Our Board

Claire Winfield | Chair

Claire, who was previously the Chair of Nottingham Community Housing Association, joined Trent & Dove on 1 October 2022. 

With significant experience in social care, housing and support, Claire has previously been the CEO of Amber Trust, a Derbyshire-based charity providing housing and ancillary support to people with mental illness and has also been a consultant at Paradigm Consultancy and Training.

Rolf Levesley | Senior Independent Director

Rolf has more than twenty years of experience of operating in senior-level roles at Local Authorities, most recently as Chief Executive of South Staffordshire Council, from which he retired in 2009. 

Ursula Bennion | Chief Executive

Over a 25-year career in housing, Ursula has worked across the sector in a wide variety of roles ranging from her first job as a trainee Housing Officer to Director of Business Development and now as Chief Executive.

Geoff Prior | Non Executive Director

Geoff has been appointed as a Non Executive Director since 2018.  He has more than 35 years of experience within the housing sector working for Gentoo, Thirteen Group and Northampton Partnership Homes.

Starting out in architecture Geoff moved to the social housing sector and in particular within property services and asset management.

Kathryn Robb | Non Executive Director

Kathryn joined the Board of Trent & Dove Housing in April 2017. A senior housing professional with 30 years of experience ranging from front-line service delivery to strategic development and leadership, she holds a Post Graduate in Housing Studies and is a Corporate Member of Chartered Institute of Housing.

Kim Smith | Non Executive Director

Kim has been the Centre Manager at Winshill Neighbourhood Resource Centre (“WNRC”) for the past 10 years. She also works with community groups and organisations to organise community events and achieve community goals.

Mike Finister-Smith | Non Executive Director

Mike has extensive experience in the social housing sector having held numerous roles as a senior leader, director, and social housing consultant.  Mike is a Board Member at Nottingham Community Housing Association, where he is also a member of their Audit and Risk Committee, and Ongo Homes, where he is also Chair of their Audit and Risk Committee.

Mike Hew | Non Executive Director

Mike has over 23 years of experience as a senior housing executive, most recently as Chief Executive of Caldmore Area Housing Association Ltd (2002 – 2011) and CaldmoreAaccord (2011-2014). Until 2020, Mike was Deputy Chair (and later Interim Chair) of Walsall Housing Group, where he also Chaired the Group’s Governance and Remuneration Committee.

John Doherty | Non-Executive Director

Experienced in leading organisations in both the public and private sectors, John is currently the Chief Executive at Entrust Support Services, an education and skills support services business and part of the Capita group.