Appointed February 2021

Committee membership: Board, Finance & Resources

Ben joined the Board in February 2021. In addition to his role as a Foundation Director at the Trust, Ben serves as a Trustee of the Archdiocese of Southwark, the Catholic Children’s Society, and The Tablet, Hymns Ancient & Modern. Ben also serves as the Chair of St Thomas More Catholic School, Eltham; and is the Chair of the Finance Committee of St Thomas’ Parish, Sevenoaks. 

Ben attended Wimbledon College, Cambridge University and Harvard (University) Business School. Ben has worked extensively in Technology, Finance, and Private Equity in the City in a variety of organisations both large and small. He is married with 4 children. 

Appointed December 2018

Julian joined the Board in December 2018 and is a parishioner at St Teresa of Avila Church in Ashford. He retired from practice as a solicitor at the beginning of May 2018, after 39 years at DAC Beachcroft LLP, London.

Julian’s practice was in public and administrative law where he worked predominantly in the education and health sectors. Julian acted for three decades for the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and in early 2018 advised on the establishment of a replacement body (Office for Students) and its regulatory framework. In 2015, Julian conducted an investigation into alleged inspection irregularities at three academies in Norfolk on behalf of Sir Michael Wilshaw, the then Chief Inspector of Schools at Ofsted.

Appointed January 2024

Mark joined the Board in January 2024 and is a parishioner at St John’s Church in Gravesend.

An experienced senior leader in education, Mark has over 20 years’ experience as a Deputy Head and Headteacher, and is the current Executive Headteacher of two Catholic schools in London.

Mark has served on primary and secondary governing boards, as well as an Interim Executive Board for several Catholic schools.

Mark graduated from St Mary’s College, Queen’s University Belfast, with a first class degree in Education.  He also holds a Masters degree in Education from the Open University, together with NPQH and NPQEL qualifications.  Mark worked as a National Leader of Education for five years supporting school improvement, and is now a Catholic Schools Inspector.

Appointed January 2023

Paul Hendricks was born in Beckenham, Kent on 18th March, 1956, the first of four children. He grew up in Orpington, Kent and attended Holy Innocents Primary School and St Mary's Grammar School, Sidcup, Kent. On leaving school he went up to Corpus Christi College, Oxford in 1974 and was awarded a degree in Physics in 1977.

He worked for two years at the GEC Hirst Research Centre, Wembley before going to study for the priesthood at the English College, Rome, from 1979 to 1985. He obtained a Licence in Philosophy from the Gregorian University, Rome.

Ordained deacon at Palazzola, by Bishop Cyril Restieaux in 1983, he was ordained priest at Holy Innocents, Orpington, by Archbishop Michael Bowen in 1984. His first appointment, in 1985, as Assistant Priest was to St Boniface, Tooting. In 1989 he was appointed Philosophy Lecturer and Bursar at St John's Seminary, Wonersh.

His next appointment was as parish priest of Our Lady of Sorrows, Peckham, in 1999 following the departure of the Capuchins. He also serves on the Diocesan Finance Committee and is the Diocesan Advisor on New Religious Movements and Cults.
He was ordained by Archbishop Kevin McDonald on 14th February 2006, taking up responsibility for the South West pastoral area of the Diocese. In July 2022 Bishop Paul accepted Archbishop Wilson's request to transfer his episcopal responsibility from the South-West Area to Kent.

Appointed May 2023

Educated at a Catholic comprehensive and the first member of her family to attend university, Jane read Law at Cambridge and went on to qualify and practice as a Solicitor in the City of London. Having benefitted from it herself, she is a strong advocate of excellent education for all and firmly believes that effective communication is both the thread running through her own varied career and the key to unlocking opportunity for everyone.  After working as a therapy assistant with children and young people with multiple complex needs and then as practice manager for a specialist children’s therapy centre, Jane took on the role of Learning Support Assistant in Early Years at a Catholic Primary School, with a focus on supporting children with communication difficulties and other Special Needs, particularly around behaviour and mental health.  She also served as an SEND Governor and committee chair for many years, during which time the school joined KCSP.  Jane now works as an independent Speech and Language Therapy Assistant in primary schools, and enjoys returning to an Early Years setting as a volunteer.

Appointed October 2018

David joined the Board in October 2018. Following the completion of a PGCE at Oxford University, David worked as a secondary maths teacher, and subsequently qualified as a Chartered Accountant. He has worked in a range of senior roles across business, finance, strategy, operations and education.  

David is currently part of the leadership team for the BBC's Digital Products and Services and serves as a Foundation Governor and Chair of the Academy Committee at St Gregory's Catholic School, Tunbridge Wells. 

Appointed January 2013

Mike joined the Board in January 2013 and was Chair of Governors at St Simon Stock Secondary, which both his children attended.

Mike worked with Kent County Council (KCC) for 35 years in a variety of roles including clerking the Education Committee and working on admission appeals and school organisation. In the latter part of his career, Mike moved into Criminal Justice working for the corporate governance side of the Police and Probation. This sparked an interest in youth crime and ant-social behaviour and he now works with the youth offending service as well as Maidstone Mediation. Mike also sits on school admission and exclusion review panels for KCC, Medway Council, and the Southwark Archdiocese.

Mike has been an active proponent of a more coordinated approach to Catholic education in Kent and served on the working party of the Trust before being appointed as a Foundation Director.

Appointed March 2017

Geoffrey joined the Board in March 2017. He qualified as an actuary and followed a career in the asset management industry. Geoffrey has worked for various companies in London, Singapore, Canada and the Republic of Ireland and is currently employed by BP pensions.

Geoffrey graduated from Imperial College with a first class degree in Mathematics and a Masters in Statistics. He also holds a Master of Arts in Theology from Oxford University.

Appointed August 2023

An experienced Senior Technology Business Manager, Colin has over 25 years’ experience leading, managing and delivering Infrastructure Technology investment and support in blue chip financial organisations to include Barclays, Goldman Sachs, UBS and the London Stock Exchange Group. 

Colin has been a governor for some of our west Kent primary schools since 2006.

Appointed February 2021

Caroline Stockmann is a Non-Executive Director for a variety of organisations including TreasurySpring, Bank of England, Guildhall School Trust, the CIPD, Elton John AIDS Foundation, Oxfam International and Stonewall. She is also a member of the Advisory Panel of the Durham Law School, and a Durham University mentor.

From February 2017 until April 2023 Caroline was Chief Executive of the Association of Corporate Treasurers, before which she was Chief Financial Officer of The British Council, and before that Save the Children International.  She has 30 years’ experience in senior finance, commercial and strategic posts at organisations including Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Cadbury Schweppes, Granada plc and Unilever/ Bestfoods. Much of her working life has been spent overseas.

Initially a professional musician (flute), Caroline then worked with young people within the Catholic Church (at the Lancaster Diocesan Youth Centre in the Lake District), after which she trained with KPMG as an accountant. She is a Fellow of the ICAEW, holds the ICAEW Diploma in Charity Accounting and has carried out numerous board roles over the years, both executive and non-executive. Caroline is a linguist, musician, trained coach and passionate bell ringer, and is married with two children. She has written training courses in self-development and leadership for the CFTE (Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship), Durham University, and FutureLearn, and has run seminars and workshops around the world. She is currently writing a book.