Explore Compass Wellbeing’s heritage and dedicated teams, committed to our mission and vision, achieving Net Zero, ensuring fair wages, and celebrating our impact
Compass Wellbeing, led by an experienced management team, focuses on enhancing health outcomes by actively promoting equality and social justice.
Shona combines over 30 years of leadership in both the commercial and not-for-profit sectors, excelling in the development of sustainable social sector businesses and social enterprises. Her expertise skilfully bridges commercial acumen with the public and social sectors’ ethos, particularly in health and employability projects. Notably, she drove the “People into Work” programme, linking businesses with individuals facing employment barriers.
Her career spans launching social enterprises to senior roles within various charities, including projects with the NHS and Local Authorities addressing the challenges of service redesign.
Shona’s commitment to social innovation is underscored by her previous experience as a former Chair of Social Enterprise Scotland and Trustee of the Health and Social Care Alliance.
Mathew brings over 25 years of experience driving strategic growth and operational excellence across the public, private, and third sectors. In his most recent role as Managing Director of Enabled Living Healthcare, he transformed the organisation from a start-up into a high-performing entity. He brings extensive board-level experience, having collaborated with corporate boards, political leaders, and NHS entities to align strategic goals, implement robust governance, and deliver measurable outcomes. His leadership has been recognised through multiple prestigious awards, including Newham Business of the Year and Living Wage Advocate of the Year. A visionary and collaborative leader, Mathew emphasises values-driven cultures, staff development, and stakeholder engagement.
Simon has 35 years’ experience in the NHS, local and central government. He was the former managing director of Tower Hamlets CCG and director of transformation for the NE London STP/ICS. Under his leadership, the CCG received an Outstanding rating from NHS England twice and was nominated for the 2017 Health Service Journal CCG of the Year. Simon’s commitment to community activism is evident through his involvement in various voluntary organisations and societies since 1986. He served as a Trustee and Treasurer of Metro, an equality and diversity charity in SE London, for five years until 2023. Currently, he is a Trustee of the University Schools Trust, overseeing four schools in Tower Hamlets and Greenwich. He was Interim Chief Executive from March 2024 until January 2025.
Richard has been a key leader at East London NHS Foundation Trust since he joined as Director of Integrated Care in 2015. He ascended to the Trust Board in 2017 and was named Deputy CEO in 2022. His extensive experience also includes a critical role as Director of Mental Health and Joint Commissioning at NHS Tower Hamlets CCG, where he significantly enhanced mental health services across East London. A qualified social worker with a diverse background in management, Richard holds degrees in English Literature and Social Work, including a Master’s in Public Administration. His combination of clinical and managerial expertise drives his commitment to improving healthcare delivery and outcomes.
Natalia began her City of London career in 2004, holding several senior directorship roles within the finance sector. With extensive experience in the finance sector, she has worked on various projects for institutions and organisations across Europe, focusing on governance, innovation, and solutions from the private sector to apply to the public sector. Natalia has served on multiple boards and committees and was a member of the Diversity & Inclusion committee at Anacap Financial Partners. She holds an MSc in Finance from the London Business School and AMDP from Harvard University.
Meet the committed team at Compass Wellbeing. We work hard to find creative, community-centered solutions for better health outcomes.
Hassan Barakat, our esteemed Head of Delivery and Performance, exemplifies transformative leadership in global recruitment and project management, effectively linking the education and private sectors. A strategic visionary, Hassan has led crucial online transitions during COVID-19, skilfully bringing together diverse teams to enhance operational growth and efficiency. His strategic foresight and ability to foster cohesion play a key role in advancing Compass Wellbeing’s mission beyond borders, significantly improving community health and wellness.
Introducing Habib, a dedicated Senior Finance Manager at Compass Wellbeing CIC. With a tenure of over 10 years in various roles within the organisation, Habib has gained extensive knowledge in finance, contract management, and estates. Passionate about optimising organisational spending, Habib takes a proactive approach in streamlining processes and implementing innovative solutions for existing practices. With a deep understanding of organisational behaviour and strong interpersonal skills, Habib effectively collaborates with companies and organisations at all levels to ensure value for money for commissioners and the public.
