Who we are

We are an organisation currently run totally by volunteers in a variety of roles.

Our In-school Volunteers are from a wide variety of backgrounds, but all share an enthusiasm to help children gain skills and confidence in maths.

For more details, please visit our In-school Volunteers page.

Supporting our In-school Volunteers, we currently have nine Mentors, all with extensive teaching experience in primary schools and some with specialist skills in teaching maths.

For more details, please visit our Mentors page.

In each geographical area where we operate, we have – or will have – an Area Leader who manages the recruitment of In-school Volunteers and their placement with local schools. For more details, please visit our Area Leaders page.

The protection of children is an important activity for the charity, and we have appointed Graham Beeden as our Safeguarding Officer. He is responsible for ensuring that we have policies and processes in place so that our trustees and volunteers understand their responsibilities to protect children and take active steps to do so.

Graham Beeden recently retired from 27 years of primary school teaching, with 13 of these as a Head. In his roles as Head, Graham was the Designated Safeguarding Lead, which essentially meant he was in overall charge of ensuring the safety of all the children in the school. His earlier experience includes assisting schools in the teaching and learning of maths.

Bernard Manson is our chair and co-founder.

He has a postgraduate maths degree and both of his sisters are maths teachers. Maths education – and where it goes wrong – has been an interest for many years. Following a career in banking, he is now taking the opportunity to contribute to maths learning in schools.

Lisa Baglin was, until the end of 2019, the Managing Director of Cass Art, a leading UK independent retailer of art supplies. She has worked in retail for nearly twenty years and is a qualified Chartered Accountant with a degree in Modern History from Oxford University. She has two children (age 12 and 15) and believes passionately that the early primary school years are key to laying the foundations for enjoying and understanding maths.

Ron Finlay is a communications consultant who is passionate about making the complex simple. With a degree in Economics from Cambridge University, he has always been as enchanted by the beauty of mathematics as bewitched by the power of language. He is an Associate Lecturer in Business Communication at the University of the Arts, London, and an experienced charity trustee.

Sarah Manson is our other co-founder.  She worked in academic and children’s publishing for many years, was a professional school librarian, and subsequently ran a literary agency.  She has founded and run several charity projects and is excited that Number Champions can deliver much-needed support to young children and also provide a rewarding opportunity for volunteers.

Gelena Rozenberg has worked in financial services in the US and the UK.  She is currently specialising in business strategy, product development and change management.   Before entering finance, she obtained a degree in elementary education, since when she has been involved in a number of volunteering initiatives focusing on development, education and empowerment.

Stephanie Sanchez Kuong is a Portfolio Manager at Enko Capital Management having previously worked as a rates trader. She has a degree in Finance from Oxford University and in Applied Mathematics from Ensimag, Grenoble. Having tutored many students, she realises that the first obstacle children face in maths is a psychological one, with small difficulties snowballing into big fears – so she is very enthusiastic about Number Champion’s focus on building confidence.