Cats Protection has appointed John May to become its chief executive in early November, over a year after its last permanent leader.
Dominic Sullivan, who has acted as interim chief executive since February 2022, will return to his role as director of legal and estates.
Currently, May is secretary general of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, having originally trained as a teacher.
May has since been the national education director of Business in the Community, founding chief executive of Career Ready and chief executive of Young Enterprise.
He is also a former non-executive director of UNICEF, helped to found ‘Teach First’ in the UK, and is a past vice chairman of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
“I’m absolutely chuffed to bits to be joining Cats Protection and look forward to supporting volunteers and staff as we work together to continue the development of this wonderful charity,” he said.
“I’ve shared my home with cats for the whole of my life and, as an adult, have always had a rescue cat as a companion. I’ve benefited profoundly from the charity’s support to cat owners and can’t wait to join the whole Cats Protection network in championing the organisation’s homing and neutering activities, its advocacy for wider feline welfare, its vital education work and the impact that Cats Protection has in and on society.”
May and his partner share their home with Blenheim, a black- and-white rescue cat.
Kit Sturgess, who became chair of Cat’s Protection last month, said: “John brings a fantastic range of skills and leadership experience to our charity which will greatly enhance our ability to deliver our 10-year strategy.”
Sturgess recently succeeded Angela Swarbrick who had been interim chair since February.
Premature departures of charity's previous leaders
Linda Upson stepped down as chair in January, when interim chief executive Charles Darley quit the role after three months.
Darley had raised concerns about governance relating to Upson housing 18 cats in her three-bedroom house. He was worried this went against the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (DEFRA) cat welfare code of conduct.
Upson stepped down from the role shortly after the news, saying she did not want to damage the charity's reputation.
Darley, who took over from the charity's last permanent chief executive James Yeates in September 2021, also quit and cited a “breakdown of trust” with trustees.
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