Norwood earlier this week announced that David Ereira has informed the charity’s board of trustees of his intention to retire as chair and trustee at the end of five years in office.
Mr Ereira will remain in position until 31 March, 2018 when he will be succeeded by Neville Kahn, who currently serves Norwood as Chair on a Norwood fundraising committee and has previously served seven years as a Trustee.

Mr Ereira, who this year celebrates a 25 year service with Norwood, will remain involved in many aspects of Norwood’s fundraising and service provider activities. During his tenure as Chair, Mr Ereira was a collaborative presence, encouraging innovation, and a driving force that ensured a continued focus on improving the lives of the people Norwood supports.
Mr Ereira will leave a lasting legacy, having played a key role in establishing Young Norwood (YN), a network of lay structures of fundraisers and volunteers he founded in 1993. It is currently the largest professional young lay network within the Jewish community with 3,500 active members.

Mr Ereira was heavily involved with Norwood’s services as a member of the Operational Service Committee, the Special Educational Needs Group, Adoption and Fostering Services and as Chair of the Adoption Management Committee. Mr Ereira also chaired the Property Committee, and sat on various fundraising committees including the Property Lunch and Annual Dinner.

Aside from trail blazing YN, Mr Ereira held an unwavering focus on instilling practices that lead to giving a voice to children who were made vulnerable by difficult life experiences and learning disabilities.

“It has been a tremendous privilege to lead the Norwood board over the past five years as well as being Deputy Chair under the two past Chair’s terms [spanning a ten year period]. Norwood is such an outstanding charity and I will continue to serve as its advocate and ambassador. Even after 25 years at the coal-face of communal service at Norwood, I am still proud to serve in whatever capacity I can. I look forward to many more years of being able to work with the people we support in our community,” Mr Ereira said.

“I am now delighted to hand the baton over to Neville Kahn and I feel confident that Neville will continue to build on our long history of communal service and encourage the very highest standards, so we continue to meet the future needs of the people we support,” he continued.
Lord Jon Mendelsohn and Lady Nicola Mendelsohn CBE, Norwood Joint Presidents said: “We want to thank David for his exemplary service as Chair of the charity. During his leadership and over the many more years of his involvement, Norwood has developed and grown into the truly outstanding and significant organisation that it is today. We are truly thrilled that although he will step down as Chair he will remain strongly involved.”
Elaine Kerr, Norwood Chief Executive, said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank David for his passion and dedication, not just during his five year tenure as Chair, but over the past 25 years of unrivalled service. Under David’s superb leadership Norwood has gone from strength to strength and I know that I echo the sentiment of the board when I say that Norwood looks forward to continuing our relationship with David well into the future.”
Neville Kahn said: “It is with great pride that I take over the Chair role from the incredible David Ereira who has dedicated much of his life to communal service and in particular Norwood.”
“Norwood is seeing an ever increasing demand for our services and is committed in its duty to meet the future needs of our community. We are focused on the development of Ravenswood village, a new services strategy and a programme to ensure that we continue to provide the highest-quality services in the best environment. Whether it be from our own homes and facilities, or delivered inside schools, our focus remains on ensuring we continue to meet the needs of those who most desperately need it in our community: young children and their families coping with emotional and social challenges.”
“The care sector is evolving quickly and I look forward to working with the wonderful staff and trustees to make sure Norwood is doing what it does best in helping the most vulnerable in our community,” he continued.