By 2030, there will be over 20 million older people in the UK

David Sinclair (Chief Executive)

David has worked in policy and research on ageing and demographic change for 20 years.

David has a particular interest in older consumers, active ageing, financial services, adult vaccination, and the role of technology in an ageing society. He has a strong knowledge of UK and global ageing society issues, from healthcare to pensions and housing to transport. 

David has presented on longevity and demographic change across the world (from Seoul to Singapore and Sydney to Stormont). And he has published reports on a range of topics including transport, technology, health and consumption.

David has worked as an expert for the pan-European Age Platform for 15 years and is the former Vice-Chair of the Government’s Consumer Expert Group for Digital Switchover. For ten years he chaired a London based charity (Open Age) which enables older people to sustain their physical and mental fitness, maintain active lifestyles and develop new and stimulating interests.

Prior to joining the ILC, David worked as Head of Policy at Help the Aged where he led a team of 8 policy advisors. David has also worked for environmental and disability organisations in policy and public affairs functions. His other experience includes working as a VSO volunteer in Romania, in Parliament for a Member of Parliament, and with backbench committees.

David is married, and has a 16 year old child. He runs (slowly) and cycles (a little quicker), is a retired football referee and once scored a penalty against Peter Shilton.

davidsinclair@ilcuk.org.uk

Twitter handle @sinclairda

Lyndsey Gorely (Head of Operations)

Lyndsey joined the ILC in October 2011 as an Administration and Events Assistant. She graduated from the Birmingham School of Acting (formerly the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama) in 2004. Coming from a varied background in theatre, admin and events, she is no stranger to deadlines and organisation.

As Head of Operations, Lyndsey is responsible for the smooth running of the ILC office, and works with ILC’s Chief Executive and Director in ensuring the organisation’s regulatory obligations are met.

She has previously been responsible for ILC’s busy event schedule, managing over 50 ILC events each year including roundtable discussions, small scale seminars and workshops, dinners, lunches and large half-day conferences. She has managed a high profile drinks reception at 10 Downing Street, hosted by Mrs Samantha Cameron and the ILC’s annual ‘Future of Ageing’ conferences.

lyndseygorely@ilcuk.org.uk

Paul Goulden (Head of Partnerships)

Paul joined ILC in August 2021 as our new Head of Partnerships. He has previously worked in the not-for-profit sector for the last 27 years, firstly in campaigning and fundraising and then with the Age Concern/Age UK network since 2005.

He has worked at local, regional and national level within Age UK, and has an MSc in Voluntary Sector Management from Cass Business School. Paul is also Chair of AWOC, a charity supporting people who are ageing without children and working to raise awareness about the issues they face. In his spare time Paul enjoys dog walking, carpentry and repurposing, and community volunteering.

PaulGoulden@ilcuk.org.uk

Lily Parsey (Head of Policy and Influencing)

Lily leads ILC-UK’s policy, public affairs and influencing activity in the UK and across the world.

Her work spans all policy areas, from health and care, to intergenerational relations, to the future of work.

She has a particular interest in the prevention of ill health and has spoken on the topic at a number of conferences, workshops and webinars across the world.

She has been quoted in the media, including in The Guardian, Forbes and BBC Radio among others.

Lily sits on the Advisory Board of the Age Action Alliance and previously managed the Innovating for Ageing Awards.

LilyParsey@ilcuk.org.uk

Isabelle Gillespie (Head of Programmes)

Isabelle has worked in policy, government affairs and strategic communications for almost a decade. 

Isabelle has a particular interest in women’s financial empowerment, mental health and wellbeing, and the role that city design and planning has in building ideal communities to live, work and play.

She joined the ILC in Summer 2023 after working for a Cabinet Minister in Australia where she developed Government-wide strategies, new policies and oversaw the roll out of various initiatives. Isabelle also spent many years working across both the traditional and digital media space and on a variety of political campaigns.

In her spare time, Isabelle enjoys walking, cooking, travelling and seeing her favourite musicians in concert.

isabellegillespie@ilcuk.org.uk

Dr Vivien Burrows (Senior Research Fellow)

Vivien joined the ILC in December 2022 as a Senior Research Fellow. Before this, she worked as an Associate Professor in Economics at the University of Reading. Vivien has a PhD in Economics from the University of York, which she completed in 2012.

