Governance

Council of Management

Every member of our Council is passionate about the fight for a better world, and believes that War on Want can make real lasting change with the help and support of our members. 

The Council of Management is democratically elected annually by War on Want's members, and has overall responsibility for the direction of War on Want's work. Anyone can become a member of War on Want by joining here.

The current War on Want Council of Management is:

Alia Al-Ghussain

Alia has worked in campaigns and communications for a number of organisations, including Amnesty International, Greenpeace UK and War on Want. She has worked on a broad range of issues such as corporate accountability, human rights, climate justice and militarism and security issues. Alia has also been active in Palestine solidarity work for a number of years.

Amber Williams

Amber is a trade union activist who worked in education for 15 years, later gaining a BSc Psychology degree. She co-founded The Nina Franklin Fund in 2020 to provide material solidarity to educators and young people on the ground in Palestine. Amber was recently appointed President of the National Education Union (NEU) Bristol District alongside her role as International Solidarity Officer, which sees her work closely with Care4Calais and union partners in Sudan.

Esther Giles

Esther is an economist by education, and a qualified public finance accountant (CPFA) by profession. She spent most of her career working as a Finance Director in the National Health Service. Esther now supports a number of community and grassroots charities and organisations as treasurer, and is a member and activist in Unite the Union. Esther also works as a gardener and designer, promoting sustainable and organic methods.

Mark Luetchford

Mark joined War on Want in 1987 and has acted as a trustee for much of that time. He started his career at War on Want as a volunteer, and went on to work for Oxfam and the Soil Association. After a period working in the civil service and local government, Mark now works for the NHS as a Communications Manager. Mark is a long-term supporter of the rights of the people of Western Sahara, and is Chair of the Western Sahara Campaign.

Mike Cushman

Mike is an activist in the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign in support of Palestinian rights, and is Membership Secretary and Co-Founder of Jewish Voice for Labour. He helped lead the campaign in support of the liberation movements in Portugal’s former African colonies. Mike has been an active trade unionist in the University and College Union and its predecessors for four decades. Following 20 years working in Adult Community Education, Mike moved to the London School of Economics (LSE) where he worked as a researcher and teacher.

Norina O’Hare

Norina is the former Head of Policy and Equality at the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS). Norina is a lifelong trade unionist, with 26 years' experience at PCS of working on strategic change, decision making and governance; as well as in promoting equality, social justice and human rights, and championing workers' rights and collective bargaining.

Sam Mason

Sam is a long-time trade unionist and activist across a range of labour rights, human rights, and social justice areas. She is currently working at the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) as a Policy Officer covering sustainability and climate change, and is the main representative on the global Trade Unions for Energy Democracy initiative. Sam previously worked with Amnesty International, is an anti-war and peace campaigner, a member of the New Lucas Plan project, and helps co-ordinate her local Waltham Forest Climate Justice Coalition.

Shaben Begum

Shaben has extensive experience of working as a leader in the third sector in Scotland and is a skilled campaigner on the rights of disabled people. She has successfully influenced legislation in the Scottish Parliament and has held membership of several Ministerial groups, sharing expertise on independent advocacy, issues of equality, diversity, human rights and making systems accessible and easy to use for everyone. Shaben is the Vice Chair of Long Covid Scotland, a grassroots organisation led by people with lived experience of long Covid.

Steve Davies

Dr Steve Davies is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD) at Cardiff University. He was previously a Senior Lecturer at Cardiff University’s School of Social Sciences (SOCSI), where he taught and researched on globalisation, public services and trade unions. Steve was a Trade Union Officer with predecessor unions of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), where he worked closely with War on Want, and authored a pamphlet on aid as a trade union issue.

Our finances

War on Want is a very lean organisation, and we pledge to use every penny we are given to its maximum effect in bringing about a better world for all people.

Our annual report and accounts are publicly available documents, and contain full details of our income, expenditure and balance sheet year on year.