Trustees

• Dr John Milne MBE

  John qualified from Leeds in 1980 and has worked mainly in general dental practice in Wakefield since then.

  He has a special interest in orthodontics having worked as a clinical assistant at Mid Yorks hospital. John has been involved in dental politics for most of his career.

  At local level John is Chair of Wakefield LDC and also represents West Yorkshire on the BDA General Dental Practice Committee. As Chair of GDPC from 2009-2015 John represented the profession at national level with a particular interest in NHS reform.

  John now works part time in practice and as National Dental Advisor to the CQC. John was awarded an MBE for his services to dentistry.

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  Dr Abisola Asuni

  Abisola is a NHS Consultant and Honorary Senior Clinical lecturer in Restorative Dentistry at Glasgow Dental Hospital and School. She graduated from King’s College London in 2010, and has a masters degree in both Clinical Research and Strategic Leadership in Public Services. She has experience in stakeholder engagement and has co-led research projects that informed regional strategies to address dental workforce sustainability, particularly in rural and underserved areas of Cumbria and the North East of England. Additionally, she has been part of a flying faculty team that delivered an intensive week of clinical teaching for BDS4 and BDS5 students at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS) in Malawi, supporting the institution’s first graduating cohorts.

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  Patrick Allen

  Patrick works for Henry Scein as Vice President, Northwest EMEA and Commercial Development EMEA.

  He is responsible for the Henry Schein dental distribution business in UK & Ireland, South Africa, France, and Iberia and has European responsibility for several commercial initiatives across Europe.

  Patrick is a serving council member of the British Dental Industry Association and has supported the work of Bridge2Aid since 2008. Firstly as a volunteer, then Advisor, and now as a Trustee.

• Martha Thomas Mwammale

  Martha is a Tanzanian Gender and Development specialist, with over eight years of experience supporting grassroots organizations across Asia and South Asia. Her work focuses on Female Genital Mutilation/ Cutting, child marriage, and feminist movement building, advocating for lasting social change.

  She holds a BA in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Dar es Salaam and an MA in Gender and Development from the University of Sussex, where her research explored the intersection of girls’ agency and early marriage in Tanzania.

  Martha leads the GBV portfolio at AmplifyChange UK, bringing her deep passion for social norm change and her commitment to advancing gender justice. Bringing hands-on experience in managing and coordinating grants and projects for development at global, regional, and national levels.

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• Dr Ian Wilson

  Ian qualified from Edinburgh University in 1987, working in NHS general practice in the North-East. In 1990 he began exploring how his dental skills could meet the needs of the poorest communities in Africa, visiting several countries in West & East Africa delivering dental services and training.

  Ian and his wife Andie, as founders of the Dental NGO Bridge2Aid, moved to Tanzania in 2002 with their young family. Coming back to the UK in 2011, Ian now serves Dental Foundation training for NHS England – Directorate for Workforce, Training and Education Yorkshire and Humber as Training Programme Director JDFCT Scheme.

  In this capacity he has helped to innovate an awareness of Emotional Intelligence within the Dental Workplace, specifically supporting Foundation Dentists through teach and coaching. He also works as a clinician and regional clinical director for Rodericks Dental Partners. He continues to visit Africa and work alongside other colleagues who are passionate to provide oral health services to the poor and marginalised communities here in the UK & Overseas. He and Andie have 4 children; Jake, Imani, Neema & Maisha.

• Bob Newsome

  

  Bob recently retired as Managing Director of dental infection control specialists dentisan. He joined dentisan’s parent company Quadralene in August 2003 and spearheaded the successful launch of the dentisan brand into the dental profession in 2008. Since then it has become one of the largest suppliers of dental infection control products in the UK. Bob is passionate about helping those in need to transform their lives and has been involved with a number of international charities in an advisory capacity for a number of years. He visited Tanzania with Bridge2Aid in 2016 and returned in November 2019 as part of a fundraising Charity bike ride.

  “When I visited Tanzania in 2016 I saw, at first hand, the amazing work of Bridge2Aid and the way in which they are helping to literally transform lives by taking people out of pain. It is an honour to be asked to act as a Trustee and to help bring, in some small part, sustainable relief to those most in need.” 

• Caron Best(Chair)

   

  Caron has worked in numerous roles across the dental sector for the last 40 + years in both independent and group dentistry most latterly at Dental Partners and Rodericks Dental Partners.
  Over recent years she has been in Executive Director roles in Operations and Strategy. Caron has worked with Bridge2Aid for a number of years helping fundraising.
  Caron is now looking forward to taking on the role of a Bridge2Aid Trustee using her experience and business skills to support the charities ongoing aims, and strategic growth.
• Dr Nila Jackson

   

  Nila has been Bridge2Aid’s strategic partner in Tanzania for a number of years. He is supporting the work of The Ministry of Health to eradicate the practices of Infant Oral Mutilation in the country. He has managed the IOM education workshops since 2021.
  Nila is a dentist and owns and runs The Sibaba Dental Clinic. He has worked in the role of Regional Medical Officer in Mara, and is on the Management Committee of the Tanzania Dental Association.