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MBBS, MRCPsych, CCT (Addictions Psychiatry), PgDip (Mental Health Law), PgCert (Med Ed), MBA (Henley Business School), MFMLM

Arun has been a Consultant in Addictions Psychiatry for over 17 years in both the NHS and the third sector.

He trained in Psychiatry at Oxford and Cambridge before becoming Clinical Director of the NHS addiction services across Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire.

He joined Via as Medical Director in January 2015.

A keen interest in management led to an MBA at Henley Business School and membership of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management.

Arun has extensive experience of setting up and running community and inpatient drug and alcohol treatment services, prison substance misuse services and dual diagnosis services.

His research interests include pain management, online shopping addiction and chronic arousal states such as anxiety and their impact on addictions treatment as well as the potential of psychedelics to transform addictions and mental healthcare.

Arun is also a specialist inspector for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and supports the London Drug Commission set up by the London Mayor's office to review cannabis regulations.

MBBS, PG cert, PG Dip, EDPM, CCT (Addiction Psychiatry), FRCPsych

Alongside Dr Arun Dhandayudham, Dr Yasir Abbasi is Via’s Executive Medical Director as well as being as the clinical lead for Via’s services in the North-West of England.

For more than a decade of being a consultant psychiatrist, Dr Abbasi has contributed towards the development of addiction services in the UK and United Arab Emirates (UAE), academia, and increased awareness about mental health and addiction.

Prior to joining Via, Dr Abbasi was the director of addiction services at Maudsley Health in Dubai, UAE for three years. He delivered services in the country’s largest mental health facility at Al Amal Psychiatric Hospital and developed the addiction department, introducing one of the first community opioid substitute treatment services in the region.

Before his departure to Dubai, he was the clinical director of addiction services at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.

Dr Abbasi also set up the Painkiller Addiction Information Network (PAIN) charity in 2016 which was the only charity at that time raising awareness about painkiller addiction and supported the government to order a review into it. There was a Public Health England (PHE) review in 2019 and he was a part of the expert reference group.

He is associated with over 20 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has spoken widely at various national and international scientific conferences across the world. He also presented his views about addiction treatment on various media outlets such TV, radio, and newspapers.

Benedicta qualified as a registered mental health and general nurse in 1995 and has worked in the substance misuse field since 2002.

She went on to study for a MSc in Clinical and Public Aspects of Addiction at King's College, London; an MBA in Health Services Management; and later qualified as a non-medical prescriber. She also completed a Top Manager Programme at the King’s Fund.

She has worked as a nurse manager in various organisations, both custodial settings and in the community until joining Via as a Chief Nurse in 2018.

She was responsible for establishing pathways to eliminate hepatitis C at Via and led on the organisation’s first Hep C project.

Benedicta works closely with our central clinical team to ensure that our services have robust clinical processes and governance in place to operate safely and effectively. She also provides clinical leadership to nursing staff across the organisation.

Anna has dedicated her career to working with complex social issues, championing inclusive services that make a positive difference.

Having worked in the voluntary sector for over 17 years, Anna has developed considerable experience in leading teams to adapt, develop and innovate to respond to evolving and changing need and content.

Prior to Via, Anna worked as an executive director for BBC Children in Need. She developed and implemented the charity's first impact strategy before overseeing a significant change programme across the organisation's grant making alongside the charity's funding response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anna also has extensive experience in the substance misuse field, having worked at Addaction (now known as We are With You) for 12 years. Starting as a frontline practitioner and manager, her last three years at Addaction were as the executive director of operations.

MBBS, MRCPsych, CCT (Addictions Psychiatry), PgDip (Mental Health Law), PgCert (Med Ed), MBA (Henley Business School), MFMLM

Arun has been a Consultant in Addictions Psychiatry for over 17 years in both the NHS and the third sector.

He trained in Psychiatry at Oxford and Cambridge before becoming Clinical Director of the NHS addiction services across Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire.

He joined Via as Medical Director in January 2015.

A keen interest in management led to an MBA at Henley Business School and membership of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management.

