Our Patrons

Helen, Countess of Rosslyn

Helen has known Gordon Samuel in a professional capacity for over 30 years and count both Gordon and Avril as friends. She was very touched to be asked to become a patron of this Trust, founded in memory of their daughter Katie.

Over the years Helen has built happy memories of the Samuel children visiting the Print Fair, but none more vivid than the way in which Katie’s radiant smile, captured so beautifully in her wedding day photo on this website, would light up a room.

“Gordon and Avril work, with Katie’s husband Richard, to raise awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide and to prevent unnecessary loss of life deserves everyone’s support. Simply by buying a carbon monoxide alarm for someone who doesn’t have one, you could help to save a life.”

Helen, Countess of Rosslyn is a Trustee and Chairman of the Rosslyn Chapel Trust Management Committee. She is Director of The London Original Print Fair at the Royal Academy of Arts and is a writer and presenter for BBC Arts.

Steve Backshall

‘Katie was a remarkable person, taken from us tragically by an invisible killer. Carbon Monoxide poisoning is a frightening and insidious problem, but one that can be mitigated so easily. Simply buying an audible carbon monoxide alarm that you place near to your carbon burning appliance can make so much difference.’ Steve Backshall

Peter Osborne

Peter became a Patron of the Katie Haines Memorial Trust in 2014. He is co-owner of Osborne Samuel Ltd, with Gordon Samuel, Katie Haines’ father.

His experience in the art world is extensive, where he was Director of Christies Contemporary Art from 1983-1988 and then Director of Harlech Fine Art, from 1988-1994.
  Peter was the founder and owner of the Berkeley Square Gallery, from 1994 -2003
 and Co-founder and co-owner of Osborne Samuel Gallery, from 2003 to the present. Peter was also Board member, and Deputy Chair, of the Society of London Art Dealers from 2000-2011. 
He began the role of a Trustee for The Glacier Trust in 2003, of which he is still trustee of, and is President of Amersham & Chiltern RFC, from 2010 to present.

Sir Michael Parkinson

Sir Michael Parkinson began his career as a journalist on local papers and as a features writer for the Daily Express and Manchester Guardian.  His first foray into TV came when he joined Granada Television before moving to the BBC to join the 24 Hours team.  His talk show Parkinson was launched in 1971 and ran until 1982.  He has also had a successful career on radio.  In 1996 Michael launched a Sunday morning show on Radio 2 – which ran for 12 years. In 1998 he was separately honoured for his work in journalism, radio and television.  The same year saw a new series of Parkinson start on BBC ONE lasting until 2003 and winning many awards including a BAFTA in 1999.  In 2004 he successfully transferred Parkinson to ITV until his retirement from the show in 2007. Parkinson was voted in the top ten in a British Film Institute poll of the Best Television Programmes Of All Time. The show ran for over 800 episodes and Michael interviewed more than 2,000 of the world’s most famous people during its run. He was awarded a CBE in June 2000 and a knighthood for services to broadcasting in the 2008 New Year’s honours list.

Lord Tanlaw

A keen amateur horologist, Lord Tanlaw is a Fellow of both the Royal Astronomical Society and the British Horological Institute. In 2005, he introduced the Lighter Evenings (Experiment) Bill, which would move the United Kingdom’s time zone forward by one hour, to UTC+1 in the winter and UTC+2 in the summer, for a trial period of three years. Lord Tanlaw claims that this would reduce accidents in the winter as the evenings would be lighter, and has the backing of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. Opponents fear that it would have an adverse effect on people living in Scotland and northern England, where the mornings would be much darker. A similar experiment, known as British Standard Time, was trialled between 1968 and 1971 before being abandoned. The bill had its second reading in the House of Lords on 24 March 2006. The government had already rejected the proposal the previous year. Lord Tanlaw persists in pressing his case for a change of time zone. Most of his recent appearances in the House of Lords have been to argue for lighter evenings, which he does when there is only the most tenuous link to the topic being debated in the chamber. Such has his reputation become that other Lords are able to predict when the issue will be raised by Lord Tanlaw’s appearance in his usual seat on the cross-benches.

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is an award-winning historian, author, and broadcaster. She is Professor of History at the University of Roehampton and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She received a double First, MSt, and DPhil in History from Lincoln and Balliol Colleges, Oxford, and was formerly Research Curator at Hampton Court Palace and Head of the Faculty of History at the New College of the Humanities. She is the author of five books, has presented thirteen historical documentary series on the BBC, ITV, Channel Five etc., and writes a regular column for History Today. She is proud to have been one of Katie’s schoolfriends.

Kenneth Cranham

Kenneth Cranham began his professional career at The Royal Court Theatre. Between 1966 and 1981 he was in fifteen productions, eight of those being leading parts. He performed in Joe Orton plays in The West End and on Broadway and has played major roles in the plays of Harold Pinter. Kenneth became well known on British television as Harvey Moon in four seasons of Shine On Harvey Moon, which had twelve million viewers. He played the Inspector in An Inspector Calls in the West End and on Broadway and toured it in the UK and America. In 2016 Kenneth won The Olivier Best Actor Award for the title role in the French play The Father and more recently played Brian Reader in ITV’s Hatton Garden.

Ken says, on being asked to be a Patron of The Katie Haines Memorial Trust: “I have two daughters, Nancy Grace and Kathleen Mary Margaret, who mean everything to Fiona and me. I am still shocked by what has happened to Katie. Everything must be done to warn parents of carbon monoxide, this silent killer!”

Robert Lyon

Robert Lyon is marketer, philanthropist, carbon monoxide industry expert and long-term carbon monoxide campaigner.

“I’ve been campaigning for greater awareness of carbon monoxide poisoning for over 13 years and have huge respect and admiration for Avril and Gordon’s work to warn others, so they don’t suffer the same tragedy they have in losing Katie. They both have my full backing and support always.”