Our team

Sensory Services by Sight for Surrey is committed to supporting children and adults in Surrey who are Deaf, hard of hearing, blind, partially sighted and deafblind.

Our passionate and experienced team include our President and Patron, Staff, Volunteers and Trustees who work alongside one another, all with a part to play to help and support children and adults in Surrey with a sensory impairment.

Many of our team are sensory impaired and share their lived experiences to help shape and guide the charity.

Michael More-Molyneux

President

Michael More-Molyneux has been the President of Sensory Services by Sight for Surrey and HM Lord Lieutenant of Surrey since 2015. Over the years Michael More-Molyneux has built links with many organisations and businesses in Surrey. Since his appointment as Lord-Lieutenant he has become involved with an increasing number of charities and many good causes across the county, he considers this a very important part of his role.

Dame Judi Dench

Patron

Acting legend and star of the screen, Dame Judi Dench became Patron of Sensory Service by Sight for Surrey in 2022. Dame Judi lives with an eye condition, Macular Degeneration, and knows first-hand how losing your sight can make even the most simplest tasks a challenge. “The work that this charity does in getting people set up and adjusted to life with a sensory loss is amazing and I am honoured to be their Patron.”

Clare Burgess

CEO

Clare Burgess started as CEO of Sensory Services by Sight for Surrey in January 2023. Clare was previously CEO of Surrey Coalition of Disabled People.

Clare is a highly experienced manager and leader.  She has worked across local, regional, and national charities in both executive and non-executive roles. She has been able to establish trusting relationships across the local authority, health and voluntary, community and faith sector, both regionally in Surrey and nationally. This has enabled her to influence policy and take a leadership role in driving forward collaborations, projects, and alliances.

Clare previously worked for Mary Frances Trust, a mental health charity, and prior to that, for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Clare has lived experience with a vision impairment and tinnitus that brings an understanding and empathy to the role. 

Christine Wilmshurst

Chair

Christine has been on the Board of Trustees at Sensory Services by since March 2017 and was appointed Chair on 21st September 2022. She brings a wealth of experience in Marketing, Fundraising and Business Development having worked for consumer goods giant, Proctor & Gamble. Christine started with Sensory Services by Sight for Surrey as a volunteer, primarily involved in fundraising. She chaired the fundraising committee from 2017 – 2023. One of Christine’s brothers lost his eyesight as a result of an accident, so knows how crucial the help and support the charity provides to service users, and their families.

Christine lives in Surrey.

Bob Turnbull

Deputy Chair

His career covered a number of fields including training, sales, marketing and IT consultancy. In recent years most of Bob’s time was spent working with the banking sector advising on and selling complex document management solutions. Bob was educated at Caterham School and now lives in Edenbridge with his wife Mahala. They have a son living in Yorkshire with 3 children, a daughter living and working in London and another daughter living and working in the French Alps. At the beginning of 2012, Bob became a volunteer with Sight for Surrey (which was then called SAVI) working with the local weekly Communication Class in Bletchingley. Bob is also a volunteer for SeeAbility in Horley. In his spare time Bob enjoys sailing, skiing, cycling, gardening and DIY. Bob became a Trustee in August 2012.

Grant Lewis

Treasurer

Grant Lewis recently joined Sight for Surrey as Treasurer and Trustee.  Grant is a chartered accountant and has spent the last 30 years in professional and financial services as a partner with Ernst & Young and more recently in banking and payments.  He joined as Trustee looking to utilise his financial experience to support the charity in delivering its objectives whilst ensuring it remains on a sound financial footing. Grant lives in Surrey and is married with two daughters, one having recently finished university and has started her first ‘real’ job and the other is in her second year.

David Liversidge

David joined as a Trustee in September 2022 having been a service user for a number of years. He started chairing the Fundraising Committee in September 2023.  David is partially sighted as a result of a childhood illness and uses assistive technology. He has spent over 25 years working in retail banking and technology companies and is married to Cathy with three young children and lives in Surrey.

Ben Green

Ben has ten years of business experience. He first started off as a management consultant with KPMG and then PwC. Most recently, Ben worked as an executive at a rapidly growing financial services business. He has joined Sight for Surrey as a Trustee to use his commercial and financial expertise to help support the charity build on its foundation of success for the future.

Ben is a chartered management accountant and has an MBA from Harvard Business School. He lives with his partner in Surrey; in his spare time, he enjoys playing squash, reading, and trying to do DIY.

Mary Da-Silva-Skinner

Mary Da Silva Skinner suffered a stroke in 2005 which left her partially sighted. She has left sided homonymous hemianopia which means she lost her peripheral vision on the left-hand side. Following the stroke she also suffers from permanently disturbed vision, poor balance and a weak left hand. Unfortunately two years later during a very lengthy heart surgery she had another stroke, which again affected her eye sight.

