Ex-Save the Children boss appointed as Refuge CEO
Gemma Sherrington has been appointed as the next CEO of domestic abuse charity Refuge.
Sherrington was previously interim CEO at Save the Children UK, where she had worked since 2007 following previous roles at NSPCC and WaterAid.
She said: “The government has committed to halving violence against women and girls (VAWG) over the next decade, and I will do everything in my power to help make that a reality. The current epidemic of VAWG is intolerable and must not be allowed to persist.”
She will begin her role on 24 March.
New CEO for Maudsley Charity
Mental health grant funder the Maudsley Charity has announced Sarah Holloway as its new CEO.
Holloway has had a career focused on improving mental health services across the voluntary and public sectors at both a national and local level.
She also brings direct experience of working with the charity and its key partners through her current role across both South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London.
Holloway will begin her role at the beginning of April.
CEO of Rank Foundation steps down
David Sanderson has announced that he is stepping down as CEO of the leadership charity the Rank Foundation, after 22 years in the role.
Key achievements during Sanderson’s tenure include the introduction of a range of flagship programmes such as Time to Shine and the Rank Aspire Programme, which have supported the development of hundreds of aspiring social sector leaders, along with the adoption and proliferation of long-term, place-based funding.
Sanderson will formally step down from his role on 5 June.
Home-Start CEO to leave role
Peter Grigg has announced that he will also be leaving his role as CEO of families and children’s charity Home-Start to take up a role at Citizens Advice later this year.
Grigg has occupied the role since 2020 and will leave at the beginning of April.
Under his leadership, the charity has grown its impact, profile and income over the past five years, with its income growing from £2.5m to £3.8m.
IPPR appoints executive director
Progressive policy think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has announced its appointment of Harry Quilter-Pinner as permanent executive director after six months of acting in the role.
Trustees of IPPR concluded that Quilter-Pinner, an economist listed by the Sunday Times among the key thinkers influencing Labour’s economic policy, was the strongest candidate for the job, after a competitive recruitment process.
Quilter-Pinner was previously IPPR’s director of policy and politics. He has a research background in public spending and public services, and is a non-executive director at West London NHS Trust.
New CEO for Royal Academy of Dance
Theâ¯Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) has announced the appointment of its new chief executive, Elizabeth Honer, who will take up the position from 21 January 2025. Honer succeeds Tim Arthur who stood down from the role at the end of 2024.
Honer has both a keen love of dance, and a long career in the public service, latterly as CEO of an HM Treasury commercial agency and as a director of the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office.
Chair Stephen Moss said: “After a comprehensive search, we saw that Elizabeth’s blend of experience, her love of dance and her strong financial and strategic skills, made her the standout candidate.”
Edinburgh World Heritage appoints interim director
Megan Veronesi has been appointed as interim director at Edinburgh World Heritage, a charity which helps preserve the architecture of Edinburgh’s old town.
She steps into the role previously held by Christina Sinclair, who leaves the organisation after four years as director.
Veronesi is a freelance consultant to charities and social enterprises, who has a career spanning 15 years of leadership roles in the charity, social enterprise and technology sectors.
She said: “After over four years as a trustee, I’m delighted to begin a new chapter of my work with Edinburgh World Heritage as interim director.”
Impetus announces CEO
Susannah Hardyman has joined young people’s charity Impetus as CEO this week.
Prior to her role at Impetus, Hardyman was the founder and chief executive of Action Tutoring, one of the UK’s leading education charities. Action Tutoring has also been a key delivery charity in the Impetus portfolio for over a decade.
Under Hardyman’s leadership, Action Tutoring grew from a local initiative to a leading charity in its field, eventually partnering with the Department for Education as part of the National Tutoring Programme.
New executive director for Environmental Funders’ Network
Nick Gardner has been appointed as the new executive director at environmental philanthropy organisation Environmental Funders Network.
Gardner is currently head of climate action at the National Lottery Community Fund.
He will take up the new position of executive director at the end of February.
Tearfund CEO steps down
Nigel Harris has announced that he will be leading Christian international development charity Tearfund at the end of June 2025, after nine years in the role.
Harris has led the charity to focus on the key role the local church can play in humanitarian response and development.
He will leave Tearfund having established a vision to equip 250,000 churches around the world to support communities to lift themselves out of poverty.
Harris joined Tearfund from Farm Africa in 2015, having previously worked elsewhere in the INGO and social impact sector, following an early career in banking.
CFG welcomes chair
Hugh Wallace has been announced as the new chair of Charity Finance Group (CFG). Wallace has been a trustee since January 2023 and will take over from interim chair Kevin O’Brien.
Wallace is also the chief information officer at Research Data Scotland, and previously worked for the Scottish government as well as Oxfam and National Museums Scotland.
He said: “My role on the board has shown me first-hand what a superb group of people CFG has, from passionate and supportive trustees to an incredible, expert team of staff.
“It will be a great privilege to work with the leadership team, and everyone within the organisation, to help CFG achieve its goals and continue to support the sector as a whole.”
Homeless Link appoints chair
Human rights barrister Jamie Burton has been appointed as the new chair of Homeless Link, the membership body for frontline homelessness organisations.
Burton specialises in public law and is a social justice campaigner, with expertise in human rights, discrimination and social welfare.
He is also chair and co-founder of Just Fair, a charity that works on the interaction between human rights and social justice issues, and a trustee for the Coram Children’s Legal Centre.
Wellcome announces executive committee appointments
Health research charity Wellcome has announced three appointments to its executive committee: Rachel McKendry has been appointed as executive director of discovery, Charlotte Watts as executive director of solutions, and Maggy Chan as chief operating officer.
