Our Board of Trustees
Our Board are responsible for the overall direction of the 42nd Street and setting the organisation's values and standards.
Liz Allen (Chair)
For the past 14 years, I’ve had the privilege of chairing 42nd Street, working with our inspiring team and other external organisations to try and create positive lasting change for young people in Greater Manchester. My focus is on building trust, helping others define their purpose, and developing strategies that turn good ideas into meaningful social and economic impact.
I’ve been fortunate to work on projects across different sectors and different places in the UK and around the world and I always aim to champion fairness, inclusion, and purpose, ensuring impact is measured by people as much as progress.
Vicky Sharrock (Secretary)
Vicky has worked in the public sector for over 25 years, across both local government and health services with more than 15 years’ experience of working across Greater Manchester including the development of the first Greater Manchester Mental Health Strategy. It was through this she was inspired by 42nd Street and loves the opportunity to use her knowledge of the public sector system across Greater Manchester to support the work of this amazing organisation. Vicky currently works with Greater Manchester acute, mental health and specialist trusts to support collaboration aimed at improving services.
Kevin Jones (Safeguarding Lead)
Kevin is Head of Workforce and Training for the National Youth Agency. He has worked in the Youth and Community Sector for over 30 years in a range of roles and organisations and has also taught Youth and Community work at the University of Bolton and as a guest lecturer around the country. He is currently responsible for developing a national strategy to grow the workforce and is particularly interested in how youth work can support allied sectors in Health, Education, Social Care and so on. He lives in Chorlton with his wife, stepchildren and a range of badly behaved animals.
Christine Bonney
I started my career in numerous voluntary and paid positions supporting young people who came to the UK alone and were going through the asylum process, survivors of human trafficking and those with insecure immigration status. This is where I learnt the reality of what it means for young people to fall through the gaps of services, and the impact of trauma. I moved to the Middle East, where I was based in Lebanon but working in an international organisation supporting displaced people across the region. I learnt the beautiful Arabic language.
When I came back to the UK, I worked for Refuge as an Independent Gender-based Violence Advocate, supporting survivors to access their rights with a speciality in homelessness. For the past 2 years I have been working in the Youth Team at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, working on government policy and programmes for young people including social action and youth voice. Over the past 10 months, I have been working developing the new National Youth Strategy.
William Thomson
Bill has led various businesses, offices and teams in the financial services industry over the last twenty-five years, through a period of extraordinary change and massive increase in regulation. However, a belief in the need to understand the challenges facing our society away from the often-rarefied world of financial services, has led him to be a trustee of several charities predominantly working with young people. These experiences have helped him have a greater understanding of how to build dynamic, diverse teams, whilst helping to bring some challenge to the mindset of the charities.
Natalie Lunn
Natalie has over 25 years of experience working across the public, voluntary, and community sectors, including local government, education, and mental health charities. She currently serves as an Early Help Locality Manager at Salford City Council.
Natalie is a strong advocate for prevention and equality, ensuring that everyone has fair access to services. She takes great pride in bringing her knowledge, skills and passion to 42nd Street.
Lucy Tallon
Lucy is a youth engagement professional, mental health advocate, and founder of her own initiative supporting neurodivergent and mentally unwell young people. Drawing on her lived experience, she brings empathy, authenticity, and deep understanding to her work with young people. She has collaborated with several organisations on advocacy projects spanning children’s rights, youth empowerment, and mental health, using her voice to influence positive change and promote inclusion. Through her work delivering programmes focused on personal growth, wellbeing, and leadership, she is passionate about creating spaces where every young person feels seen, supported, and able to thrive.
