Trustees
Dr Karen Blades
I am a GP and partner at Leiston surgery since 2008. I am also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Norwich Medical School. I live locally and have three adult children, who have all been fortunate enough to have a university education.
I have an interest in medical education but also have a passion for equal opportunities. I believe that we all have a role in our communities to nurture our young people’s aspirations. With creating The Foundation, we at the surgery can use our knowledge, experience, and position to encourage the young people of Leiston to broaden their horizons and see what is possible for them to achieve.
Dr Samir Pai
I did my GP training at Leiston and joined the team as a partner after completing my training. I am kind of local (live in Ipswich and have been in Ipswich for over twenty years). Apart from being "just an ordinary GP", I hold a number of educator roles.
I am a Honorary Senior Lecturer at UEA and Norwich Medical School. I am a GP trainer responsible for training the next generation of GP's who come to Leiston. In addition to this, I work for Health Education England as a training programme director who has overall responsibility to ensure GP trainees around East Suffolk progress and complete their training in a timely manner.
I strongly believe that irrespective of background, everybody should get a chance for higher education and am proud to be a part of the foundation which will try and help with this.
Outside work, I am a qualified Level 2 ECB cricket coach. I work closely with the Cracknell foundation which supports young aspiring cricketers who might not have access to the right.
Dr Imran Qureshi
I have been a GP in Leiston since 2015 and have seen how the local challenges and historical barriers for the children of Leiston have effected their life outcomes. I have always been interested in reducing health and life inequalities so the idea for helping inspire our local children into higher education was a simple one. Coming from a working class background, I feel an affinity to these children as I feel if I was faced with the same challenges as some of these children I would not have attended university.