Our Associates

David Schoon
— Family Mediator

David qualified in 2010 as an accredited mediator with the Family Mediation Council, and is a member of the Family Mediators Association and National Family Mediation. He is qualified to provide family mediation on all issues such as finances or child related issues and is also qualified to consult with children where there is a need for child inclusive mediation.

Before qualifying as a mediator, David practiced as a family law solicitor for around 15 years and was a member of Resolution and on the Law Society’s Family Law panel. Originally he intended to practice as both a lawyer and a mediator but he found that he enjoyed mediation more, mainly because of its holistic approach.

Anna Awad
— Associate Mediator

Anna has been an integral part of the MESH team since she started in 1999, and she has since held the vital roles of case manager, staff mediator and new staff mentor for MESH. Anna holds OCN Level 3 Mediation Skills and Theory Accreditation, as well as further training in Communities and Conflict Analysis, and attends ongoing regular accredited CPD courses.

At MESH Anna specialises in community and workplace mediation. She also provides Community Cohesion support and research for MESH and its partner organisations, as well as facilitating community dialogues for Who Is Your Neighbour and doing youth work for a local group.

Joy Justice
— Associate Mediator

Joy Justice trained in mediation and conflict coaching over 10 years ago and has been practising in a variety of community contexts- including neighbour disputes, conflicts within community groups and between people who are working on projects together. She is passionate about supporting people to find their own creative ways forward and creating a space where people feel deeply heard.

Matt Whitney
— Associate Mediator

Matt works as a mediator for MESH as well as other not-for-profit groups. He is also an integrative counsellor. He is passionate about social and environmental justice. He believes that to create a society that works better for everyone we need to accept that conflict is inevitable, and can be a beautiful opportunity for healing, transformation and growth.

Catherine Longstaff
— Associate Mediator and Conflict Coach

Catherine first started practising mediation over 10 years ago, and is now an Civil and Commercial Mediator (accredited by the Civil Mediation Council 2020).

Catherine has a very wide and deep experience of conflict and dispute resolution, through her life experience, and 20+ years as a lawyer and people manager.

She passionately believes in the transformative power of mediation, and enjoys facilitating dispute resolution on every level.

Cheryl Bamford

— Associate Mediator and Conflict Coach

Cheryl is a trained and experienced mediator and conflict coach. Skilled at supporting people who are stuck in unresolved and damaging cycles of conflict.

Cheryl provides conflict coaching and mediation for MESH within community and workplace settings. She also works for a local charity where she provides mediation and conflict coaching for young people and their families.

Cheryl is passionate about creating a space for those in conflict, to support them to understand their differences and find a peaceful way forward. She believes that choice, empowerment and responsibility can enable people to live peacefully together in a truly beneficial way.

Our Staff

Linda Gears

— Case Manager

As Case Manager, Linda is responsible for the day-to-day operations at MESH, overseeing case management across the MESH portfolio, producing regular reporting for contract partners like SCC, and managing MESH's administrative and procedural approaches. She also looks after MESH policy and regulation reviews and financial operations.

Linda has worked in an administrative/business support role for over 20 years now in both the private and public sectors; joining MESH in March 2019. She thoroughly enjoys working for MESH, especially the variation in her role.