Speakers

Claire Waxman OBE, Victims Commissioner

Claire Waxman OBE is an independent voice for victims and witnesses, championing their interests and holding the government and criminal justice agencies to account.

As Victims’ Commissioner, Claire’s duties include reviewing the Victims’ Code and monitoring how agencies comply with their obligations under it. Claire regularly engages with stakeholders across the criminal justice landscape to promote good practice and scrutinise victim policy and the services victims receive.

Claire brings extensive experience to the post, having previously served as London’s first Independent Victims’ Commissioner, a role she held from 2017. She established the office as a driving force in improving services, ensuring survivors’ voices were heard at every level of the justice system.

Her work in the capital drove significant national change; in recognition of these achievements, Claire was appointed OBE in the 2022 New Year’s Honours for services to victims of crime.

Back to top

Dan Campsall, Chair, Agilysis

Dan Campsall currently serves as founding chairman of Agilysis, chair of the UK’s Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety and a trustee of RoadSafe. In the UK, Dan has led a wide range of award-winning road safety projects and works extensively with organisation like National Highways, Transport Scotland and the Welsh Government on strategic approaches to embed the Safe System. Internationally, he has worked with global institutions such as the World Health Organization and World Bank leading teams to develop road risk management resources, map institutional capabilities, review national strategy and to build capacity in the non-governmental sector. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation and a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Back to top

Ross Moorlock, CEO, Brake

Ross Moorlock was appointed chief executive in January 2024, having held the positions of chief operating officer and business development director before moving into his current role.

Ross brings a steadfast determination and a wealth of experience to the role of chief executive, leading Brake through its current strategic period and shaping the charity’s future as it enters the next one. Since taking the helm at Brake, Ross has overseen significant expansion across the charity, which now provides specialist support to more than 2,000 bereaved and injured road victim families every year.

Ross is a keen road cyclist and runner, and he is passionate about making roads safer and preventing road casualties, while ensuring that everyone affected by road death and injury receives the very highest standard of support.

Back to top

Deborah Sleightholme, chair of trustees, Brake

Deborah Sleightholme is a Partner and Head of Strategic Relationships within the Individual Services division of national law firm Hugh James and has been Chair of Brake's Board of Trustees since 2010.

Having experienced the devastating death of her grandad in a road crash and lived through the aftermath of that, she is passionate about ensuring bereaved families and people with life-changing injuries receive accurate information and appropriate signposting to enable them to make informed choices in the face of adversity.

Back to top

Chief Superintendent Sam Donaldson, Police Service Northern Ireland

Chief Superintendent Sam Donaldson has been a police officer in Northern Ireland for almost 32 years. He has been in operational, intelligence, investigative, headquarters and training roles; and has served in seven of the PSNI’s eleven District Commands.

Sam is currently deputy head of Operational Support Department which is home to the majority of PSNI’s specialists including Road Policing Teams, Tactical Support Officers, Dog Section, Safe Transport Team, Emergency Planning Team, Armed Support and Close Protection. He is also the Deputy SIRO for PSNI and leads a number of teams managing information, data and FOIs. Sam is also the “Gold Lead” for road safety in PSNI and has been developing new internal operations, new governance with partners and new external media.

Outside of work Sam is married to Kathryn and has one son called Alex. He enjoys faith-based activities, hillwalking, DIY, watching football (especially Manchester United) and spending time with his family.

Back to top

Dr Ian Greenwood, bereaved road victim and campaigner against road death

Dr Ian Greenwood is a campaigner to stop road death. Professionally, Ian nursed children following trauma from traffic injuries and worked in NHS management for almost 40 years. In 2008, his family was involved in a road traffic collision, when an oncoming racing car, driven by a young and inexperienced driver crashed into his families’ car. Three people died that night; his daughter Alice, who is forever 12, and two young people in the speeding car. His other daughter, Clara, and their Mum were both seriously injured. Ian retired early to recover, to study and better understand road safety policy, graduating with a PhD. He is now a full-time campaigner, researcher, writer and speaker.

Back to top

Ciarán O’Meara, Brake’s National Road Victim Service

Ciarán O’Meara is a senior triage caseworker for Brake’s National Road Victim Service. He leads trauma-informed assessments for families bereaved by traffic collisions, and acts as a designated safeguarding lead. He has also served as a designated safeguarding officer at Mental Health Innovations, managing high-risk safeguarding decisions in a digital crisis environment, and previously held leadership roles in suicide prevention services, including SOS and the Kristin Brooks Hope Centre. His frontline experience spans crisis intervention, risk management, and supporting complex, intersectional cases of traumatic bereavement across statutory and voluntary sector settings.

