Our Patron, Trustees & CEO

Monica Ali CBE

Patron

Monica Ali is a bestselling author, whose novels include the Booker-shortlisted Brick Lane, Untold Story and Love Marriage. She has been a visiting Professor on the MFA course at Columbia University, New York, and from 2015-18 was Distinguished Writer in Residence at the University of Surrey. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Honorary Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford. Monica is the Chair of judges for the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction. She previously served as a Trustee of the St Giles Trust, which helps some of the most disadvantaged people in our society.

Simran Chawla

Chair of Trustees

Simran has a background in Public Health and has worked in sexual health and gender-based violence for over 15+ years. She grew up in India, and is fortunate to call two countries her home. She loves most animals more than most humans and is committed to smashing the patriarchy on all days of the week that end in Y.

Bharvi Hadani

Treasurer

Bharvi saw first-hand the difficulties her own mother faced when she moved to the UK in the 70s. 40 years on some problems and challenges are still very much the same. Bharvi is so proud to be part of Hopscotch, the team’s commitment and passion to support and empower women to feel safe and to reach their full potential is truly inspiring.

Olivia Spruce

Trustee for Homecare

Olivia has 21+ years of public sector recruitment experience, 10 of which have been spent within a leadership capacity in the Health and Social Care sector. She is currently CEO of a specialist Healthcare Recruitment consultancy based in the city and is delighted to be part of a team of such positive people who strive so passionately to empower.

Vidhu Sood-Nicholls

Trustee for Fundraising

Vidhu was drawn to Hopscotch because she believes all women should be able to make choices for themselves, not have decisions forced upon them. Educating and empowering women is one of the best things we can do to make the world a better place and this is her way of helping to make that happen.

Wupya Nandap

Trustee for Legal

Wupya is a woman who strives to lift as she climbs, she is honoured to assist Hopscotch in its worthy efforts to lift and empower women from all walks of life.

Ria Brookes

Trustee for Programmes

Ria believes advocating for, supporting and empowering women is in her DNA and at the very least, serves her soul. She was ignited by the CEO’s belief in what Hopscotch does, and her care and compassion for the welfare of its service users – which made becoming a trustee an easy decision. Ria is driven by her passion and enthusiasm for ending Violence Against Women and Girls, and helping them navigate their road to recovery.

Benaifer Bhandari

CEO

Benaifer (pronounced ben-eye-fur) joined Hopscotch in 2018 and launched an evaluation of the organisation which led to a major strategic change to be more inclusive and accessible. The two-year exercise culminated in a name change and governance refresh through the appointment of a new, committed, and empathetic Board of Trustees – who reflect the organisational values of being person-centred and trauma-informed.

She continues to champion the work of Hopscotch’s expert team and is now pursuing a growth strategy so that even more women and girls have a culturally appropriate safe space where Hopscotch will advocate for them.

As well as loving her work with Hopscotch, Benaifer enjoys being Chair of Voluntary Action Camden and Global Generation

She is also a Trustee with Camden Community Centres’ Consortium (C4) and Naz & Matt Foundation 

She loves her role as Chair of Camden and Islington Trauma Informed Network and being a part of The Charity Reform Group (CRG), by the Sheila McKechnie Foundation as one of a group of charity leaders committed to using their voice and influence to further the reforming role of civil society.

Women’s Centre Team

Isabelle Terrisson

Head of Programmes

Being at Hopscotch enables Isabelle to work on women’s rights, and towards the realisation of women and girls’ empowerment, in a practical and tangible way. She believes that community organisations, such as Hopscotch, have an essential role to play in achieving gender equality.

Fairuz Choudhury

VAWG Manager - Programmes

Fairuz Choudhury has worked in the charity sector for the past 17 years. She has extensive experience of working with women and girls from Black and Minoritised Ethnic communities with multiple disadvantages and complex needs. Some of the key areas of her work have been – understanding trauma, its impact on women and children, intersectional experiences of and barriers faced by Black and Minoritised women and girls in accessing services and developing services to ensure a Human Rights framework is applied in community services. 

