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Our Advisory Group

The Advisory Group supports the strategic direction of Mary Frances Trust.

Advisory Group (AG) members are volunteers with lived experience of mental health challenges themselves and/or have supported someone who has. Membership includes both current and past clients, as well as members of our local community who bring different perspectives to the group. 

Find out more about our current members and their motivations to join the group below.

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Mark
MFT Advisory Group Member
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Nyawira
MFT Advisory Group Member
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Sam Buss
Sam
MFT Advisory Group Member
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Mandi
MFT Advisory Group Member
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Maiya
MFT Advisory Group Member
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Isabella
MFT Advisory Group Member
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Peter
MFT Advisory Group Member
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Megan (Staff)
Co-Production Lead
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Chloé (Staff)
Administrator/HR Assistant

Mark

MFT Advisory Group Member

Mark joined the MFT Advisory Group in January 2020 to put something back into a service that supported him as a previous service user.

“Co-production has been very enjoyable. When I joined the group I hadn’t realised quite how much MFT provides in the range of services it offers to our local community members. It feels so positive to have found such a great bunch of similarly minded people using their experiences and insight to help shape and improve the services for MFT’s clients.”

Nyawira

MFT Advisory Group Member

Nyawira joined the Advisory Group in January 2025 to share her personal and cultural experiences of mental health more widely, and embed the voice and lived experience of members and clients in all MFTs programmes and projects.

“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refused to be reduced by it.” – Maya Angelou

Sam

MFT Advisory Group Member

Sam joined the Advisory Group in June 2023 to help shape services in a safe, supportive environment surrounded by non-judgemental people. 

“The things that make me different are the things that make me, me” – Piglet (Winnie the Pooh)

Megan

Delivery and Strategy Lead: Co-Production and Community Engagement (Leatherhead)

Megan joined MFT in January 2025 and looks after the development of our strategic priority for MFT to live and breathe co-production. She also facilitates our Advisory Group, and champions those with lived experience of mental health challenges to improve the way mental health support is developed, reviewed, and delivered.

Megan first learnt about co-production as a Lived Experience Advisor with the Independent Mental Health Network based at Surrey Coalition of Disabled People, contributing her own lived experience to mental health projects in Surrey and North East Hampshire after graduating university.

She has since worked on a range of development projects for Surrey’s mental health and wellbeing support, immersing community engagement and lived experience into research and decision-making. Additionally, she is an alumna for The King’s Fund after completing their Advanced Organisational Development Practitioner programme.

To maintain her wellbeing, Megan is an avid reader, journals, and practices Yoga.