as Activity Lead, recently returning to Bedford in 2023 after living abroad for eleven years with her husband and two children. She was originally a registered nurse before working overseas in an international school marketing department, on various communications contracts, and finally establishing a small business in Uganda! She enjoys rowing and long family dog walks in the countryside.
Nafiz Hasnat - Trustee
Nafiz brings over two decades experience in banking and corporate finance in both the UK and Bangladesh.
Steve Bennett - Trustee
Friends for life
