New trio of trustees step up to fill Meeting Needs board positions

Travel Daily News

12-05-2025

Meeting Needs charity welcomes new board members Bernice Heard, Dan Bardgett, and Mags Shaw, replacing four trustees after 20 years.
Three fresh faces have been added to the board of trustees of event industry charity foundation Meeting Needs to replace four board members who have stepped down after serving Meeting Needs for a total of 20 years.
Bernice Heard of Hyatt Hotels, Dan Bardgett of XSEM and Mags Shaw of Mags Worldwide have joined the board after the retirement of Shonali Rodrigues, Matt Curran, Karen Small and Hannah Kelly this year.
Meeting Needs Chair Chris Parnham said: 'When I put out a call for new board members last month, I didn't dare to hope that we'd be able to welcome such a high calibre of industry personalities as Dan, Mags and Bernice. They are all very welcome, and I look forward to working with them over the coming months. We also need to thank our outgoing trustees, all of whom have made a magnificent contribution to Meeting Needs.'
Mags has 25 years' experience in the international conference and incentive sector, representing some of the world's top destination management companies. She said: 'I've long admired Meeting Needs as a wonderful industry charity, I also like the fact it gives donations to small independent charities both UK and overseas.'
Hyatt National Sales Director Bernice said: 'I have witnessed firsthand the incredible impact that organisations like Meeting Needs have in uniting us for a common, greater cause. I was thrilled when the opportunity arose to join this dynamic organisation.'
Dan Bardgett is the Managing Director of XSEM, a leading brand engagement agency based in Leeds. For the past three years, he has supported Meeting Needs by participating in the Royal Parks Half Marathon and raising cash. He says: 'Each year I'm astounded by the fundraising efforts and the meaningful difference the proceeds make for the small charities the foundation supports. I'm excited to now contribute further and play a small part in supporting the foundation's continued growth by joining the board.'
In recent months, Meeting Needs has agreed a sponsorship package with UK charity Community Grub Hub in Aldershot to feed around 80 UK families a week for the next 6 months. Community Grub Hub was introduced to Meeting Needs by Noella Milas, Director at Blue Line events, who volunteers at the charity. The food will be purchased from Fareshare, the charity that distributes food that is nearly out of date to those in need, at a cost of £186 per week. All Fareshare food would otherwise go to landfill so there are also huge environmental savings (circa 500kg of food a week).
In addition Meeting Needs has also agreed to fund the completion of a vocational training classroom and workshop for Uphill Junior school in Uganda. The gift of £7,193 will complete the budgeted cost of £11,693 to provide training for schoolchildren and those who have completed education. The Uphill Trust is a volunteer-led small Scottish charity that operates on a zero overheads basis. The Trust is now planning to build a single large classroom/workshop in the school compound which will be used for vocational studies and storage of all the necessary equipment. It will have an outside area and veranda for extra working space. The initial focus will be for knitting, sewing/dressmaking and joinery.