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Our Trustees & Directors

David Pendlebury
Chairman

David Pendlebury is the Chairman, a Trustee and co-founder of The Make A Difference Trust, incorporating TheatreMAD. Prior to this he had been Chairman of both Theatrecares and West End Cares for seven years, having been involved as a volunteer since 1994.

David is an actor with extensive experience in the West End appearing in Kiss of the Spider Woman (Shaftesbury Theatre), City of Angels (Prince of Wales Theatre), The Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty's Theatre), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Dominion Theatre,) and 11 years as Walking Cover to Zazu, Timon and Pumbaa in Disney’s The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre.

Regional appearances include Chess (1st National Tour), Jesus Christ Superstar (20th Anniversary Concert Tour), Jesus Christ Superstar (Civic Theatre, Chelmsford), and following The Lion King, David appeared in The Pirates of Penzance and as Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors at Kilworth House Theatre in Leicestershire.

David was most recently seen in the 25th Anniversary Production of The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall.

For Theatrecares and TheatreMAD, he has created and produced events including West End Bares, A West End Christmas, West End Eurovision, Flaunt It and oversaw seasons of late night cabarets at the Talk of London and Soho Theatre. He has also initiated many Midnight Matinees of hit West End musicals, a number of gala events and supervised the development of TheatreMAD’s World AIDS Day Theatre Bucket Collection Appeal.

Melanie Tranter
Vice Chair

Melanie worked as the General Manager of Dress Circle, the musical theatre store, from 2003 until 2010, when she left in order to play a more active role in the charity.

She became involved with TheatreMAD in early 2008 after acting as a 'Fairy Godmother' on Theatrecares charity gala of Stephen Fry's Cinderella at the Old Vic in December 2007. Since 2010 Melanie has co-produced the highly successful ’A West End Christmas’ for the charity, which continues to be one of its core community and awareness annual events’.

Melanie previously worked as Corporate Event Manager for Teswaine Business Communications, arranging fundraising and corporate events.

Julian Bird
Trustee

Julian is the Chief Executive for SOLT/TMA. Prior to this he was the Chief Operating Officer for Tate, leading the day-to-day operations of the Tate group. This included all the front-of-house visitor services, estates, collection care, resources (Human Resources, Information Systems, Legal and Finance) and business planning. He also oversaw Tate’s large commercial operations within Tate Enterprises Ltd, which include substantial publishing, retail and catering operations.

Prior to joining Tate, Julian spent 9 years at the Financial Services Authority, joining upon its inception. Before the FSA, Julian worked at the Bank of England, and also worked in various arts and entertainment companies.

Outside of Tate, Julian is also involved in several other charities. He is one of the trustees of the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford, chairing the main working sub-committee of the board, and is an advisor to the Southwold & Aldeburgh Summer Theatres. He is also a trustee of the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea.

Peter Patsalides
Director

For the past twenty-eight years, Peter has been involved in the business world. He started his own company, Teswaine Business Communications, in 1993, before selling it in 2004.

He then held the position of Group Business Development Director on the executive board of N.G. Bailey.

He opted for semi-retirement in 2008 and now works as a consultant and a non-executive director.

Michael George
Director

After a few years in International banking, Michael started working in the Entertainment industry in 1996. He spent 15 years working for Andrew Lloyd Webber as Head of Merchandise and Licensing. January 2011 marked the next stage of his career when he moved on to run an established Print, Promotional and Advertising Agency that supports the Entertainment and Corporate world. He is delighted to join the charity as a Director with special focus on 'Commercial partnerships and new business opportunities'.