our trustees
Vivienne Whittingham - Chair
I am currently a Service Manager for Adult Community Social Work in Hammersmith and Fulham and I have practised as a social worker in the Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham for more than twenty years. I have been involved with River House and it’s service users since it’s inception.
I am privileged to be Chair of the Board of Trustees and I am committed to ensuring that River House continues to thrive as a dynamic community resource.
Dean Nicholson
I qualified as an Psychiatric Nurse in 1982, which is the same year I met my partner. After working at St Thomas’s for a year we set up our own residential home in Cambridgeshire for the elderly. During this time I trained as an HIV counsellor and helped to set up and run the Cambridge HIV (AIDS) help line. This involved face to face counselling as well as answering the phones. I was Chairman for about 2 ½ years but unfortunately had to step down as my partner became unwell. We sold the home and moved back to London. After a period of illness my partner passed. I took a year out and did some travelling.
I joined Priory Hospital in 1997 and I am currently the Therapy Services Manager for the hospital, work I immensely enjoy. I have done quite a bit of training in different types of therapy since starting with them. And I’m fortunate enough to be able to see patients as well as run the services.
I was delighted to join River House's Board in January 2012.
Dr Rachael Jones
Rachael is a Consultant Physician in HIV and Sexual Health at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London and provides clinics at the West London Centre for Sexual Health located within Charing Cross Hospital. Her major interests are the medical complications of HIV and she runs a combined HIV/renal service. She has been involved in writing local and national guidelines on HIV and sexual health and has lectured extensively throughout the UK and internationally.
Alain Labouere
I have been coming to River House for more than a decade. During those years I have often struggled to remain well. Without the emotional support of the staff, my peers, the therapies, the food, I would have been hospitalised many times. I believe that River House makes an important contribution to the quality of life of HIV people in West London. It also save the NHS a lot of money.
Drugs keep us alive, but not always well. Neuropathy, fatigue, nausea, depression are just some of the symptoms many of us experience regularly. We're also seeing the long term consequences of a life on medication: cardiovascular disease and cancer are on the increase. More than ever, River House is needed. My role as the Service Users' Representative and Trustee is to ensure that that River House continues its vital work and that our voice is heard and listened to.
Matthew Weait - Treasurer
Matthew Weait BA(Hons), MA, MPhil, DPhil is Professor of Law and Policy and Pro-Vice-Master (Academic Partnerships) at Birkbeck College, University of London. His research centres on the impact of law on people living with HIV. He has published widely on this subject and has worked as a consultant for the WHO and UNAIDS on the criminalization of HIV transmission and exposure. He was for a time a member of the Expert Advisory Group on AIDS and is currently a member of the Advisory Group for the Global Commission on HIV and the Law. In 2010 he helped establish the River House Law Clinic.
Dr Mark Nelson
Dr Nelson is a consultant physician at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London. He trained at Jesus College, Cambridge and Westminster Hospital medical school from where he qualified in 1986. He was appointed Consultant Physician at this hospital in 1991 and a senior lecturer at Imperial College Medical School in 1996. Since that time he has built a large HIV practice with a special interest in HIV in patient care, co-infection with hepatitis B and C and the clinical utility of new antiretroviral agents.
Dr Nelson sits on the Executive Committee of the British HIV Association where he is co-chair of the guidelines committee for opportunistic infections and the treatment of hepatitis C. He is a member of the Guidelines Committee for Malignancy and Hepatitis co-infection. He is chair of the BHIVA hepatitis special interest group and the newly elected chair of the BHIVA science and education committee. He is a trustee of several charities associated with HIV including the International Association of Physicians in AIDS care (IAPAC) and St Stephens AIDS Trust, a charity committed to the improvement of life for all those living with HIV where he is head of overseas development and education. As such, he leads on doctor exchanges and educational projects in several African and Asian countries. He has been awarded a visiting professorship at the Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya and most recently the certificate of merit by the government of Vietnam.
Dr Christopher Scott
Dr Christopher Scott is a Consultant Physician in HIV and Genitourniary Medicine at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital.
He trained at University College Hospital London and was appointed as a Consultant in 2010.
Christopher works at the West London Centre in Charing Cross Hospital in the clinical lead role and has a specialist interest in anal cancer screening where he runs the anoscopy service.