McKendry is a renowned expert in biomedicine and nanotechnology; Watts is currently chief scientific adviser and director of research and evidence at the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and Chan has been a prominent executive in the entertainment and media industry for more than two decades.
Chan is to join Wellcome this month, while McKendry and Watts will join in March.
New chair for Creative Mentor Network
Creative Mentor Network, the charity “working to break the class ceiling in the UK creative industries”, has announced the appointment Louie St Claire as its chair.
St Claire has been working in the creative and communications industry for 25 years, working mainly in the technology and media sectors, and has led and built multiple agencies as well as working in-house for the likes of Microsoft and O2.
They will replace Russ Lidstone, who has served as chair for six years.
Turn2Us appoints director of people and culture
Marcia Bluck has been announced as the director of people and culture at financial insecurity charity Turn2Us, effective 13 January.
Bluck previously worked in HR, inclusion and leadership within the charity sector and held key roles at Mind and Trussell.
She said: “I hope that my experience spanning people and inclusion across various sectors, including financial insecurity, mental health, and local and central government can build on the amazing work already done.”
Cure Leukaemia appoints business development manager
Cancer charity Cure Leukaemia has announced the appointment of Bhupinder Dhillon as its new business development manager.
Dhillon will focus on engaging businesses across the country through the charity’s Club 10 initiative, aimed at supporting the funding of the ATICUS network – a world-first paediatric transplant trials network.
Dhillon said: "I am thrilled to be joining Cure Leukaemia and contributing to the vital work of supporting children and families affected by blood cancer.
“The ATICUS network represents an incredible opportunity to transform outcomes for young patients, and I look forward to working closely with organisations nationwide to secure the funding needed to make this vision a reality.”
Charity director appointed to DCMS role
UK Youth director of youth sector innovation Kayleigh Wainwright has been appointed the new head of youth strategy and engagement at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Wainwright has been appointed to the government role on secondment and she will be working on the new National Youth Strategy.
She has been director of youth sector innovation at the charity since 2023; she had previous roles at Ambitious About Autism.
New fundraising officer for Home-Start Wessex
Families and children’s charity Home-Start Wessex has welcomed Darren Lewis as its new community fundraising and events officer.
The new role has been created to add further weight to their community fundraising efforts as the charity works hard to keep up with rising demand.
Lewis has worked in the property sector for the last 20 years.
CFG appoints three trustees
Charity Finance Group has welcomed three trustees – Sue Pemberton, David McHattie and Jenny Howard – to its board.
Pemberton is retired as of 2023, after a career in corporate pensions and benefits.
McHattie is also retired as of 2020, having previously worked as head of charities at Barclays.
Meanwhile, Howard previously served as finance director at London Wildlife Trust and Muscular Dystrophy Campaign and is currently director of finance and digital at the Marine Society and Sea Cadets.
National Childrens’ Bureau appoints three trustees
Tayo Leigh and Onder Beter joined the NCB board of trustees effective from 1 January.
Leigh has over 20 years of experience in financial leadership, and joins the board as its new treasurer.
Onder is the deputy director of children’s services for a London borough, and has more than two decades of experience in social care and child protection.
London baby bank network welcomes new trustees
Little Village, London’s biggest baby bank network, has appointed Clare Phillips, Rachel Polnay and Lily Shaw as new trustees following a competitive recruitment process.
Phillips, Polnay and Shaw have expertise spanning ITV, Channel 4, the British Red Cross and public and private investments.
Their appointments come at a time when the charity is hoping to “supercharge” its delivery of its “It Takes a Village” organisational strategy launched last year.
Fundraising Regulator appoints four board members
Paul Amadi, Anne Heal, Nick Jones, and Giresh Menon will commence their roles in April and will help guide the strategic direction of the Fundraising Regulator, bringing experience in charity, fundraising and regulation.
Amadi is currently as executive director of marketing, fundraising and communications at the British Red Cross.
Heal has held a range of non-executive roles in other regulators including Ofqual, the Office of Rail and Road and the General Dental Council.
As a member of the Fundraising Regulator’s Standards Committee since 2016, Jones has an understanding of the Fundraising Regulator’s role regulating charitable fundraising.
Meanwhile, Menon was most recently been interim chief executive at Unicef UK.
NCVO announces appointment of two new trustees
Civil society membership body NCVO has appointed Jude Sheeran and James Watson-O’Neill.
They will join NCVO’s board alongside Ruth Marvel, CEO of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, who was appointed a trustee at NCVO’s AGM at the end of last year.
Sheeran brings extensive expertise in digital technology, AI, and innovation, while Watson-O’Neill is beginning as CEO of Sense in February, when he finishes his role as CEO of SignHealth. He is also a trustee of the Voluntary Organisations’ Disability Group.
LGB Alliance welcomes new trustee
Joanna Cherry has been appointed as a trustee to LGB Alliance.
She is the former MP for Edinburgh South West and former SNP shadow home secretary and justice secretary.
Cherry is also former chair of Westminster’s Joint Committee on Human Rights.
New trustee for Medical Research Foundation
Medical Research Foundation has appointed Susan Simon to its board of trustees, for an initial term of three years.
Simon is director of capital and estates and chief environmental sustainability officer at the Medical Research Council, as well as the director of the environmental sustainability programme at UKRI.
She took up her role in November 2024.
Royal patron for Veterans Housing Scotland
Princess Anne has been appointed as the patron of Veterans Housing Scotland, which provides homes for disabled veterans across Scotland.
She assumes the role following a succession of royal patrons including King George V, King George VI and Her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth.
Princess Anne has also been president of Save the Children UK since 1970, and is otherwise involved with over 300 other charities.
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