Our Trustees

Emma Spring Co-founder & Trustee

Emma is a mum and a teacher, who cares passionately about making a difference to children’s lives through education. She has been lucky enough to combine her love of travel with her passion for education, in her diverse and varied career which has seen her living and working in The Middle East, USA and Russia. When her wanderlust subsided slightly, Emma returned to the UK and furthered her career by working as a Schools Adviser for a local authority as well as a consultant and trainer for a national leading early years provider. She currently sits on the governing body for a federation of schools in the elected role of Chair of Governors. The concept behind BanktheFood immediately appealed to Emma because she has seen first hand, the effect poverty can have on children and their families. Such a simple yet innovative idea, has the potential to make a monumental difference to food banks nationally and help those most vulnerable in our communities, particularly in light of the Covid 19 pandemic and cost of living crisis.

Aikta Hancock Trustee

Aikta’s twin passions are social justice and food. She has nearly 20 years experience working for an international human rights organisation, leading on strategy development, project management and running a team responsible for organising high profile events and creative projects. She has built relationships with some of the UK’s best loved celebrities to raise awareness and influence positive human rights change. Aikta has a passion for food, inspired by a love of travel and her own family upbringing in Leicester, surrounded by the varied aromas, sights and tastes of South Asia and East Africa, where sharing food in the community is a big part of life. She founded the Essex-based street food company, Khush, in 2013, motivated by a desire to share her culinary heritage with others. Aikta is proud to be supporting BanktheFood, an incredible example of innovation playing an important role in supporting those most in need in our communities.

David Mills Trustee

David is a husband and father of four who has worked in a variety of senior roles across different organisations in finance for more than thirty five years. Now enjoying semi-retirement, he currently sits on the governing body for a federation of schools in the elected role as Chair of Finance as well as being chair of his local bee association and enjoying his passion for nature and gardening.

Having grown up in a family which was dependent upon the benefits system, and not always knowing where the next meal would come from, David is aware of the importance of food banks in helping to provide balanced meals for an increasing number of people. He is delighted for the opportunity to bring his knowledge and experience to BanktheFood, helping us to support our local food banks.

Daniel Owen Co-founder & Trustee

Dan has over 30 years of experience in the technology and marketing sector, with a specific focus on the internet and digital media. Over the last 25 years he has set up a variety of successful internet businesses including a software and marketing agency, Mustard New Media. He passionately believes in exploiting technology to solve real-world problems.

So, when Southend Food Bank came to him in 2018 and described the problems they faced he was shocked. "I had no idea that they had mountains of baked beans, but not enough food to provide a balanced diet for a family. Generous people were giving, but not the right stuff." He could see that technology could be exploited to help solve this problem. So BanktheFood project began.

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