Arun has extensive experience of setting up and running community and inpatient drug and alcohol treatment services, prison substance misuse services and dual diagnosis services.

His research interests include pain management, online shopping addiction and chronic arousal states such as anxiety and their impact on addictions treatment as well as the potential of psychedelics to transform addictions and mental healthcare.

Arun is also a specialist inspector for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and supports the London Drug Commission set up by the London Mayor's office to review cannabis regulations.

Abi is committed to delivering innovative services that have a positive impact.

She has extensive experience of delivering improvements in quality assurance, performance management, strategy and governance in a variety of roles.

She has worked in the non-profit sector for over 30 years; the last 15 years in leadership roles.

Abi trained as a mental health social worker and has an MSc in Social Policy and Social Work Studies.

Her skills and knowledge developed from directly delivering services in a number of health and social care settings. She has also worked in local government and higher education.

Abi currently oversees the work of the Quality Team, the Data and Performance Team and the Innovation and Research Unit (IRU) at Via.

Brian has a wealth of experience of over 25 years in charitable, commercial and public sectors including financial management, managing senior and directorial teams, strategy development, governance, human resources, IT and facilities management having qualified with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in 2001.

Brian joined Via in August 2020 as Director of Finance leading to the position of Chief Operating Officer 12 months later. Prior to Via, Brian most recently worked as Director of Finance and Resources in the charitable and telecommunications sectors. Brian also worked as Chief Finance Officer for one of Northern Ireland’s leading charitable social enterprises for over 20 years, delivering budgetary growth from £1 million to £50 million plus and 800 staff which included mergers and acquisitions, financial planning and analysis, major capital expenditure, tender successes and grant management.

Brian has continually worked with Boards and external stakeholders in complex consolidated multi-national companies in both the charitable and commercial sector and was a founding Trustee of Shopmobility Belfast, where he remained as treasurer for 11 years.

Craig is Executive Director of Services for Via, alongside Tom Sackville, and responsible for leading on our high quality service delivery.

Starting as a frontline practitioner in 2006, Craig has over 15 years’ experience in the field working across different settings and leading on a range of diverse services.

He joined Via in 2009 as a Project Coordinator and has gone on to be a Service Manager and Area Director for us.

Craig is our executive sponsor for the development of our core service delivery interventions for the organisation and is passionate about delivering services that meet the individual needs of the people who use our services.

Craig values working in collaboration with the people who use our services, their families, our staff and funders to support effective and responsive, coproduced services that make a real difference.

Graham has been working in substance misuse business development for over 13 years.

Within this time, he has secured multiple high-value substance misuse contracts and helped to diversify Via’s provision.

Prior to this, he worked in the welfare-to-work sector which involved directly supporting the long-term unemployed into sustainable work.

Graham is responsible for driving our strategic growth agenda.

Tom has over 25 years' experience working in health and social care.

He initially qualified as a probation officer, completing a Diploma in Social Work, before working for Turning Point with probation clients whose offending was linked to substance misuse. As part of this role, he developed work with local youth justice services, triggering an interest in work with young people's services.

Following this, he was responsible for the development of a bail supervision and support and intensive supervision and surveillance service working across three London youth offending services, providing holistic intensive alternative to custody programmes for young people.

Tom then worked for Catch22 for 14 years as an operations director, with responsibility for a diverse portfolio of substance misuse and emotional health, leaving care, gangs, youth crime prevention and housing services. This involved national programmes as well as local delivery, and taking an organisational lead on gangs and youth justice. It also included responsibility for policy and research work with a number of studies on youth violence being published.

As Executive Director for Services, working alongside Craig Middleton, Tom is responsible for overseeing the delivery of services across the organisation, including having a focus on young people’s services, employability and recovery in action.

MBBS, PG cert, PG Dip, EDPM, CCT (Addiction Psychiatry), FRCPsych

Alongside Dr Arun Dhandayudham, Dr Yasir Abbasi is Via’s Executive Medical Director as well as being as the clinical lead for Via’s services in the North-West of England.

For more than a decade of being a consultant psychiatrist, Dr Abbasi has contributed towards the development of addiction services in the UK and United Arab Emirates (UAE), academia, and increased awareness about mental health and addiction.