A work colleague she knew had a friend who worked for Sensory Services by Sight for Surrey (SAVI as they were then) and she contacted them. Mary says; “Sensory Services by Sight for Surrey were wonderful and helped me with everything I needed to know in the beginning and still do. I just ring them to get advice”.

In 2016 she decided she wanted to help others in the same situation and became a volunteer for the organisation and in 2017 became a Trustee. She has a guide dog called Damon.

Penny Gunn

Penny lives in Surrey and was born in Cuckfield, Sussex and attended Mill Hall School (Oral). Usher since birth her sight hasn’t significantly deteriorated since and remains fairly stable.

She qualified with a Diploma in Deaf Studies in 1995 from Bristol University and went on to be the Coordinator at the Sign Language section of Hampshire Deaf Association supporting all the teachers who delivered British Sign Language (BSL) training and C & G training.

After being made redundant from Farnborough College where she taught, Penny decided in 2007 to set up her own Training Centre and Sign for Thoughts was born. Her core belief that it was vital to continue teaching BSL for the Deaf/ deafblind and hearing communities across Hampshire, Surrey, Berkshire and further afield.

Sign for Thoughts delivers BSL courses levels 1 – 6 and since 2014, working with a colleague, Penny has delivered Deafblind training levels 1 -3. Penny believes it is vital for the Deafblind community, to run Deafblind courses to enable and support the current and future Deafblind Support Workers, Deafblind guides and Deafblind Advocates with experience, training and qualifications.

Aside from working, Penny has been a volunteer for Friends for Young Deaf Trust (FYD) and Deaf Breakthrough organising many events. She also works closely with the charity Chloe’s and Sophie’s Special Ears Fund (CSSEF), delivering Deaf awareness training and short courses to schools, the fire service, councils and more. In her spare time Penny likes Yoga, running keeping fit, meeting people, a big achievement was completing the London Marathon!

Russell Gilmore

Russell has Usher Syndrome. He was diagnosed with RP (retinitis pigmentosa) when he was about 13 after the Headmaster discovered him standing inside during fire practice in the night!

During the late 1980s, the late Mary Guest MBE set up a new group for Deaf people with RP and linked it to Usher Syndrome. There are different types of Usher Syndrome. Russell has Syndrome Type 1.

Russell studied Horticulture at a college in Hampshire, after which he entered full-time employment as a Science Gardener at Whitgift School, an independent school in Croydon. Sadly, he was made redundant after nearly 30 years service but the Whitgift Foundation agreed to accept his early retirement.

How did Russell become involved with Sight for Surrey?

Since being registered blind in 1987, Russell has been an active member of Sense and Sight for Surrey. An active artist, his well-known cartoon character is ‘Fred the Usher’. The very loveable hedgehog was created in 1990 when Sense asked him to design some Christmas cards. Fred the Usher still appears on Christmas cards today.

Russell is married to Anne. She was also diagnosed with Ushers; although she has had a cochlear implant. They live in Warlingham, where Russell enjoys gardening, local history, genealogy, antiques and visiting historic places like the National Trust. He even finds time to go to the gym!

Steve Wherry

Steve Wherry is profoundly Deaf with over 38 years of dedicated experience in the pension industry.  He has a proven track record of dealing with all aspects of pension administration, projects, and systems. His extensive experience includes providing technical support, specialist project knowledge, project management, and coordination, all while delivering key activities to a high standard for a range of high-profile clients, often within challenging timeframes and budgets. He has been a Trustee of Sensory Services by Sight for Surrey for over six years and has chaired the Services Committee since January 2024.

Steve has 40 years’ experience in doing various aspects of volunteering work, from managing school newsletters, governance responsibilities to playing a pivotal role in the inception of the England Deaf Rugby Union. Currently, he is an advisor to the Deaf UK 50+ orchestrating an annual holiday event tailored to the needs of Deaf people aged over 50. He is an avid supporter of the Bath Rugby and Plymouth Argyle teams, and he has his sights set on an adventure in 2025, with plans to travel to Australia as part of the British Lions Rugby Tour!

Adam Scarrott

Adam has lived in Surrey for 20 years and now lives in Weybridge with his partner Faye.

He was a lawyer for nearly thirty years in aviation, banking and payments. He now works for the banking trade body UK Finance, specialising in card payments. He oversees UK Finance’s card machine standards, which includes accessibility for people who are vision impaired.

Adam’s parents were factory workers and he has been passionate about social mobility and levelling the playing field for those young people from under-represented groups that want to gain access to the legal profession.  He set up mentoring and work experience programmes at Barclays Bank and was the Chair of the Sutton Trust’s Advisory Board for Pathways to Law.