Group Captain Dr R A J CASTLE PhD MDA BA AFBPsS C.Psychol RAF (Retired) BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES Born in North London, Richard Castle studied Social Science at the University of East Anglia before being commissioned into the Royal Air Force (RAF). He initially undertook postings within the air transport and human resources spheres. Subsequent career highlights included Command of Support Wing at the Hercules C-130 base at RAF Lyneham and Assistant Director Personnel & Resilience Policy where he initiated and evolved the then innovative RAF Resilience & Stress Management Policy. His final RAF tour was within the UK Defence Academy where he was responsible for developing links between Defence and the Higher Education sector. Richard Castle was seriously injured in the Paddington Rail Crash in West London on 5 October 1999. Following this episode, and his treatment for severe burn injuries, he undertook a PhD research project at Cranfield University into the “Psychological Aspects of Burns Trauma” which was completed in 2006. Additionally, he was seconded to the NHS National Burn Care Review Team for 9 months in 2005 to assist in the development of the concept of psychosocial rehabilitation within a holistic NHS Standard for Burn Care. Richard Castle left the RAF in 2012 and is now an independent mental health policy consultant with particular interests in preparing for, and responding to, collective trauma events and in burns rehabilitation. Since July 2017 he has been Director, Clinical & Compliance for the Grenfell Hope Project, a volunteer-based organisation founded with the aim of honing the long-term psychological resilience of the local community following the Grenfell Tower Fire. Richard is also an accredited Instructor for the Mental Health First Aid programme, a Governor of Gastrells Community Primary School in Stroud and an elected member of the Gloucestershire County Council Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Additionally, he is a Vice President of Deptherapy who run specially adapted scuba diving programmes for seriously injured UK Armed Services veterans. He was also the past Chair of the Beyond Fear Foundation which provides peer support for people in Gloucestershire living with eating disorders, and a Trustee/Director of Changing Faces, a national charity relating to disfigurement issues. From 2013 to 2016 he was the elected Lead Public Governor of the 2gether NHS Foundation Trust, responsible for providing mental health and social care services within Gloucestershire. In 2014 Richard acted as Lead Facilitator at an International Conference and Workshop on Setting Standards for Psychosocial Rehabilitation for Victims of Acid and Burn Violence organised by the Acid Survivors Foundation in Bangladesh. He visited the country again in April 2015 as part of a team to launch the Mental Health First Aid Bangladesh initiative under the wing of the Innovation for Wellbeing Foundation for whom he is also the UK Advisor. Additionally, he is an Ambassador for the Community Against Poverty Foundation and assisted in the planning for the first Mental Health & Wellbeing Centre in Bangladesh which opened in Sylhet in 2017 and in training volunteers involved in the Humanitarian Relief programme for the Rohingya refugees in the country. An Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and a Chartered Practising Psychologist registered with the Health & Care Professions Council, Dr Richard Castle has also undertaken research and published on the impact of, and rehabilitation from, trauma and has contributed to TV and radio programmes, conferences, training courses and the international media on the theory and practicality of the psychological effects of trauma. Richard Castle lives in Stroud, Gloucestershire, with his wife (Olya), 12 year old son (Alex) and twin daughters (Laura and Eliane) born in 2009. He is an avid supporter of the Arsenal Football Club; other hobbies include trail half-marathons, family activities and political biographies. .