Board & Governance

Board & Governance

Relate NI Board & Governance

Relate NI is a registered charity which has been working to provide expert information for healthy relationships available to everyone across Northern Ireland for over 70 years.

We are governed by a board of voluntary trustees, who support our clinical work by guiding the financial and legal aspects of the organisation. We also have an honorary president – Jill Downing as well as a Boardroom Apprentice.

Relate NI is committed to Good Governance, and we were delighted that the work of our board was recognized as the winners of the  2021 CO3 Good Governance Award for a Medium organisation.

Relate NI Chair Aidan Bennett AcceptsCO3 Good Governance Award

Meet our Trustees Below

Aidan Bennett
Position: Relate NI Chair

Aidan is a qualified Company Director, with an IOD Diploma in Company Direction and BSc Hons in Advanced Management Practice. A digital data and informatics consultant, he has a strong background in Governance, Compliance, Risk Management and Assurance, and is a qualified Management of Risk practitioner. Aidan brings a wealth of experience to the Boardroom stemming from 25 years of Director level engagements across both the Public and Private Sectors in Healthcare.

Bernie Kelly
Position: Relate NI Vice- Chair 

Bernie Kelly is the Development Manager for Northern Ireland with the Shared Lives Plus charity. A social worker by profession, Bernie worked in a variety of settings in North and West Belfast Social Services including Family & Child Care, Mental Health and Physical & Sensory Disability. In October 2007 Bernie was appointed as Service Manager for Physical & Sensory Disability in the newly amalgamated Belfast Health & Social Care Trust where she remained until November 2021. Bernie was a Councillor in Belfast City Council from 2005 until 2015 and was Deputy Lord Mayor in 2007. Bernie was appointed to the Board of the Local Government staff Commission in 2014.

Dr. Felicity Lamrock
Position: Trustee

Dr. Felicity Lamrock is a Lecturer in Data Analytics at Queen’s University Belfast. She completed her PhD in Medical Statistics from Queen’s University Belfast in 2016. Felicity was previously a statistician at the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE) working with a team of pharmacists and clinicians on Health Technology Assessments to advise the Health Service Executive on the recommendation of new drug therapies in Ireland. The Irish national authority, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) recently reviewed PrEP for populations at substantial risk of sexual acquisition of HIV, and Felicity represented the NCPE on the expert advisory group. Felicity is also an Adjunct Researcher at the Institute for Public Health, Medical Decision Making and HTA at the University for Health Sciences Informatics and Technology (UMIT), Austria. She still remains a statistical advisor for the NCPE and is exploring how Northern Ireland could benefit from more decision modelling/pharmacoecononomic assessment.

Vernon Fox
Position: Trustee

Vernon Fox joins the board of Relate NI, bringing over 20 years executive experience from organisations across EMEA and The Americas. Vernon is a Lurgan, Co Armagh native and currently Managing Director – Europe for Digital Asset Delivery, an Australian software firm. A specialist in Strategy, Risk Management, Innovation, Operations Leadership and Outsourcing, Vernon brings multisector experience in ICT, Renewables, FMCG, Utilities, Security & Aviation, Manufacturing, Telecommunications and Software Development, having also worked at EU level as an active participant in the EU ICT4EE Energy Efficiency research initiative (REvistIE) in Brussels. Vernon is also the founder and owner of Lough Neagh Distillers – 1837 Ltd, one of Ireland’s newest micro distilleries. A Queens University Belfast Graduate in Information Management and Politics (1996), Vernon also holds his M.B.A from Trinity College Dublin (2018) and is multiple PMI certified Programme, Risk and Project Professional.

Siobhan Casey

Position: Trustee

Driving change in the ageing agenda to improve the well-being of older people is central to Siobhan’s work. Over the past 13 years, as the Director of Marketing & Business Development at Age NI, Siobhan has forged strong relationships and harnessed thought leadership to accelerate change, while raising over £30 million to promote healthy ageing and support vital service delivery for older people who are experiencing loneliness, frailty, living with dementia and carers.

Siobhan is a Director of the IFA (International Federation on Ageing); the NI representative on the UKRI Healthy Ageing Advisory Committee; and a Senior Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute.

“How Relate NI helps people”

I felt the weekly questionnaire, couples with the counsellor's understanding of my needs help contribute to my own understanding of my mental health and needs throughout.Service AttendedAdult Relationship Counselling For Individuals
I loved every session. Our counsellor listened to what we had to say and gave us helpful wee homework - would recommend this service to everybodyService AttendedAdult Relationship Counselling for Couples
Our counsellor was a fantastic support - we now feel strong enough to continue working on our relationship togetherService AttendedAdult Relationship Counselling for Couples
I had a very good counsellor that helped me through a lot and it has made me come out the other side.Service AttendedAdult Relationship Counselling for Individuals
Counselling took us from a bad place to a good one and I would return if neededService AttendedAdult Relationship Counselling For Couples
Been a lifeline to help us fall in love again - forever grateful!Service AttendedAdult Relationship Counselling For Couples

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