Vivien has a particular interest in household financial decision-making and financial wellbeing, and how wealth transfers between family members affect the accumulation of wealth and wealth inequalities. She is also interested in the causes behind the differences in retirement income between men and women, and how this gender pension gap has evolved over time.

Her recent work includes a book chapter on ‘Families, housing and economic security’, published in the Routledge edited volume Families, Housing and Property Wealth in a Neoliberal World, and a participatory research project exploring the impact of young onset dementia on financial wellbeing. Vivien has also been working on a textbook on the economics of the public sector for Oxford University Press, which includes dedicated chapters on healthcare, and ageing and pensions.

vivienburrows@ilcuk.org.uk

Kika De Silva (Accountant)
Kika is an Accountant at ILC

Kika qualified as a Chartered Accountant at PWC Sri Lanka . She also has a BSc (Econ ) Accounting And Financial Management from the University of Buckingham.

She works for a variety of Companies including Pension Funds.

She is married with three children. Enjoys going to the theatre , watching her son play cricket and encouraging her children in their pursuits.

 

Arunima Himawan (Senior Health Research Lead)

Arun joined the ILC in March 2019 as a Research Fellow.

She leads on ILC’s global health programme of work and currently manages the ILC’s prevention programme. She has also led on a number of other health projects, ranging from medication adherence to structural heart disease and adult immunisation. She is a member of the Structural Heart Disease Coalition, the ILC Global Alliance Long-term Care Working Group and the ILC Global Alliance Gender and Ageing committee.

In addition to global health, her interests include: generational discourse, social inequalities, and financial wellbeing. Prior to ILC, Arun worked at Goldsmiths College and the University of East Anglia in policy and research roles, influencing internal university policy to improve the student experience

arunimahimawan@ilcuk.org.uk

Esther McNamara (Senior Health Policy Lead)

Esther joined the ILC in November 2022 as Senior Health Policy Lead.

Before this she worked with a team of palliative healthcare researchers at the Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy and Rehabilitation alongside her MA in Public Policy at King’s College London. In this role she supported the delivery of research projects into various aspects of palliative care and rehabilitation, and she greatly enjoyed working with researchers and patient involvement groups. This is how she became interested in questions of longevity and good health at all stages of life, and the policy interventions that could support these objectives.

Esther’s areas of interest include mental health, immunisation, ageism in healthcare, and women’s experiences of their health at different stages of their lives. 

EstherMcNamara@ilcuk.org.uk

Emily Evans (Senior Communications and Engagement Officer)

​Emily is the Senior Communications and Engagement Officer at ILC-UK and joined at the end of April 2022 having spent over 25 years working in public affairs, communications and public sector policy analysis. She works across all ILC’s projects, events and communications and produces the ILC’s weekly Friday three newsletter.

After six years of living and working in a remote area of Panama, she returned to the UK with her family in August 2021. While in Panama she worked as an English teacher in various rural primary schools and for a parliamentary monitoring company, reporting on Select Committee evidence sessions, and gaining comprehensive policy knowledge on everything from social care to biosecurity. On her return to the UK worked as a Content Manager for a new cycle-to-work scheme provider specializing in e-bikes.

Following an interesting but not particularly employable zoology degree at Bristol University, Emily trained as a primary teacher and taught in various London schools. She worked for many years for a teachers’ union, first on education policy and then as the union’s Parliamentary and Campaigns Officer. Emily has also done assorted jobs at several small charities in Panama and the UK.

As a child, she moved from Nigeria to New Zealand and many places in between. She is happiest in a muddy field at a music festival but also enjoys running, cycling and travelling. Emily lives in Central London with her partner and two teenage daughters.

EmilyEvans@ilcuk.org.uk

Andrea Juste (Digital Marketing Officer)

Andrea Juste joined the ILC-UK in July 2022 as a Summer Intern.

Andrea is a journalist, communications and digital media specialist with a keen interest in health, healthy ageing and longevity.

