Lady Lucy French OBE (Founder, Chair and Trustee)

Lady Lucy French founded Never Such Innocence in March 2014. Lucy founded NSI to enable young people to play their part in the Centenary of the First World War. Lucy’s great-grandfather was Field Marshal Sir John French who led the BEF at the start of the Great War.  In 2019 Lucy is leading the charity into its second phase, broadening the focus to give children and young people a voice on war and conflict throughout history.

Prior to Never Such Innocence she opened the St James Theatre, London, the first new theatre built in London for three decades and was instrumental in its development in 2011, launch in 2012 and subsequent success. She began her career in PR, events and journalism in Liverpool and London and over the years has honed her skills and focused her energies on charities and fundraising for education and the arts.

Lucy is also a trustee of The Churches Conservation Trust, The Commonwealth War Graves Foundation, and The Great War Symphony, is a patron of Remember WW1 and sits on the Development Board of Artichoke and the Actors of Dionysus.

Don Boyd (Trustee)

Don Boyd is a film director, producer and writer. He began his career at the BBC after graduating from the London Film School in 1970. In his early twenties he directed over 40 commercials and two feature films both premiered at the London Film Festival - Intimate Reflections (1974) and East of Elephant Rock (1975). In the 1980’s after a 3 year stint in Hollywood working for Paramount and Universal, he produced several celebrated British films. In 1988 he returned to his directorial career with Goldeneye which was nominated for the Grand Jury prize at Sundance, and followed that with 3 independent feature films - Kleptomania, Lucia and My Kingdom. He then directed several celebrated documentaries including Andrew and Jeremy Get Married for BBC’s Storyville, nominated for IDFA, and 19 films with Ruby Wax including their BAFTA nominated film about Imelda Marcos.

He is an Honorary Professor at the University of Exeter in the College of Humanities (where he is an Honorary Doctor), was a Governor of the London Film School for 30 years and Artistic Director of www.hibrow.tv, an online platform for the arts where he directed and/or produced over 200 hours of original programming including several feature documentaries premiered at several major festivals - Sundance, Telluride, London, New York, Melbourne, Karlovy Vary.

He has written for The Guardian, Times, Sunday Times and The Independent. His first novel Margot’s Secrets published in 2011 has been optioned to be produced as a television series. His latest directorial project Beatrice and Her Father, developed by the UK Film Council (BFI), is scheduled for a late 2021 start date. He has lectured at a broad range of academic institutions globally, most particularly a roster of master classes on filmmaking for The Guardian in 2014/15 and has moderated Creative Dialogues a series of in conversation events hosted at the University of Exeter featuring prominent personalities in the cultural spheres. He is on the advisory board at the department of Theatre, Film, Television and Interactive Media at the University of York.

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Poole MBE (Trustee)

Educated at Prices School, Fareham and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Peter Poole was commissioned into the Royal Corps of Transport where he enjoyed a full regimental career.  He was appointed MBE in 1985.  Following promotion to Lt Col he served as a Commander both in the UK and in Hong Kong.  In 2002 he retired from his position as Command of Advanced Wing at the Defence school of Transport, and joined Combat Stress as a Regional Welfare Officer.

Appointed Director of Welfare in 2008 he remained at Combat Stress, subsequently becoming Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Strategic Policy and Partnerships and serving as acting Chief Executive for an extended period.  His current role is Chief of Staff.

Peter is Chairman of the East Midlands Veterans Advisory and Pension Committee, Treasurer of his local church and Vice Chairman of his Regimental association.  In his spare time Peter enjoys equestrian pursuits of all types, vintage motorcars and motorcycles and sailing.

Jane Franses (Trustee)

Jane is a commercially minded senior marketing and communications professional with global experience within technology, payments and start-ups - at Visa and American Express.

Whilst leading client communications for Visa (in Europe) she developed and curated Visa Navigate, a thought leadership platform for C suite clients to help them stay informed about the fast changing world of digital commerce.

Over ten years she created a series of award winning flagship conferences developing new ways to engage with clients and ecosystem partners. She also led M&A communications to clients and partners whilst at Visa.

She has a passion for storytelling, education and the arts and is a Governor at Culford School, Bury St Edmunds and Chair of their Foundation. Educational qualifications include MPhil - a study in unpublished diaries from the First World War, and a BA Hons First Class in English and American literature.

Imam Asim Hafiz (Trustee)

Imam Asim graduated from an Islamic College in England as an Imam and Islamic Scholar in 1999, a process which lasted ten years during which time he also memorized the entire Qur’an. He later gained an MA in Contemporary Islamic Studies at the University of London. He has held positions in a range of religious and secular organisations.

He served as an Imam/teacher in several Mosques in East London, as a Project Leader at a Muslim girls’ school and as a teacher at an Imam training boarding school. Imam Asim started working in the NHS in 2000 and has held part-time Muslim Chaplain posts at the Homerton University Hospital and Newham General Healthcare Trust. In 2003 Imam Asim was appointed as the first full time Muslim Chaplain at HM Prison Wandsworth. In addition to providing religious, spiritual and pastoral support to prisoners, he advised the prison management on the specific needs of Muslim prisoners and encouraged religion and faith as an integral part of rehabilitation and resettlement.

In Oct 2005 he was appointed as the first and only Muslim Chaplain to the British Armed Forces. He chose to take on this role to ensure that the religious, spiritual and pastoral needs of Muslim service personnel were fully provided for. As well as fulfilling his pastoral and spiritual role he advised the MOD and other government departments on Islamic issues.

He is currently appointed as a dedicated Islamic Religious Advisor to Chief of the Defence Staff and Service Chiefs as well as an Imam to the Forces. This new role seeks to enhance the Armed Forces engagement with and understanding of Muslim communities in the UK as well as overseas.

Imam Asim was awarded an OBE in 2014 for services to Defence, in the same year he was recognized for his achievements at the British Community Honours Awards and in 2015 he was given the Religious Advocate of the Year Award at the British Muslim Awards. In 2015 he was also a finalist for the Uniformed and Civil Services Award at the Asian Achievers Awards. In 2016 he named to be amongst the 50 most influential BAME professionals within the public sector. In 2018 he was listed in the Evening Standards’ The Progress 1000 List, London’s most influential people and in the same year he was mentioned in The Muslim 100 Power List’s most influential trailblazer in Britain section. More recently, in 2023 he was honoured to be amongst The Muslim 500, The World's 500 Most Influential Muslims.

Simon Linnett (Trustee)

Simon has spent his entire career with the investment bank, Rothschild & Co working at the interface between public and private sector. He held the core relationship between the bank and the UK government as well as chairing the Asian offices. Beyond this he has assumed a number of public service roles in the health, museum and education sectors.

Jasleen Singh (Trustee)

Jasleen won first place in the age 14-16 Never Such Innocence poetry competition in 2018 for a poem titled ‘The Indian Soldier’. She went on to recite her poem at the Guards Chapel in the Wellington Barracks, Buckingham Palace, and the House of Lords.

In November 2018, she was a prayer reader at the Westminster Abbey Centenary Remembrance which was attended by the Royal Family, political and religious leaders and streamed on TV. Prior to this, she was interviewed live on the BBC about her poem and ancestral connection to the war.

In 2020, she represented the UK alongside the King at the German Remembrance Service in Berlin. She wrote and delivered a speech which was live streamed on the main German TV channel, as well as delivered in front of a live audience at the Bundestag, which included the Federal President of Germany.

She studied at Bristol Grammar School, where she was Head of School, and is currently an undergraduate at the University of Durham studying law.