PATRON & AMBASSADOR
The Diana Award’s Patron is the journalist, TV star and ChildLine founder Esther Rantzen, CBE.
Esther has been a passionate supporter of the Diana Award since our early days, and she has helped us by acting as an evangelist for our work and getting to know many of our inspirational Award Holders. We are very proud that she continues to support us as Patron, and thank her for helping us to develop the Award into the thriving success it is today.
Our Ambassador is the music legend Robin Gibb, CBE, former member of the Bee Gees — one of the most successful pop groups ever.
Robin joined us officially in early 2009, and has already helped us to raise the Diana Award’s profile and keep us on the road to becoming the foremost UK awards scheme for young people. He says: "I am honoured to become an Ambassador for the Diana Award. All of the amazing young people who have received the Award set a wonderful example, and I am looking forward to meeting many more of them.”
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TRUSTEES
Chair of Trustees: Aaron Ross
 Aaron is Chief Executive of FirstCare, the UK’s leading absence management specialist working with clients like British Gas, Coca-Cola Enterprises and the NHS to reduce absence by supporting employees back to health.
After starting his first business at 18 Aaron has become an established entrepreneur specialising in technology and innovation and is a passionate supporter of encouraging enterprise in young people. Aaron has been a special constable with Sussex police for the last 5 years and has a keen interest in all outdoor pursuits.
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Alex Birks-Agnew
Alex is a secondary school teacher. He entered the profession through Teach First, which places graduates in challenging inner city schools, and subsequently spent two years working at a city academy in south London. An Award Holder himself, Alex was a member of the Diana Award's first Youth Advisory Board. Alex currently manages the ICT department at a secondary school in south east London and is a trustee of a youth organisation near where he lives. He is the newest member of the Diana Award board of Trustees, having joined in Autumn 2007.
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 Roger Cooper
Roger is a Chartered Accountant. After most of his career in the financial services industry he has more recently worked advising a number of charities. He has been involved with the Diana Award since its inception in 1999.
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 Diane Louise Jordan
Diane Louise Jordan is a television and radio presenter and a director of Chronicle21, a corporate motivational company. For Chronicle21, her clients have included Microsoft, Marks and Spencer plc and The Royal Bank of Scotland Group. Diane has many charitable commitments. Among these, she is a Vice President of NCH, Patron for the Oasis Trust and a recently appointed trustee of the Prince's Trust.
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Victoria Sabin
Victoria Sabin, a communications specialist, has advised a wide range of major companies and voluntary organisations on communication campaigns and strategies both as an independent consultant working and for Brunswick, the leading financial PR consultancy, and as Director of Public Relations for Forte and United Biscuits. Clients she has worked with include Camelot; the World Health Organization, the families of the UK Guantanamo Bay detainees; the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund; Selfridges; French Connection; PowerGen and Mothercare.
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 Pat Samuel CBE
Pat joined the Office of the Third Sector in July 2007 as Deputy Director, Public Sector Partnerships.
Previously, Pat had been the Head of the Charity and Third Sector Finance Unit in HM Treasury from 2003, responsible for a wide range of third sector policy issues and for third sector aspects of the 2004 and 2007 Spending Reviews. Pat has had a long Civil Service career, having first joined the Treasury in 1985 where she worked on a range of policy areas in both domestic and international policy and financial management.
Pat started her career as a secondary school teacher. She has also been a School Governor. Pat received her CBE in Birthday Honours in June 2009 for public and voluntary service.
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 Benjamin Bilverstone
Benjamin is currently studying for a BA in Law and International Studies at Coventry University. He joined the trustee board to help make a difference to the lives of the other young people that receive the Diana Award, and he will be able to really influence the way the Award works.
Since receiving his Diana Award in 2007 for community work undertaken whilst coping with serious illness, Benjamin feels he has grown from strength to strength. He now wishes to pass the fulfilment that goes with the Award to the next generation of young people.
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 Tom Green
Tom is a Youth Communicator based in Birmingham. After his A-Levels he went on to complete 2 years' youth work and communication training, and he now travels all over the country and world working with young people and hosting youth events. He has a real passion for ensuring that outstanding young people get recognised for their efforts and that they are given the opportunity to make the biggest impact they can. He also runs two youth projects in the West Midlands and is a part-time student with the Open University studying Maths.
Tom is one of our Award Holder Trustees and he received his Diana Award in 2003 for raising substantial amounts of money for local and national charities whilst facing extremely difficult personal circumstances.
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