After working for many years in the Health and Science sections of a daily newspaper in Brazil, and for communications agencies, she started a small business as a content strategy consultant, creating content and communications strategies for dozens of clients, especially in the health sector.

Coming from a multicultural background, Andrea values diversity, which is why she’s based in London and gets to connect with people from all over the world. After volunteering for the British Red Cross, helping with food distribution to refugees and asylum seekers, and facilitating activities for a women’s support group, she decided to pursue more opportunities in the charity sector. In July 2022, she joined the ILC-UK’s communications and engagement team and since March 2024 has been working part-time as the ILC’s Digital Marketing Officer.

Andrea generally works on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

AndreaJuste@ilcuk.org.uk

Anna van Renen (Research and Policy Officer)

Anna joined the ILC in April 2023 as Research and Policy Officer.

Anna holds a degree in Linguistics and a degree in Public Policy, both from the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Prior to joining the ILC, she worked as an English teacher for those new to the language. She is also currently wrapping up a master’s degree in Governance and Policy from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her research spanned two years and looked at how poor healthcare policy implementation in South Africa impacts migrants’ abilities to access paediatric health services.

Living, studying and researching in South Africa for a total of ten years allowed Anna to develop a deeper understanding of inequalities and disparities often found in healthcare policy and practice. Because of this, her passion lies in how policy can promote equitable and inclusive access to social and healthcare services, and how inequalities can be addressed to ensure institutions provide longevity-based healthcare and social services to everyone. Within this, she is particularly interested in the fields of housing, employment, community-based healthcare and women’s health.

Outside of work, she can be found baking cakes and pastries, reading a mystery novel, or spending time with her dogs.

annavanrenen@ilcuk.org.uk

Patrick Swain (Research and Development Manager)

Patrick began working as Research and Development Manager in July 2023, having previously worked at the ILC between August 2020 and March 2023 as a researcher.

Patrick has over five years’ experience working on UK and European health policy matters, working previously for Leukaemia UK and the Brussels-based Coalition for Life Course Immunisation. He also worked as a Public Affairs Assistant for Airbus during a university placement year, as part of his BSc in Politics with Creative Writing from the University of Surrey. Patrick is keen to deliver meaningful policy change by engaging with policymakers and relevant stakeholders in the UK and across the globe.

In his spare time, Patrick likes running, playing tennis, and learning French (très lentement). He lives in Hampshire with his fiancée and two cats, Buzz and Woody.

PatrickSwain@ilcuk.org.uk

Prof Les Mayhew (Associate Head of Global Research)

Les has worked with ILC for many years and in varying capacities, including as Head of Global Research from October 2020 to December 2022

Les is also Professor of Statistics at The Business School (formerly Cass), City University, London, and Managing Director of Mayhew Harper Associates Ltd. His previous experience includes 20 years in the Department of Health and Social Security, the Department of Social Security, HM Treasury and the Office for National Statistics, where he was a director. He is an alumnus of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Vienna, an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries, and a member of the Royal Economic Society.

For most of this time he has specialised in demographic ageing, health and social care, social security and pensions. In 2004, he co-authored a book entitled the ‘Economic Impacts of Population Ageing in Japan’ and in 2010 wrote a commissioned report for the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit entitled ‘The Economic Value of Healthy Ageing and Working Longer’. He completed his PhD in 1979 entitled ‘Urban Hospital Location’, which was published by George Allen and Unwin in 1986 and republished in 2018 by Routledge. He has written innovative reports on housing and pensions for the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation and on social care for DEMOS – two leading London-based think tanks as well various other reports for ILC on a range of topics.

His overseas experience includes spells working on projects in Japan (the economics of ageing), China (pensions), Russia (mortality), Italy (hospital location), Ukraine (women’s reproductive health) and Australia (health service planning). He has published numerous peer reviewed articles and is on the editorial board of two academic journals in his field. He is a member of the steering group for a major project funded by the actuarial profession on diabetes and is also a member of the scientific advisory committee for The Leibniz Science Campus Ruhr (LSCR) at the University of Essen focusing on ageing populations. He is avidly concerned about the levels of inequality in society and how improvements in health should be a key part of the policy response.

LesMayhew@ilcuk.org.uk

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