Prior to joining Via, Dr Abbasi was the director of addiction services at Maudsley Health in Dubai, UAE for three years. He delivered services in the country’s largest mental health facility at Al Amal Psychiatric Hospital and developed the addiction department, introducing one of the first community opioid substitute treatment services in the region.

Before his departure to Dubai, he was the clinical director of addiction services at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.

Dr Abbasi also set up the Painkiller Addiction Information Network (PAIN) charity in 2016 which was the only charity at that time raising awareness about painkiller addiction and supported the government to order a review into it. There was a Public Health England (PHE) review in 2019 and he was a part of the expert reference group.

He is associated with over 20 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has spoken widely at various national and international scientific conferences across the world. He also presented his views about addiction treatment on various media outlets such TV, radio, and newspapers.

Vanessa began her career as a prison officer at HMP Peterborough.

Her first role in substance misuse was at HMP Peterborough as a CARATS worker and she moved into the community when she first joined Via as a practitioner in Bedfordshire.

Since then Vanessa has worked in a range of substance misuse services including DIP/IOM services, prison treatment and recovery services, integrated drug and alcohol services, and in a residential detox facility.

Vanessa also has experience as a Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered manager and has supported and overseen a number of successful CQC inspections.

Vanessa has significant experience of quality and governance and worked at Via as a quality manager and most recently as a senior manager responsible for organisational quality and continuous improvement at SMART CJS.

Vanessa has also been a volunteer for over five years at a Rape Crisis Centre local to her home and in 2019 was elected as a joint Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees. She’s a champion for women’s equality and is also passionate about driving forward LGBTQ+ inclusion within services.

As an Area Director at Via, Vanessa manages a portfolio of services across London and the home counties, focusing on leading teams to deliver high-quality care.

Paul has a passion for supporting and creating conditions in which people can reach their potential and lead meaningful lives.

He has 23 years’ experience working in the social care sector across forensic mental health, criminal justice and substance misuse.

Starting off on the frontline as a support worker, Paul worked with mentally disordered offenders and then as a drug interventions worker leading on a local prolific and other priority offender scheme.

Over the last 15 years, Paul has worked in different managerial roles encompassing, service delivery, performance management, quality improvement and governance lead roles.

He has experience and keen interest in coaching and development, use of digital technologies, service design, pathway development and service user journey refinement.

Paul also has qualifications in marketing management, digital technologies and leadership and management in health and social care.

Liz joined Via in February 2018 and has over 25 years' experience working in the drug and alcohol field.

Liz originally started working as a frontline practitioner in a residential detox unit. More recently she has managed a variety of community drug and alcohol services in London.

Liz has also worked in the homelessness field and managed outreach services and hostel provision. She has extensive experience of setting up new services and building good relationships with NHS partners.

Liz completed a six-year part-time degree in Labour and Trade Union Studies in 2014 and is also an ACAS qualified workplace mediator and Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered manager.

At Via, Liz manages a portfolio of services across London, including those where we work in partnership with NHS trusts.

Liz also manages Via’s organisational project that is working towards the micro elimination of hepatitis C within our services.

Dave's first role in health and social care was as a volunteer in a needle exchange in 2003.

Since then, Dave has worked across housing/homelessness, outreach, rehabilitation, substance misuse, offending, young people, peer provision and complex needs.

His work in these areas has been within a range of roles, including: voluntary, service user-facing, teaching, advisory, mentoring, managerial, director and trustee positions.

Dave has a strong track record of building strategic and partnership focused delivery of safe, effective, caring and impactful services for the people that need them the most, making sure they are accessible to all.

Leading our activities in the North-West of England, Dave is responsible for translating organisational strategic intent into deliverable outcomes, that give both value for money and a positive impact for the communities Via works in.

Yasmin is the CEO of Advocates for International Development (A4ID). A4ID source lawyers to provide free legal advice and assistance to support organisations that work in the international development sector focusing on the eradication of poverty.

