Ruth Lesirge is an independent consultant specialising in governance leadership, strategy and board effectiveness. She is a Senior Visiting Fellow at Cass Business School and has served as the Head of the governance consultancy practice for the Centre for Charity Effectiveness. Previous appointments include Chief Executive for a policy and research foundation and an elder care charity. Ruth played a lead role in the UK adult literacy campaign and was Principal of a local authority adult education service. She is a trustee of the London Film School, has served as Vice Chair of ACEVO, and is a regular contributor to Third Sector, as well as being co-author of several NCVO publications.

#FROMTHE ARCHIVES

Married in 1950, Chris and Betty Birch have been involved in political, trade union, and LGBTQ+ activism for over 60 years. Sharing similar interests, they were both Communist Party Members and involved with organisations such as the Aid to Spanish Youth Committee. After the death of his friend, Mark Ashton, Chris became involved in forming the Mark Ashton Memorial Trust, which was created to raise money for individuals living with HIV. The archive includes the truncheon taken from the police by Mark Ashton, correspondence, personal scrapbooks, press cuttings, and various other papers relating to the couples activism.