Prism Trustees

Eileen Richards

The daughter of a farmer, Eileen attended Gowerton Girls Grammar School. She completed a pharmacy degree in Aston, Birmingham and has practiced since 1974. Starting off in Boots she then moved to Singleton and Cefn Coed hospitals, Swansea in 1976.

In 1978 she moved to St. David’s Hospital, Carmarthen and has been there ever since as a specialist pharmacist in Mental Health.

Eileen was a School Governor when her children were in junior school, and she was also secretary of the local Pharmaceutical Society for 30 years.  She become a magistrate 14 years ago (1997) – and sits as chairman on the family bench in Ammanford and Llanelli.

Eileen’s  elder daughter is a Pharmacist in Neath/Port Talbot Hospital and the younger has a degree in German and is training to be a buyer with Lidl.

She enjoys travelling, reading gruesome crime novels, jewellery making and knitting, watercolour painting and being taken for a walk by the dog!

Eileen has been a trustee with Prism since 2001 /2002 and Chair of Trustees from 2007.

Martin Waterworth

Martin graduated in German at Bristol University, after which he trained to be a chartered accountant.  He qualified with KPMG in Cardiff in 1989.  In 1991 he joined a small practice of accountants in Cowbridge where he became joint partner. He left there in April 2000 to set up his own sole practice.

Primarily he prepares accounts and tax returns for both personal and corporate clients. In addition, he carries out statutory audit of businesses and examination of charity accounts.  He aims to provide a personal service to clients who vary over different types of business and organisation.

Outside work he is president of the Carmarthen branch of a Christian organisation which operates worldwide called Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship International and he is also Treasurer for a local football club.

Martin has been a trustee of Prism and its Treasurer,  since 2003 and is glad to be in a position to contribute his experience to the organisation where the board of Trustees brings a mix of skills to the table.  He is glad to play a role in a well run organisation which cares for and helps people with substance misuse.

Diane Thomas SRN. Dip.H.E. B.Ed(Hons).

Diane originally qualified as a nurse and specialised in the care of premature babies.  She later qualified as a Primary School Teacher and taught for 15 years across all the age ranges.   In 2001 she set up the Healthy Schools Scheme in Carmarthenshire and remained there until 2007.  She currently works as a freelance Healthy Schools Support Officer and Assessor in Pembrokeshire.  Diane initially became involved with Prism through her role as the Carmarthenshire Healthy Schools coordinator when the Director of PRISM became a member of the Scheme’s Steering Group. Through working with the SUDDS team her interest in the organisation developed.

In her spare time she is a volunteer telephone counsellor for Childline and a volunteer for the National Osteoporosis Society.  She is a Churchwarden in Pontarddulais and helps out at Sunday school.  Eileen also enjoys yoga, reading, walking and train holidays!

Diane feels it is important that there is someone on Prism’s Board of Trustees who is particularly interested in the welfare and well being of children and young people.  Diane is privileged to fulfil this role on the Board.

Martin Burgess

Martin is a Cambridge science and engineering graduate who qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young in London in 1987. His working life has revolved around interpretation of numbers and analysis of systems, initially in larger retailing companies such as Asda and Dixons, and then as a director of a number of smaller retailers. He currently works primarily from home with a number of businesses.

Outside work, his main interest is in football, and he is an ex-director of Swansea City.

Newly involved with PRISM, he has an initial focus of assisting with better use of the data within the organisation to generate information on the quality and effectiveness of services provided. He believes this would be of use to both internal management and to demonstrate the value of Prism to current and future purchasers.

Wendy Heron

Wendy was born in Yorkshire, is married to a Yorkshire man, and has two grown sons and five grand children.  She has lived in West Wales since 1978 and now has a house in Llanfallteg near Whitland.

She was originally a  Physical Education and science teacher, then in 1986 an Advisory Teacher for Drugs across Dyfed.  This later developed into Health Education and Personal and Social Education(PSE).  This role gradually developed and widened to include work with disaffected young people and the establishment of the Healthy Schools scheme first across Dyfed and later in Carmarthenshire.  The role was retitled Associate Adviser and began to encompass more general school improvement.  In 2004 she moved to Solihull where she was a School Improvement Adviser with responsibility for standards across all areas of education and special responsibility for Health and PSE.

Wendy first became involved with Prism shortly after becoming Advisory Teacher in 1986.  She worked closely with the current Director of Prism for several years and later joined the Board of Management as a trustee. Her education and advisory work included drugs and alcohol and young people until her retirement from education in August, 2010.  She brings her many years of experience and enthusiasm, as mum, teacher, adviser and drug & alcohol worker to the board and looks forward to being an active and useful member.