Fairuz was called to the Bar in 2009 and is a member of The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn. She is a UN Women UK Delegate for CSW68 and was invited to the United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva in 2024, to provide evidence on the human rights of women and girls in the UK, with a focus on intersectionality.

Neena Kumar

Afghan Refugee Advocacy Project Manager - Programmes

Neena has been an integral part of Hopscotch Women’s Centre since February 2017. Initially bringing her expertise in the needs of vulnerable women moving into the job market – and the challenges that brings – she led on engaging businesses to understand the importance of working with all sections of society.

Since 2021, Neena has led on Hopscotch’s important work with Afghan evacuees, who were the last to leave Kabul and arrived in huge numbers, very traumatised. Neena mobilised a team full of speakers of the different languages of Afghanistan and implemented trauma-informed practice in the team, so that the highest quality of support could be given to the women and children who had been displaced.

Currently, Neena is leading the team so they can support evacuees with resettlement and integration into their new, local communities. 

Isabelle Terrisson

Head of Programmes

Being at Hopscotch enables Isabelle to work on women’s rights, and towards the realisation of women and girls’ empowerment, in a practical and tangible way. She believes that community organisations, such as Hopscotch, have an essential role to play in achieving gender equality.

Fairuz Choudhury

VAWG Manager - Programmes

Fairuz Choudhury has worked in the charity sector for the past 17 years. She has extensive experience of working with women and girls from Black and Minoritised Ethnic communities with multiple disadvantages and complex needs. Some of the key areas of her work have been – understanding trauma, its impact on women and children, intersectional experiences of and barriers faced by Black and Minoritised women and girls in accessing services and developing services to ensure a Human Rights framework is applied in community services. 

Fairuz was called to the Bar in 2009 and is a member of The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn. She is a UN Women UK Delegate for CSW68 and was invited to the United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva in 2024, to provide evidence on the human rights of women and girls in the UK, with a focus on intersectionality.

Neena Kumar

Afghan Refugee Advocacy Project Manager - Programmes

Neena has been an integral part of Hopscotch Women’s Centre since February 2017. Initially bringing her expertise in the needs of vulnerable women moving into the job market – and the challenges that brings – she led on engaging businesses to understand the importance of working with all sections of society.

Since 2021, Neena has led on Hopscotch’s important work with Afghan evacuees, who were the last to leave Kabul and arrived in huge numbers, very traumatised. Neena mobilised a team full of speakers of the different languages of Afghanistan and implemented trauma-informed practice in the team, so that the highest quality of support could be given to the women and children who had been displaced.

Currently, Neena is leading the team so they can support evacuees with resettlement and integration into their new, local communities. 

Homecare Team

Lucie Gourdin

Head of Homecare

Lucie brings decades of health and social care experience, as well as a compassion for those in need. She has a strong knowledge and understanding of CQC and local authority requirements which has helped in the restructuring of the service. She is keen to expand the service to a wider audience to include minoritised groups like the LGBTQIA+ community, those with mental health issues and those who are hard to reach members of society. 

Rubie Dumbuya

Registered Manager - Homecare

Rubie brings with her years of education and experience in health and social care. Having worked her way from being a Care Worker, to Fieldcare Supervisor and is now the Registered Manager for Hopscotch’s Homecare service.

Her attention to detail, especially when it comes to safeguarding, is exceptional and has resulted in a service which prides itself on its safety.

Finance Team

Girish Popat

Head of Finance – Hopscotch

Girish is our Head of Finance and has worked in both the commercial and charity sectors at senior level. He has lots of experience in areas including strategic management, business partnering, management accounting, budgeting, treasury management and accounting systems. As a senior manager, he’s responsible for the financial strategic direction of the organisation. 

Shah Islam

Accounts Manager – Hopscotch

Shah joined Hopscotch in 2019 as a graduate trainee in finance and has progressed steadily – now working as an Accounts Manager in the Finance department supporting Girish. He is a joyful and integral part of the organisation, responsible for the day-to-day financial operations such as payroll, pensions, sales and purchase ledger and supporting business units to ensure that our operations run smoothly.