Rev Josiah Anyinsah
Lead Chaplain
Josiah Anyinsah is the Team Leader and chair of the Spirituality and faith Forum, staff Network at Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Josiah is a chaplain for people living with Learning Disability and Mental Health problems and has been a chaplain for over 20 years and a church pastor for over 35 years. He was recently ordained as Baptist minister after training for the Baptist ministry at Spurgeon’s College. Before joining the Trust, Josiah worked at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust as Borough Chaplain for Mental Health Services in Lewisham for 10 years.
Josiah is a UK Board Accredited Chaplain and a registered member of the British Association For Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
Josiah has an interest in the interface between spirituality and mental health, psychosis and spirituality and workplace spirituality. The importance of recognising faith and belief as part of an inclusive workplace.
Josiah enjoys listening to African music, and a variety of Western and Country movies and songs.
The Revd Dr Nigel Copsey
Specialist Chaplain
Nigel has worked as Team Leader for Spiritual Care and developed chaplaincy during the many consolidations of mental health care in Surrey.
He is an ordained Anglican minister who has dedicated the majority of his time in ministry to developing Chaplaincy Departments in the NHS. His passion is the integration of spirituality with mental health within the NHS. Nigel worked as five years as a researcher with the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health and published two reports of spirituality and mental health.
Nigel has also been responsible for developing a range of training programmes in mental health and spiritual care in partnership with many universities. He remains committed to partnership with Faith communities and equipping members and faith leaders in understanding the interface between mental ill health and spirituality.
Nigel is also an accredited psychotherapist and teaches part time at the Metanoia Institute.
Anne Gear
Pastoral worker
Anne has worked in the department for over a decade. She was the first person with lived experience who was also someone who used services at the time she was appointed.
Anne’s role is that of a pastoral worker. She is responsible for and leads the Sunday afternoon drop in at Merstham Baptist Church. Anne has a rich history of training as a teacher, working with Scripture Union (writing materials), a church worker and counsellor training. She brings to our department a depth of understanding of living with mental ill health whilst also maintaining a faith.
Kawther Hashmi
Multi-faith Co-ordinator
I joined the Pastoral and Spiritual care Team at SABP in September 2018 as the Multi faith Coordinator. I firmly believe faith is an instrumental source of strength and solace at times of hardships. Faith and spirituality have a huge role in recovery for people with mental health illnesses.
I also work as a Faith Links Adviser and over the last 10 years, I have gained very valuable insight to how faith communities operate and their immense contribution to society as a whole. I work closely with interfaith forums; some of which I have helped to establish as part of my work. Through this, I have developed friendships with people of different faiths and beliefs and learnt from them about their beliefs and practises.
Although I have a BA degree in Accounting and Finance, I decided not to take the finance route as a career. I have also studied Islam at the Institute of Classical Islamic Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan. I have taught Islam for over 13 years and continue to teach at the Shah Jahan Mosque. I am a founding member and trustee of the Surrey Muslim Association (platform for Muslims in Surrey) and I am passionate about breaking down barriers, building bridges between communities and dispelling myths particularly about Islam and the role of women. I have been involved with organising events on various topics, some of which are: hate crime, mental health, climate change, community cohesion and supporting refugees in Surrey.
I am married to the Head Imam at Shah Jahan Mosque, Woking and we have three sons. I enjoy sports (badminton in particular), art and Arabic calligraphy.
Alisdair Semple
Chaplain
Alisdair has been working at SABP since February 2019.
His first Degree, Chemistry, was from Royal Holloway College in London and was followed two years later by a PGCE at Nottingham University, these allowed him to work as a science teacher in secondary schools. He left teaching after four years to work in Quality Assurance for Glaxo SmithKline and seven years after that jumped into Pastoral Ministry as a church leader in Surrey.
After sixteen years Alisdair left full-time church ministry and since then has worked as a lecturer in forensic science and managed a national audit for an influential charity. He completed an MA in Biblical Studies and Theology from Kings College in London in 2020.
He is a registered member of the U.K. Board of Healthcare Chaplains and a member of the College of Health Care Chaplains.
Alisdair is married with four grown-up children and four grandchildren. He enjoys walking, reading, volunteering and playing games of strategy.
FR. Alban Aguezeala
Fr. Alban Aguezeala was born and raised in Nigeria. He studied for the Roman Catholic Priesthood and was ordained in 2003. After his ordination, Fr. Alban worked in his home diocese (Orlu Nigeria) until 2012 when he moved to Copenhagen, Denmark to serve as an Assistant Priest at Sacred Heart Church, Copenhagen. Fr. Alban’s ministry in Copenhagen was brief as he shortly moved to Athens, Greece to serve as the Chaplain of the English-speaking Community of St. Therese’s Church Athen. He also served as the Roman Catholic Chaplain of Minidi Immigrant Detention, Camp Athens.
In 2017, Fr. Alban moved to England where he served as Parochial Administrator and Assistant Priest. In 2021, he was appointed the Parish Priest of English Martyrs Horley as well as the Roman Catholic Chaplain at East Surrey Hospital, Redhill.
Fr. Alban joined the Pastoral and Spiritual care Team at SABP in March 2024 and is looking after the Meadows. Fr. Alban studied Healthcare Chaplaincy at the London South Bank University (Guys and St, Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust). He is an accredited Chaplain and a member of the United Kingdom Board of Healthcare Chaplains. He loves reading and pastoral care of the sick.