Michelle Lam becomes first woman of colour to serve on Borough Market’s Board of Trustees 

The Trustees of Borough Market have today, 24 August ‘22, announced the appointment of Michelle Lam to the Board of Trustees.  

Michelle is a qualified finance professional at Peabody Housing, with over 15 years’ experience working in the highly regulated social housing and education sectors. She will work with the Board of Trustees, staff and traders to shape and oversee the future direction of the Market. 

Michelle’s new role with Borough Market has come about following the Market’s participation in a bespoke pilot programme, Black on Board, with Southwark Council and social enterprise, Olmec. The pilot was developed to address the lack of racial and ethnic diversity on arts boards in the borough and to meet the needs of aspiring trustees from under-represented communities.  

Michelle Lam

In line with Borough Market’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, members of the Board of Trustees and Senior Management team signed up to a series of sessions over a period of six months, as part of the Black on Board programme, to explore opportunities to understand and improve representation of people of colour at board level.  

Michelle Lam, newly appointed Trustee at Borough Market said: “I came to Black on Board wanting to push myself to become a board member in a role that I am passionate about. I am honoured and energised by the chance to support the Borough Market family and to join a board of such wide-ranging talents. Having worked in the local area for some time, I’ve always been in awe of London’s vibrancy and diversity and I am a big believer that food has the power to combine cultures and create communities. I look forward to working alongside the other Trustees, staff and traders at London’s oldest and most influential food market.” 

Owned by a charitable trust, Borough Market is run by a board of volunteer trustees who oversee the governance of the Market and are committed to supporting the local community around Borough Market. 

Jane Swift, Interim CEO at Borough Market said: “It has been a huge pleasure working with Olmec and taking part in the Black on Board programme. Olmec is a fantastic organisation made by its team of authentic, inspiring and challenging people who are incredibly passionate about their work. We are really grateful to have been given the opportunity to take part in the programme and thrilled that it lead us to meet Michelle, who we are very excited to have joining the Board.” 

Adrian Bunnis, Chair of Trustees at Borough Market said: “We are delighted to welcome Michelle to the Board, where her wealth of talent and experience will help us continue to make Borough Market the best food market in the world. Working with Olmec and Southwark Council on the Black on Board programme was a brilliant way to source new, diverse talent for our Board, and ensure we more closely represent the local community that the Market serves in Borough.” 

For more information on the Black on board programme, visit southwark.gov.uk  

Helena Reeves

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Helena has 24 years’ experience in communications for the NHS, mostly at board level advising on strategy, advice and delivery.

Her passion for the NHS has led her from a nursing background to communications and engagement where she uses co-production as a guiding principle for involving people across extensive change programmes.

Helena has led national work for the Department of Health and is a crisis and reputation management expert for high profile and sensitive issues ranging from legal cases, data breaches, clinical errors to contentious consultations.

Helena is keen on how technology can support communications and engagement and before joining Barley, developed a fresh and alternative internal communications approach for one of her former clients, Community Health Partnerships.

She is a visiting fellow in health communications at the Centre for Health Communication Research and Excellence, New Buckinghamshire University and because she believes in the power of knowledge to improve personal health and wellness, she is also a qualified health coach.

Helena’s love for all things NHS led her to volunteer with NHS England and NHS Charities Together with their Big7 Tea party campaign to celebrate the 70th birthday of the NHS across the UK.

Helena lives in Surrey with her family and two dogs.

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Irene Edgar

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With over 20 years’ experience in event project management, Irene’s comprehensive knowledge and successful delivery of events ranges from conferences and exhibitions to road shows, award ceremonies and public consultations.  She has a breadth of technical expertise and supplier contacts which she utilises to plan in meticulous detail and has experience in directing events for 50 to 5,000 delegates.

Irene has worked with two Prime Ministers, numerous Secretaries of State, Ministers and various well known presenters.  Clients have included Department of Health, Department of Energy and Climate Change, Department for Education, Home Office, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and TfL.  She has also worked extensively for the corporate sector.  Irene has vast experience in running engagement and consultation events and workshops – the most recent for NHS England, managing their CCG drop in sessions, Case for Change launches and future stakeholder events.

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Barley’s Laura Harrison speaks at Discovery Communities event

Laura Sainsbury'sBarley’s Laura Harrison was delighted to join with speakers from Sainsbury’s and others today at a Discovery Communities event at the Custard Factory in the heart of Birmingham’s creative quarter.

The day gave an opportunity for participants to learn about the innovative food waste campaigns being tested by Sainsbury’s and environmental charity Hubbub in Swadlincote, Derbyshire, to hear about the best campaigns from around Europe, to be informed of the latest behaviour change research and to gain insight into future food trends.

Laura talked about what makes an inspirational PR campaign, drawing on her experience of food waste campaigns for Hubbub and Love Food Hate Waste, amongst others.