Our Patrons

Viv Anderson, MBE

Viv Anderson, former professional footballer, made history both on and off the pitch.

Recognised for his strength in the face of racism, Viv became the first black player to represent England in 1978, and in turn, gained a place as a sporting icon.

Since hanging up his boots Viv has continued to be a voice for diversity in sports, and his career acts as an inspiration for many facing adversity in any form. In recognition for his undeniable influence on the club and football community, Viv was named by fans as Nottingham Forest’s Greatest Ever Player.

He was awarded the Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 1999, and in 2004 he was inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame.

In 2017, Viv created Playon Pro to help former professionals earn a living, make friends, and find new opportunities in the difficult years after retirement from professional sport. Viv has been a fantastic ambassador for LTSB and provides inspiration for many young people whenever he attends one of our events or speaks on our behalf.

Ed Balls

Ed Balls is a broadcaster, writer and economist. He is also a Professor of Political Economics at King’s College, London, a Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and co-Chair of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation.

Ed Balls is a former Member of Parliament, Shadow Chancellor, Cabinet Minister and Chief Economic Adviser to the Treasury. He also cooks, sails, plays the piano and is a Norwich City Vice-President and Club Ambassador.

He is married to Yvette Cooper MP and UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. 

Ed has assisted LTSB in fundraising activities, often auctioning himself in the process, and has been involved in a variety of inspirational communications for employers, funders and young people, especially during Covid. 

Sarah Ebanja

Sarah Ebanja, previously Chief Executive of the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, worked for over 20 years at senior levels in local and regional government, including roles at the London Boroughs of Lewisham, Hackney and Islington. She was Deputy Chief Executive of the London Development Agency and chaired the Newlon Housing Trust, The College of Haringey, Enfield & North East London, Bernie Grant Arts Centre and the Stephen Lawrence Trust.

Sarah was a Trustee of LTSB from 2012 and was made Patron after retiring from this position in 2023. She has been a fantastic friend to LTSB, and as a pillar of the North London community she has fostered important connections for the charity as well as providing expert advice on our programmes in our early years.  She was also actively involved in the charity’s events for young people and an inspiration to many. 

Jim O’Neill, Baron O’Neill of Gatley

Lord O’Neill is a member of the panel of Senior Advisors to Chatham House and Chair of Northern Gritstone. His previous roles include joint head of research at Goldman Sachs (1995–2000), its chief economist (2001–10) and chairman of its asset management division (2010–13); creator of the acronym BRIC; chair of the City Growth Commission (2014); chair of the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance [AMR] (2014-16); and commercial secretary to the Treasury (2015-16). 

He is one of the founding Trustees and a board member of educational charity SHINE. Lord O’Neill was created a life peer in 2015 and serves as a crossbench member of the House of Lords.  He serves as an EMC Distinguished Fellow at the Cornell Canizares Center for Emerging Markets.  He is also an honorary professor of economics at University of Manchester, and holds honorary degrees from the University of Sheffield, University of Manchester, University of London and from City University London. He received his PhD from the University of Surrey and is now a Visiting Professor there.

Lord O’Neill, together with Michael Spencer and David Pinchin, was a crucial early funder of LTSB and since that time influential in many ways by talking to young people and making key introductions.

Virginia Wade, OBE

Virginia Wade, OBE is a British former professional tennis player. She won three Grand Slam singles championships and four Grand Slam doubles championships and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all four Grand Slam tournaments.

She was ranked as high as No. 2 in the world in singles, and No. 1 in the world in doubles. She won the women’s singles championship at Wimbledon on 1 July 1977, in that tournament’s centenary year, and was the last British tennis player to have won a Grand Slam singles tournament until Andy Murray won the US Open in 2012. She remains the last British female to have won a Grand Slam singles title. After retiring from competitive tennis, she has coached and worked as a tennis commentator and game analyst for the BBC and Eurosport.

Virginia is a champion for women in sport and business and was featured as a guest on LTSB’s ‘Leaders Talk’ podcast, sharing her story and insight into building a successful career.

Michael Spencer, Baron Spencer of Alresford

Lord Michael Spencer is a British entrepreneur, philanthropist and supporter of LTSB as well as a recognised figure in the City of London.

Along with Jim O’Neill and David Pinchin, Michael provided crucial initial seed funding.  He is now the powerhouse behind a variety of businesses including several FinTech companies through his private investment company, IPGL. He was the founder of NEX Group, a UK-based electronic markets and post trade business acquired by CME Group in November 2018. NEX Group was formerly known as ICAP, until the sale of its voice-broking business to Tullett Prebon in December 2016.

Michael was Treasurer of the Conservative Party from 2006 until 2010. During his time as CEO of ICAP, the company employed over 50 young people in their finance department and continued to support the charity with funding, most importantly with a substantial donation in 2018 enabling the charity to expand its programmes into technology. 

Mervyn Davies, Baron Davies of Abersoch

Lord Davies is Chairman of Letter One, a Partner and Chairman of Corsair Capital, Chairman of Consello and an Advisor to Teneo. He is also the Chairman of the Lawn Tennis Association, Chairman of Glyndebourne Productions Ltd and on the World Rugby Executive Board.

He is an avid Tottenham Hotspur supporter and an ex director of the club. He was also the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Sri Lanka from 2020 to 2025. He was Minister for Trade, Investment, Small Business and Infrastructure from January 2009 until May 2010. Prior to that, he was Chairman and previously CEO, and served on the Board of Standard Chartered for over 12 years.

He was awarded a CBE for his services to the financial sector and the community in Hong Kong in June 2002 where he served as a member of the HK Exchange fund for seven years. He is a JP in Hong Kong, and he is an Honorary Distinguished Professor at Cardiff Business School.

Mervyn has played an active role for LTSB at several fundraising events, expertly hosting dinners, galas and auctions to raise money and support for the charity in his unique, lively and witty style.  He has also been involved in communications projects with young people, employers and funders and has been one of the most popular guest speakers. 

David Pinchin

David Pinchin founded LTSB in 2011 and served as Chair of Trustees until March 2023 during which time he devoted a substantial amount of his time and finances to ensure that disadvantaged young people had the support and opportunities required for long term professional careers.

He is a Welsh born dual UK and US citizen. He was one of the founders of the OTC currency options market in the early 1980’s, and he co-founded Tradition Financial Services (TFS) in 1985, which became one of the world’s leading international Inter Dealer brokers.

David was CEO of TFS for 25 years and COO of the Tradition Group from 2007 to 2009. Both companies were publicly quoted. Over the last fifteen years David has become more and more passionate about the charity’s work as he has seen the lives of young people transformed and how this has positively impacted their families and their communities. His ambition has been and still is to galvanise support from funders and employers to address social mobility, which was recognised in 2020 when he became a Freeman of the City of London.