Board of Trustees
Chair of the Board, Emma Hutchinson, MA
Emma is an entrepreneurial early childhood music specialist and consultant with over 30 years of experience. As the Founder of Music House Education and Co-Founder of the grassroots venue Bush Hall, she has dedicated her career to the intersection of creativity and education. A published author and composer, Emma specialises in SEND music and curriculum programmes to encourage child-initiated responses, learning and shared learning. Emma has devised many musical story-tales, and her podcast ‘Once upon a song’, to nurture communication and language through interactive reading.
Beyond her creative practice Emma is a committed advocate for the role of music in early development. She brings a proven track record in content distribution and charitable governance in her new role as Chair for Children for Health. Emma is deeply committed to empowering children and young people to be active, participatory agents of change in their lives and extended communities.
Treasurer and Trustee, Firdouz Lambat BSc (Hons), ACMA, CGMA
Firdouz is a Chartered Global Management Accountant (ACMA, CGMA), holding a BSc (Hons) in Management Accounting from the University of Derby, England. She has spent over a decade turning complex finances into clear, honest pictures that leaders can act on. Her grounding in global health came at The Aurum Institute, where she spent five years managing multi-donor grants, from USAID, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the CDC, ranging from $20,000 to $77 million, ensuring every dollar was accounted for and every report told funders the truth about impact, ensuring strong financial accountability and transparent donor reporting. She now leads finance for Multimodal Logistics Solutions (Pty) Ltd and Afrilog Groupage Services (Pty) Ltd.
As Treasurer for Children for Health, Firdouz brings that same rigour and a personal conviction to the charity’s finances. Having worked closely with donor-funded health programmes for years, she has seen first-hand how sound financial governance helps ensure resources are used responsibly and effectively for the children and communities behind every grant. She sees her role not as a back-office function, but as part of the charity’s duty of care to the people it exists to serve.
Trustee, Akthar Hussain
Akthar Hussain has nearly 20 years’ experience in senior leadership across healthcare in the UK and internationally. He has held executive, board and advisory roles across a range of healthcare services, bringing experience in strategic leadership, organisational development, governance and partnership working.
Throughout his career, Akthar has led and advised organisations through periods of strategic growth, service transformation, digital innovation and regulatory improvement. He has worked with a wide range of professionals, organisations and stakeholders, with a particular interest in bringing people together to strengthen partnerships and achieve sustainable improvements in health and wellbeing.
Akthar also serves as Chair-Elect of Mind in Croydon and brings experience of board
leadership, organisational governance and partnership working to his role as a Trustee of Children for Health. He is particularly interested in how effective partnerships, innovation and strong governance can help organisations extend their reach and create lasting impact.
Akthar is passionate about improving health outcomes and ensuring that children, young people and communities are empowered to play an active role in improving their own health and wellbeing.
