Trustee
HRPF is fortunate in having committed and experienced directors of our corporate trustee, Prisoners of Conscience Appeal Fund (Trustee) Limited (Co. No. 07690599). The trustee board meets quarterly, is fully involved in the key decisions affecting HRPF and is actively involved in every application for assistance by prisoners of conscience.
David Lock QC (Chair) – David is a practising barrister at Landmark Chambers, London. He also sits as a Deputy High Court Judge in the Queen’s Bench and Family Divisions. He is a public law specialist and is the Legal500 Public Law QC of the year. He acts in cases concerning human rights, healthcare rights and in a variety of governance matters relating to public bodies. David has had a varied career, having served as a councillor, Member of Parliament, Government Minister and has chaired national public bodies such as the Service Authority of the National Criminal Intelligence Service. He has served as a member of the Board of a major NHS Trust and chaired the Board of the Birmingham Science Park for 5 years from 2013 to 2018. He has been married to Bernadette, a medical doctor who specialises in supporting victims of torture, for 35 years and they have 3 adult children, all of whom are pursuing their own interesting and varied careers. David and Bernadette are both keen cyclists and regularly take time out from their busy careers for extended cycling trips, which are recorded on their blog www.decade2australia.org.
Jonathan Taylor – Jonathan is a chartered accountant employed by a ‘Big Four’ accountancy firm in London where the majority of his work focuses on the audit of tax disclosures in the accounts of multinational groups. He has an undergraduate masters degree from the University of Oxford.
Keith Davis – Keith is a qualified accountant and has spent most of his career working on value for money in the public sector. He is currently Director of environment value for money studies at the National Audit Office (NAO), and has previously led the NAO’s work on international development. He has worked in senior communications roles at the NAO and in HM Courts and Tribunals Service. He is a serving magistrate.
Aysegul Arkac– Aysegul is a Paralegal at Lightrock and will join Addleshaw Goddard LLP in 2025 to qualify as a solicitor. Throughout her professional career, she has been actively engaged in human rights initiatives, demonstrating a deep passion for the subject and a genuine inspiration to drive positive change in people’s lives. Prior to joining Lightrock, Aysegul worked in the government sector as a treasury specialist in Turkey and then transitioned into the legal sector as an administrative judge with extensive experience in public affairs, tax and the regulatory landscape.
Sebastian Scott – Sebastian is a British-German Program Manager at the Open Society Justice Initiative in London, which uses the law to promote and defend justice and human rights, globally. Sebastian has a background in law and criminology with over 14 years’ experience within the human rights and development field. Working as a funder and practitioner, Sebastian’s work has focused on projects supporting workers’ and refugee rights, access to education, climate justice, and strengthening the strategic litigation field.
Patrons
PoC benefits from the support of many distinguished patrons:
Lady Brooke, Lynn Carter, Dame Judi Dench DBE, Lady Antonia Fraser DBE, Rosamund Horwood-Smart QC, Kurt & Caroline Jackson, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Neil Latchman, Caroline Moorehead OBE, Rabbi Julia Neuberger DBE, Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, The Hon Jonathon Porritt, Lord Puttnam CBE, Rev Dr Nicholas Sagovsky, Zoë Wanamaker CBE, Susan Dunn