Meet our founding members
Give what you can. Receive what you need. Grow together.
This isn't about membership.
It's about movement.
OVOH is not a charity or a formal organisation. It is a Collaborative Action Network (CAN) of people and organisations who share a commitment to preventing all preventable suicides. We use the language of We ‘CAN’ in all we aspire to achieve.
This is more than an organisation. It’s a movement. Movements aren’t built on structures or hierarchies. They’re built on shared values, collective energy, and a belief that when people come together, real change becomes possible. You don’t “join” a movement — you become part of it by living its purpose.
Core member bios
Angela Allen
Angela lost her 23 year old daughter, Kat, to suicide in November 2019. Kat’s step-dad and Angela’s husband, Damien, found this event too difficult to cope with and 8 months later he took his own life.
Angela’s experience and the lack of support available to her at that time, led to her founding Bags for Strife. BAGS provide practical and emotional support for those who may need it, particularly following a loss of a loved one by suicide.
Chukumeka Maxwell
Chukumeka Maxwell (Chukes) is a neurodivergent consultant, mentor, and social work academic of African and Caribbean heritage, with over 20 years’ experience across health, social care, education, and the voluntary sector. He is the founder of multiple social enterprises and a passionate advocate for suicide prevention, mental health equity, and culturally capable practice, bringing lived experience and strategic insight to community-led and systemic change.
Debbie Rogers
Debbie founded Sean’s Place in 2019 following the devastating loss of her brother to suicide.
What began in grief has grown into action. Today, Sean’s Place supports more than 2,000 men every year, providing life-saving mental health support, connection and hope for those who may otherwise struggle in silence.
Debi Roberts MA Ed
Debi is a systems thinker, educator, and pioneer in prescription safety and suicide prevention. Former CEO at The OLLIE Foundationm Debi founded Debi Roberts Wellbeing & Education to focus on what she believes creates lasting change: courageous conversations, systemic design, and practical tools that protect lives.
She is the creator of the Prescription Safe Plan (PSP) and her work bridges healthcare, education, and community systems, with a particular focus on preventing chemically induced crisis and works nationally with healthcare leaders, schools, charities and professional bodies to move beyond awareness and toward intelligent, preventative action.
Douglas (Doug) Cave
In 2016, Doug’s daughter, Stephanie, died unexpectedly in an NHS-funded mental
health hospital, 125 miles from home. In a bid to better understand why this happened, Doug became Chair of the In Memory of Stephanie Charitable Trust, co-founder
of The LEARN Network and an Inquest Board and Family Reference Group
member. He has qualifications in mental health first aid and suicide prevention.
Doug is a passionate advocate for the use of Lived Experience, and working
collaboratively, to prevent future deaths by helping to shape learning which can
improve policies, systems and practice, and organisations as a whole.
Jake Mills
Jake Mills is the founder and CEO of Chasing the Stigma, a national mental health charity in the UK, and the creator of the Hub of Hope, a widely used mental health signposting app. A former stand-up comedian based in Liverpool, Jake pivoted to full-time mental health advocacy after his own experience with depression.
Following a suicide attempt in 2013, Jake found that while many people wanted to talk about their mental health, they didn't know where to turn for help. He publicly shared his experience, which went viral, prompting him to create the charity to bridge the gap between people needing support and the services available.
Joanne (Jo) Feaster
Jo is a late-identified autistic and bipolar woman, and parent to two neurodivergent children
Jo Feaster is a passionate advocate for suicide prevention, mental health awareness, and neurodiversity. Her professional background includes providing remote administrative support to purpose-led organisations, with specialist expertise in neurodiversity, mental health, women’s empowerment and disability. She combines topical knowledge with practical skills to deliver high-quality support and has voluntary roles as representative and steering group member of the Leeds Parent Carers Forum, working in co-production with education, health, and social care authorities.
Dr. Lisa Edwards
Dr. Lisa Edwards is an Assistant Professor at the University of Bradford. Her academic and research interests include areas such as allied health science, mental health (particularly adolescent mental health), and suicide prevention. She has also been involved in university initiatives related to staff and student wellbeing, such as the "Baton of Hope" tour. Lisa's son David took his own life in 2016 at age 16.
Mike McCarthy
Mike McCarthy is chair and co-founder of The Baton of Hope UK suicide prevention charity, established following the death of his beloved son Ross who took his life aged 31. Ross left a farewell letter in which he asked his family to fight for better mental health support.
The Baton of Hope has successfully delivered two high profile tours of the UK, engaging members of the public, workplaces, schools, government ministers and other members of society.. The Baton of Hope’s Workplace Pledge has been signed up to by Premier League football clubs and well known businesses from around the UK. They are now developing similar pledges for Farming and for Education.
Mike worked as a journalist in newspapers, radio and television for almost 40 years as a producer, reporter and presenter for the BBC and Sky News. His assignments included global events, including wars, terrorist attacks, global politics, riots and demonstrations, to devasting floods, as well some of the greater sporting events across Europe.
Mike Palmer
Mike Palmer is a suicide prevention campaigner and a co-founder of 3 Dads Walking, a group of three fathers who lost their daughters to suicide and united to raise awareness and funds for the charity PAPYRUS (Prevention of Young Suicide).
Mike, who is from Sale in Greater Manchester, is a former firefighter. He lost his 17-year-old daughter, Beth, to suicide in March 2020 during the first COVID-19 lockdown.
Sam Southern
Sam is a dedicated advocate for suicide prevention and postvention, deeply influenced
by the loss of her husband, Glen, to suicide, the day before Father’s Day 2020.
In 2023, Sam joined Empowerment Charity Lancashire to develop a new projected, Solace.
As Strategic Manager for Solace, Sam leads initiatives that provide comprehensive support
for individuals affected by suicide, using a trauma-informed approach to address
their complex emotional and psychological needs. With 17 years of experience in the NHS, Sam understands the multifaceted nature of health and wellbeing. Solace works alongside local and national organisations, including public health, the NHS, and police services, to create a single-point access system that offers both practical and emotional support, ensuring for those impacted by suicide
Dr. Sohrab Panday
Sohrab graduated from Manchester University as a doctor in 1984 and following five years in hospital medicine, transitioned to general practice, drawn by the emphasis on holistic care. He served as a GP partner in Peterborough, supporting diverse communities and extending care to bail hostels, women’s refuges, drug rehabilitation, and homeless centres. In 2000, Sohrab was appointed clinical commissioning lead for mental health and learning disabilities for a population of 400,000.
Moving to Derbyshire in 2013, Sohrab’s role as GP saw him join the suicide prevention partnership forum, where he led efforts to extend suicide prevention training to the general practice workforce, improving recognition and support for those at risk, where his team weew finalists in the 2018 Health Service Journal Awards for Innovation in Primary Care. Additionally, To date, thousands of primary care staff across Derbyshire, Northamptonshire, and beyond have received his suicide prevention and postvention training.
Steve Phillip
Steve Phillip is Director of The Jordan Legacy CIC, founded in 2020 following the death, by suicide, of his son. Steve co-
founded One Voice, One Hope in 2025.
As a suicide prevention advocate, Steve delivers talks to schools, workplaces and other groups and organisations to raise awareness about suicide and how to reduce the stigma so that people can talk more openly about the subject.
The Jordan Legacy's mission is to move closer to a 'Zero Suicide Society', which by their definition is a society that is willing and able to do all it can to prevent all preventable suicides.
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