Skip to content
CRISIS SUPPORT
DONATE

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 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.

Learn More about the ROLE HERE
1
Isabella
MFT Advisory Group Member
READ MORE
MFT logo
Jon
MFT Advisory Group Member
READ MORE
Maiya Profile Photo 2
Maiya
MFT Advisory Group Member
READ MORE
MFT-no staff logo
Mandi
MFT Advisory Group Member
READ MORE
4
Mark
MFT Advisory Group Member
Read More
Nyawira photo
Nyawira
MFT Advisory Group Member
Read More
Peter Profile Photo
Peter
MFT Advisory Group Member
READ MORE
Sam Buss
Sam
MFT Advisory Group Member
Read More
Portrait of Megan, Co-Production Lead, MFT
Megan (Staff)
Delivery & Strategy Lead: Co-Production & Community Engagement

Megan facilitates the group, chairs meetings, and leads member recruitment and induction. 

Chloe_Bryant-aspect-ratio-2560-2560
Chloé (Staff)
Administrator/HR Assistant

Chloé supports AG meetings with admin tasks and taking minutes.

Isabella

MFT Advisory Group Member

Isabella joined the MFT Advisory Group in September 2019 to have a voice after being encouraged to join by a MFT staff member.

“Share your views, they are important and may help someone else express themselves and realise their lived experience is valued too.”

Jon

MFT Advisory Group Member

MFT logo

Jon joined the MFT Advisory Group in July 2026 to share his insights to bring value to the work of the Advisory Group and the clients we support.

“There is only one thing better than learning from experience – and that is learning from someone else’s. No feeling is ever final.”

Maiya

MFT Advisory Group Member

Maiya joined the MFT Advisory Group in October 2025. She found out about MFT online, and decided to join after seeing what positive impact the Advisory Group has on the organisation and our local community. 

Mandi

MFT Advisory Group Member

MFT logo

Mandi joined the MFT Advisory Group in June 2025 to share personal experience and knowledge, give back, and to help others to use their voice. 

“Road of Recovery can only begin after the Road of Recognition has begun”

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 MFT 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

Peter

MFT Advisory Group Member

Peter joined the MFT Advisory Group in April 2026 to give something back to the organisation which has supported him.

“MFT already have the best quote “Nature Nurtures”.  Spending time enjoying nature is an important contribution to our well-being.”

Sam

MFT Advisory Group Member

Sam joined the MFT 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)

Portrait of Megan, Co-Production Lead, MFT

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.