Restitute was founded by Cath Pickles, a mum and herself a 3rd party victim of crime.

My daughter was sexually abused between the age of 9 and 12 and it wasn’t until many years later, with serious mental health issues and some significant behaviour challenges that she finally felt able to disclose. We knew by that time that something was seriously wrong and by the age of 14 that it involved sexual abuse. It wasn’t until she was 15 that we knew the full horror of what had happened.

The abuse happened outside of our family but even so, it left us all damaged, distrusting, exhausted and struggling to know how to manage her significant trauma. Whilst our priority was our daughter, the rest of our family’s psychological damage was virtually ignored, not only by professionals but also by us. I had to stop work which significantly affected our finances and looking back, our son’s childhood passed us by in a blur of trying to keep our daughter alive. 

We struggled to understand her behaviour and how to support her, fought for services that we did not know existed and battled the mutli-agency involvement that often left us feeling that no-one knew what anyone else was offering, let alone what they were actually doing.

Rebecca Westall is a Headteacher of an Infant and Nursery School in Norwich.

Rebecca has worked in Senior Leadership in the primary age range for 20 years and for last 9 years has been a Headteacher. Rebecca has led her current school to an outstanding Ofsted judgment, with the Personal Development Curriculum being recognised as the beating heart of the school. Rebecca is also a Designated Safeguarding Lead and Senior Mental Health Lead. Rebecca is an advocate for ensuring children with SEND are given appropriate support and provision and she also prioritises supporting families who need support, guidance and nurture.

Rebecca has lived experience of being a 3^rd party victim of crime and wants to give something back to the organisation who helped her and her family get through very difficult times.

In her spare time, Rebecca is a keen long distance runner; enjoying being part of a local Running Club. This takes her to running events all over the county and sometimes further afield.

Rebecca is a non-executive director of Restitute and leads on Network and Outreach

David Jermy is a retired business professional with decades of experience chairing and leading organisations.

David is a retired business professional who founded and managed a successful company which specialised in activity holidays in the UK and Europe. He spent several years serving as a councillor on Waveney District Council (now East Suffolk Council) including serving on its Cabinet. He also served as leader of the opposition group.

David is a non-executive director and leads on business governance for Restitute.

Alex Mayer is the MP for the Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard

With 20 years of campaign, policy, media and organising experience, including as MEP for the East of England (2016-19), Alex has a huge network of political, business and third sector contacts. As a Member of the European Parliament for 3 years, Alex lead on foreign affairs and the economy and represented six million people from our region. Alex was awarded a Parliamentarian award for her work into cruelty-free cosmetics. Alex’s work ethic is legendary as is her dediciation to any task she undertakes. 

Alex is a non-executive director of Restitute and leads on policy and legislation.

Chris Halliday is an IT, business continuity and process management specialist.

Chris is a business manager and IT professional with over thirty years of experience in both the UK and the USA. In the UK he has worked in fields as diverse as local government, higher education, chartered surveying, and architecture. In the US he managed a Boston law firm specialising in social justice and employment litigation. Today he is a manager at the West of England Combined Authority.

In his spare time, Chris is an author, game designer, and mental health first aider.

Chris is a non-executive director of Restitute and leads on IT and data security.