our Board of Trustees
Tracey Brennan - Chair
Tracey is currently employed by NHS England, East of England, Learning Disability & Autism Programme as Senior Manager for LeDeR and Health Inequalities. She has supported people with a learning disability and autistic people (who often also have mental ill-health) for over 30 years and has worked in health and social care settings, both managing and commissioning services. Tracey is extremely passionate about reducing the impact of health inequalities and developing partnership and collaborative approaches, alongside ensuring the voice of people with lived experience is included in creating change.
Whilst Tracey claims to not be particularly musical, she firmly believes that music can have a significant impact on a persons’ health and wellbeing. As a commissioner, Tracey witnessed first-hand the benefits that Music24 brought to the lives of the people they were working with and indeed found their passion infectious. Tracey is excited to join the Board of Trustees and hopes to make a valuable contribution in supporting the organisation to continue to thrive.
Ian Begg - vice chair
Albeit Ian’s professional status is as a Chartered Architectural Technologist, his passion for helping others through charitable work stems back over forty years. Initially with Round Table and then progressing onto Rotary International.
Ian first got involved with Music24 in May 2022 following a presentation that co-founders, Teela & Graeme, made at his local Rotary Club. Ian was so impressed that he started volunteering with them and subsequently retired from Rotary in June 2023 to dedicate more of his time and efforts to Music24.
Through Rotary, Ian was involved in many charitable events, notably helping organise the Stevenage Carnival over many years and he enjoyed several visits to the REP department at Lonsdale School in Stevenage enjoying interaction with the children with physical disabilities. He was asked by Lonsdale School if he would like to be an Independent Listener which he undertook for several years.
Tom Johnson
Tom currently works for NHS England in Policy for Mental Health. Previously, Tom was a local government commissioning manager with four years at Hertfordshire County Council. He has public sector experience, as well as two years experience fundraising for a charity. Tom has worked with the public to review, redesign and implement several county-wide prevention services, regularly organised and delivered public events and training programmes, written a departmental prevention strategy and managed budgets of over £2.4m. He regularly works with frontline and senior management in the NHS and has led a number of multi-stakeholder project groups.
Tom was trained on a local government graduate scheme, during which time he also worked towards a Masters in Public Management, specialising on the use of design in the policy process. He has training in local government commissioning and project management.
John Ley
John is a full-time carer both his daughter, who has Down’s Syndrome and Type 1 diabetes, and his wife of 33-years, who is in the latter stages of Early Onset Dementia and epilepsy.
John is a sports journalist, who began his career at the age of 17, at Hayter’s Sports Reporting Agency in Fleet Street. He left for newspaper experience in Oxford and after six years he returned to London and The Daily Telegraph, covering football all over the world, including four World Cups and five European Championships. He also has vast experience of appearing on TV and radio, and has also undertaken some public speaking.
After 27 years on the Telegraph John had to leave to assume his role as a full-time carer and has been involved with Music 24 for more than five years. He is also a local Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator and is Membership Secretary of the Football Writers’ Association, co-ordinating the interests of more than 800 members.
Kevin Allchorne
Kevin, a successful and experienced executive in the London Insurance market, who is now semi-retired, brings extensive expertise to his roles as a non-executive director on the boards of Managing Agency Partners, a Lloyd’s syndicate, and Pool Re, the Government-backed terrorism reinsurance company. Alongside his professional achievements, Kevin is a passionate musician who has always been captivated by the emotive power of music. When seeking a rewarding volunteer opportunity, he felt drawn to explore charities involving music. A serendipitous search led him to discover Music24, which resonated deeply with his interests and values.
Kevin began his volunteer journey with Music24, supporting the Stevenage Dementia group and the Welwyn Garden City Singing Café. Immersed in these experiences, he discovered the immense joy and fulfilment of using music to enrich the lives of others. Recognising the intersection of his business acumen and passion for music, Kevin saw an opportunity to contribute further by joining Music24’s board of trustees. His appointment in April 2024 reflects his commitment to leveraging his diverse skill set to drive positive change within the organisation and the communities it serves.
our patrons
Brindley Sherratt
Brindley Sherratt is one of the world’s best Basses in the world of Opera. He regularly sings at the Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne, English National Opera, The Metropolitan Opera, Zurich, Munich State Opera and the BBC Proms. He also appears frequently on BBC Radio, has written several articles for the Guardian about singing and is a visiting professor at the Royal Academy and Royal College of Music.
“I am so happy and honoured to become a Patron for Music24. I have experienced the vital work they do first-hand and was so very moved and inspired. I cannot wait to help them in any way I can.”
If you would like to find out more about Brindley, please visit: https://www.brindleysherratt.com
The Hunna
The Hunna, originally formed in Watford in 2015, is one of the most exciting, high-energy acts playing the live music circuit, with a loyal and ever expanding fanbase, the band have four albums to their name, the last being their self-titled record which was released late in 2022.
“Being able to give people a space to express themselves and communicate through the power of art and music is a notion that we fully endorse. We’re very excited to work with them and be involved in all of their great initiatives.”
For more info on the band, please visit: https://www.thehunnaofficial.com