She has held several significant leadership positions over the years within the public and third sectors around HIV/AIDS, drug and alcohol dependency, and criminal justice. She has also undertaken work for the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime on these issues. A magistrate for almost 30 years, Yasmin served on the Adult and Youth Bench.

She is the president of HACRO, a service which works for the rehabilitation and resettlement of ex-offenders. She was a recipient of the City of London Woman of Achievement Awards in 2015 for her work in the public sector.

Yasmin says: "I am hugely proud to be associated with Via. I take pride that we have always put the users of our services at the heart of all we do. I am proud of the quality of care we provide, and that it is offered to the carers, families, and friends. I am immensely proud of our staff and volunteers, and the professional approach we have consistently adopted, regardless of the challenges faced locally, or nationally. These elements of what we do combine to put Via at the cutting edge of drug and alcohol services in the UK. As the organisation has grown with our ambition, our ethos has never been diluted. It allows me to say with confidence that we will always provide the best possible care, at the highest level."

Gillian is a non-practising solicitor who was in practice with her husband for approximately 50 years.

She was the managing partner of their firm, and she gained a wide experience of many different branches of the law including insolvency, regulatory, property, employment, and litigation.

Gillian was involved in several charities including ones dealing with age, children, and women’s aid.

She joined the board of Via in 2008 and is also the Via whistleblowing champion.

Gillian says: “I am very proud to be part of Via and after spending many years helping people through my work as a lawyer, I now want to support people in need.”

Raj comes from a health professional background, having trained as a nurse in the 1970s. He has occupied several senior management posts in the NHS, his last post being the deputy director for addictions and offender care at CNWL NHS Foundation Trust.

He was a member of the Home Office Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs Committee (ACMD) for 12 years and is also an honorary lecturer at Middlesex University. He is currently a training and management consultant for the United Nation Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and is part of the UNODC Treatment Project, delivering training across Africa, South East Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia.

Raj says: "Whilst working for the NHS, I had the opportunity to work in partnership with Via services and saw their passion and commitment as well as the effectiveness of the third sector in delivering quality services to vulnerable groups. I joined the Via Board as I felt that I could contribute my health-related experience to their mission and aspirations.”

Mark is the former Chair of The Core Trust.

He is a chartered surveyor, specialising in residential development and asset management in the public sector.

His current focus is on the provision of numerous educational and community facilities.

Richard is treasurer on the Via’s Board of Directors. He’s a chartered accountant, having been in practice for almost 30 years, and is a senior partner at Nyman Libson Paul Chartered Accountants.

Richard specialises in a number of different sectors, including owner managed businesses, property, leisure, and the film and TV industry.

Richard says: “I have a personal interest in drug addiction through a friend who had experienced these issues. The possibility to help others with similar problems is what attracted me to become a Trustee at Via.”

James is a solicitor partner in central London litigation law firm, Saunders Law. After decades of experience in criminal law, he now acts in the group litigation claim for the many families of the 96 who died in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. He is also representing the Grenfell Tower fire victims and their families in the Grenfell Public Inquiry.

In 1970, with others, James started and practiced at the North Kensington Neighbourhood Law Centre. He was also part of the foundation of Via 30 years ago and has since then continuously served as a Via director.

James says: "Through the practice of criminal law, I have seen first-hand the hardship, misery, and death that addiction can bring, and it is a privilege to be part of an organisation that in its own quiet way helps so many people back from the brink.”

Mike’s career was spent in two global advertising agencies, and in the most recent one, (Ogilvy & Mather) he was CEO of their Europe, Africa and Middle East region for 12 years.

He has also spent time as a member of the Worldwide Board of WWF, been a trustee of the Maritime Trust, vice chairman of the British Red Cross and spent six years as chair of the UK Disasters Emergency Committee.

More recently, since his ‘retirement’, he has been on the board of the Archant Community Media Group, been involved in several tech start-ups and done a variety of mentoring roles.

Mike says: “My interest in Via was stimulated by another trustee who has been involved in addiction, coupled with the realisation that even at a later age I can continue to help people have a better life. Of course, what finally won me over completely was spending time at our centre in Merton with a dedicated team full of an infectious enthusiasm and dedication.”