Dilwar is a Senior Business Manager at Compass Wellbeing, with over 8 years of valuable contributions. With expertise in business development, contracts management, infrastructure, community engagement, and HR, Dilwar brings a diverse skill set. Prior to joining Compass Wellbeing, Dilwar spent 9 years in the NHS and local authority. Dilwar has previous experience in a national pilot programme for enhancing GP retention and is currently involved in medical device management. Dilwar’s commitment to excellence is evident through ongoing projects in CRM management, social media marketing, and website development.
Ian joined the Compass Wellbeing team in February 2020 as senior strategy manager following a 39 year NHS career. He worked with the organisation to deliver keyworker testing across Luton and Bedfordshire during the pandemic and from January 2021 led the community development team working with voluntary and community organisations to build capacity and resilience in the sector. Ian has moved into a role managing the development of emerging Compass Wellbeing projects.
Our company structure is aligned with ELFT’s ambition to become a Marmot Trust, reflecting our dedication to our vision and mission.
Compass Wellbeing is a community interest company (CIC) registered with Companies House (Registration 08451249) and a wholly owned subsidiary of the ‘outstanding’-rated East London Foundation NHS Trust. We also belong to Social Enterprise UK.
We maintain strict compliance and financial assurance through annual reviews by Independent Chartered Accountants.
View our latest financial reports and CIC 34 report at Companies House here.
We’re committed to reaching Net Zero emissions by 2030 for direct emissions and by 2045 for indirect, with our Board’s approval in February 2024. We’ll also help our VCSE network aim for Net Zero.
We’re a proud accredited Living Wage Employer, paying all our staff based on the real cost of living, not just the minimum wage. This applies to directly employed and contracted staff, reflecting our commitment to fairness and social responsibility.
Compass Wellbeing actively operates in three boroughs across Bedfordshire and thirteen within London
We have helped shape the trust’s work as an anchor organisation across East London, Bedfordshire and Luton, using our community expertise and innovative solutions to reduce social inequalities. To date, we’ve funded over £18 million to more than 370 projects across 16 boroughs.
ELFT announced it was becoming a Marmot Trust and we pivoted our operations to support these aims. At this point, we secured over £12 million of funding for our voluntary and community sector partners across this period.
We begin providing support and training for the voluntary and community sector, securing funding and tailoring programmes to support these essential services. In our initial year, we partnered to award and contract over £3.8 million in funding to 87 projects.
We launch a number of programmes to support ELFT service users into employment, including free interpreter training and service user work placements.
During the COVID pandemic we ran testing for key workers across Luton, Bedford and Central Bedfordshire.
We develop and deliver leadership training to 124 Newham GP surgeries, work that won us a ‘Leading Healthcare’ award. We begin work to improve services such as interpreting and medical device management.
ELFT acquires the company and our focus shifts to ‘Primary and Community Care & Social Justice services.
Compass Wellbeing expands its scope to include community nursing and also develops innovative, specialised counselling and psychology services for marginalised groups and mothers and children.
Compass Wellbeing is created as a community interest company, a subsidiary of ELFT, initially delivering talking therapies in Tower Hamlets.
Compass Wellbeing holds a partnership approach close to the core of our work. We are proud to be recognised by several bodies for our contribution.
We’re honoured to be named the London & South East England winner for community development non-profit organisation of the year at the 2023 Prestige Awards.
We were thrilled to receive a ‘highly commended’ status at the 2023 Health Service Journal (HSJ) Awards, recognising our support and partnership efforts with the NHS and the VCSE sector.
Honoured at the Forward Healthcare Awards 2022 for our innovative procurement streamlining between the NHS and the voluntary community sector.
🌟New Grants Available! 🌟
We're excited to announce grants ranging from £500 to £10,000 to support local community initiatives that make a significant impact. Projects should deliver against the following priorities of Education, Skills and Employment, and Wellbeing.
If your…
Our incredible Community Development Officers attended a remarkable event to honour our wonderful Voluntary and Community Groups and Individuals.
@CompassWB @Mathew_Sheehan1 Very best of luck @Mathew_Sheehan1 - @CompassWB is a great organisation and I know they’re looking forward to your arrival! I’ve had an enjoyable last year as interim CEO.
;