The Trustees

Karen Cushing is a Senior Crown Prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service, and specialises in youth justice. She has a Bachelor of Arts/Law from the Australian National University and after graduating and qualifying as a solicitor, worked for a judge in the Supreme Court in Sydney, before coming to the UK in 1996 and re-qualifying as a solicitor here. Karen is currently undertaking a Professional Doctorate in Youth Justice at the University of Bedfordshire.

Karen's main role as a trustee for SAFE! is ensuring that our support for young victims of crime in no way jeopardises potential or on-going criminal prosecutions. She also advises on criminal law as well as legal issues concerning victims, witnesses, procedures in the Youth Court, Magistrates' Court and Crown Court.

Tracey has worked for Local Authority Organisations for the past twenty years having worked across Buckinghamshire and more recently within Oxfordshire County Council.

During her time in Bucks, she worked in the Youth Offending Service for ten years, undertaking preventative interventions for those vulnerable Children and Young people considered most at risk of offending. Tracey also co-ordinated and managed the Restorative Justice and Victim work within the service and had an overview of the Referral Order and Support worker and Volunteer schemes.

Sarah Breton has lived and worked in Oxford for the last 30 years.  She is married with two grown children and a cantankerous old pug that she inherited!  Sarah’s career in the public sector has included working in the NHS as a Health Visitor, Public Health specialist, Service Director and more recently Children’s Commissioner for Oxfordshire County Council.

Ray Hipkin has been a Chartered Health and Safety Practitioner for 36 years, specialising in management systems and compliance. Ray has worked in the past for two major FTSE 100 companies. Ray is now in private practice, working mainly with small businesses, agriculture diversity projects and other organisations within the charity and voluntary sector.  Ray’s main role within Safe is to support and help the team in the field with managing their safety and the safety of their clients, a role he also is actively engaged in with other charities. 

Charlotte Buckingham has been working in the voluntary/not for profit sector since 2002.  She is currently working as a Regional Director for Two Saints a specialist housing association providing support services to people who are homeless, prior to joining Two Saints she was the Chief Executive Officer for a small charity in Oxford that specialised in working with people with multiple and complex needs. Charlotte’s broad range of experience has been developed through working as a front-line staff member and in various management posts. Charlotte has a keen interest in business development, outcomes for clients and organisational performance.

Sue’s career has been in both the commercial and charity sectors. She worked in the commercial sector until 2002, focused on business development, mergers and acquisitions and also qualified as an accountant. She moved to the charity sector in 2002, initially as a Finance Director and then as Chief Executive at Meningitis Now. She stopped working in 2016 to look after her Dad and now works as a consultant to various charities, assisting them with projects such as mergers, sustainable development and strategic finance. Sue has a particular interest in supporting young people and feels privileged to be involved with SAFE!.

Jay is an experienced Safeguarding Manager and qualified youth worker who has worked in further education, schools, a local authority early intervention team, and youth services. He brings over 20 years’ experience in working with young people and families from all backgrounds, and has led on youth participation work with care experienced young people and young carers. He is currently a Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead at an FE College, leading on safeguarding policy and practice. Jay is Trustee with Lead Responsibility for Safeguarding at SAFE!.

Simon was a prosecutor, mainly with the Crown prosecution Service, for over 35 years. He retired in September 2020 and now works part-time as a Rule of Law consultant in the UK and Internationally. He became a Trustee in February 2021 and hopes to use his experience of the Criminal Justice System to help the work done by SAFE! With the children and families it supports, and help improve their experience of the system.

Liz Jones (MBE) is the Anti-Social Behaviour Manager and Domestic Abuse Lead for Oxford City Council and was previously the Senior Manager of Berkshire Witness Service.  She is a trustee for two other charities and has been on the Board of SAFE! for five years.  Furthermore, Liz has been a volunteer for a charity for 10 years.