Back to top

Imogen Grylls, Brake’s National Road Victim Service

Imogen Grylls is partnerships manager at Brake, where she works closely with police forces and partner agencies across the UK to improve support for people affected by road death and serious injury. With a background in policing, including service as a detective and Family Liaison Officer, Imogen has extensive in experience supporting people through traumatic and life-changing events. She is passionate about trauma-informed practice, compassionate communication and strengthening the support available to bereaved families following road crashes.

Back to top

George Henry, Head of Roads Policy and Safety, Transport Scotland

George Henry has undertaken a variety of roles within road safety, including a leading role in the A77 Safety Group, a pioneering road safety partnership that won a Prince Michael International Road Safety Award. He was project sponsor for the A77 SPECS pilot, the first average speed enforcement system in Scotland. In 2016, George became Head of Road Policy within Transport Scotland where he was responsible for a wide range of policies including Managed Motorways, Motorsports on Closed Roads in Scotland and various aspects of parking. He developed the pavement parking policy of the Transport Bill. In his current role, George was responsible for the setting of the Government’s Casualty Reduction Targets to 2030 and the development of the new Road Safety Framework.

Back to top

Debbie Mullan, Road Victim Support Northern Ireland

Debbie Mullan began a career in counselling after losing her brother-in-law to suicide. During her final year of training, she suffered the devastating loss of her 17-year-old son in a road traffic collision. Drawing on her lived experience and professional skills, Debbie has supported countless bereaved families across Northern Ireland and Donegal. As Chairperson of Road Victims Support Northern Ireland–Donegal, she continues to provide hope, guidance, and life-changing support to those affected by road tragedy.

Back to top

Professor Sarah Jones, Public Health Wales

Professor Sarah Jones is a Consultant at Public Health Wales and has been involved in road safety research and advocacy for over 25 years. Sarah is particularly interested in Graduated Driver Licensing and was also involved in the introduction of the 20mph speed limit in Wales.

Back to top

Detective Constable Bruce White, Metropolitan Police

Bruce White has been a Metropolitan Police Officer for more than 22 years. He has worked in numerous departments and has been involved in specialist policing since 2012. Bruce is an advanced exhibits officer, a specialist suspect/witness interviewer (Tier 3) and advisor (Tier 5).

Bruce has specialised in traffic collisions, working within the Serious Collision Investigation Unit (SCIU) for the last 5 years. Bruce is also a Family Liaison Officer and has attended the scenes of numerous road traffic collisions, gaining a wide range of experience of these and other traffic matters.

Back to top

Gary Harker, Brake’s National Road Victim Service

Gary Harker joined Brake as the first caseworker based in Warwickshire when the scheme was piloted in 2020. Gary comes from a policing background, having served with Warwickshire Police for 34 years. During that time, Gary spent more than 20 years in roads policing where he gained a wealth of experience as both a Collision Investigator and Family Liaison Officer. During his time with Brake, Gary has supported more than 550 families after road crashes.

Back to top

Letizia Perna, Director of Services and Service Transformation, Child Bereavement UK

Letizia Perna is a senior leader and psychotherapist with nearly two decades of experience supporting children, young people, and families after bereavement, including sudden and traumatic loss.

She specialises in trauma-informed, accessible support and multi-agency collaboration. She has led large-scale service transformation, improving access and responsiveness for families following unexpected deaths. She currently leads national transformation at Child Bereavement UK, with a focus on strengthening coordinated, effective responses to bereavement.

Back to top

Jo Birch, Brake's National Road Victim Service

Jo Birch is the national service delivery Lead at Brake, where she leads the development and delivery of trauma-informed support services for people bereaved or seriously injured in road crashes across the UK.

With more than 15 years’ leadership experience in the charity sector, Jo specialises in trauma-informed practice, safeguarding, and supporting survivors, families, children, and young people affected by trauma. Before joining Brake, she led on trauma-informed service development and workforce training across health, education, social care, and community settings.

Jo is passionate about creating compassionate, psychologically safe services that help people feel heard, understood, and supported during some of the most difficult times in their lives, ensuring that client voices and lived experience are at the heart of shaping practice, service development, and meaningful recovery support.

Back to top

Hannah Bailey, Blue Light Wellbeing

Hannah Bailey is a mental health and wellbeing expert, specialising in working with the emergency services. She is a psychotherapist, trauma therapist and wellbeing coach helping those who are struggling with burnout, compassion fatigue and PTSD. Having served as a police officer for 15 years, she understands the unique demands and cultures of working in a 'blue light' role, and brings a wealth of personal and professional experience to her work.

Back to top

Matthew Hopley, National Police Chaplain

Matthew Hopley is the National Police Chaplain, working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and as CEO of Police Chaplaincy UK. Passionate about helping people thrive, he leads pastoral care across UK policing. Involved since 2011, he oversees around 500 chaplains serving 270,000 personnel. He introduced the Gold Standards for Police Chaplaincy to strengthen the provision. Matthew lives in Birmingham with his wife and three children.

Back to top