Sheila McKechnie Foundation appoints chair and vice chair
Civil society campaign charity has appointed Pete Moorey as its new chair and Kimberly Garande as vice chair.
Moorey is head of campaigns and UK advocacy at Christian Aid. Before this, he worked as head of digital impact and sustainability campaigns at BT. He has experience at Which? The Heritage Lottery Fund and NCVO.
On his appointment, he said: “I’m really excited and proud to become Chair of the Sheila McKechnie Foundation after over four years on the board. SMK’s vision of a more confident and powerful civil society in which people work together to drive social change resonates deeply with me and is something I am committed to in and outside of the work I do at SMK.”
Garande is youth development lead at We Belong, a youth-led organisation that campaigns for the rights of young migrants. She is a consultant for the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation on its Involving Young People Collective, and is a member of the Ubele Initiative that works towards racial justice.
“I am elated to be vice chair of SMK, as someone who didn’t have any access to governance roles a few years ago and hardly saw herself represented in the sector,” said Garande.
“I hope this appointment serves as inspiration to both young people and organisations to see the value of trusting and investing in youth leadership and our expertise. I look forward to continuing developing in this role; utilising my lived experience, campaigning and optimism in working alongside this dynamic board with genuine individuals who seek to contribute to a stronger, more conscious civil society.”
Antibiotic Research UK welcomes chief executive
The medical research charity has appointed Jonathan Pearce as its new chief executive. He succeeds Professor Colin Garner, who retired last month after eight years in post.
Pearce has over 20 years’ experience as a chief executive in the charity sector. Most recently, Pearce was CEO of the blood cancer charity DKMS. He is chair of Cancer52 and has experience leading national charities like Lymphoma Action and Adoption UK.
On his appointment, he said: “I was immediately drawn to the cause of Antibiotic Research UK with its focus on bringing about fundamental change while also delivering essential support services. Fighting at the forefront of blood cancers and blood disorders has given me a real appreciation for the importance of effective antimicrobial treatments. Increasingly, I have seen how cancer patients are left vulnerable as infections become resistant to existing antibiotics. And cancer is just one of many medical conditions that rely on antibiotics to be effective. I have come to appreciate that tackling antibiotic resistance is one of the most urgent global health challenges of our time.”
Common Mission UK appoints new executive director
The Common Mission Project UK (CMP), a leading and advocacy charity, has appointed Ash Singh as its executive director.
Singh joins from the Royal Society of Arts where he was director of economy. He is also a mentor at the Global Salzburg Fellowship. In his new role, Singh will lead projects at 14 British universities and drive CMP’s work on striving to be net zero.
Alison Hawks, the charity's chair, said: “CMP chose Ash for his deep expertise in social entrepreneurship and policy; his demonstrated ability to lead, grow and scale organisations such as CMP; his natural embodiment of the organisation’s core values of public and national service and his commitment to driving the social impact of the organisation. I’m really looking forward to working with Ash to deliver CMP’s mission.”
Audiobook charity appoints director
Calibre Audio, a national charity that provides audiobooks to people who find it hard to read in print, has appointed Sue Canderton as its new director of philanthropy.
Canderton joins from Changing Faces, where she was head of philanthropy for more than three years. She has held senior leadership roles at various charities, including the Pace Centre, Unicef UK and the Royal National Theatre.
She said: “I am so pleased to be joining Calibre to help deliver the charity’s ambitious plans for the future which include expanding the membership, supporting children and young people's learning, and creating communities of print-disabled readers across the UK through the book club initiative. The extent of social isolation among many groups has been thrown into sharp relief by the pandemic and Calibre Audio’s services really help to combat that for thousands of people. I can't wait to get started.”
New directors at Ty Hafan
Ty Hafan, a Welsh children’s hospice, has appointed two new directors to its board.
Tracy Jones has been promoted from head of community and partnerships to the new role of director of family wellbeing and outreach. Jones joined the charity in 2009 as a senior family support practitioner. She is a qualified social worker.
Maria Timon Samra, chief executive of Ty Hafan said: “A key contributor in our care leadership team, she has always put children, young people and families at the heart of everything we do to ensure they benefit from Tŷ Hafan’s services, whether in the hospice, at home, in hospital or in the community.”
Jenna Lewis has been appointed director of income generation at the charity. Lewis joins from Horatio’s Garden where she was director of fundraising and communications. She worked as the head of individual giving at Ty Hafan from 2012-2015.
Lewis said: “Tŷ Hafan is an iconic Welsh charity which has provided care and support for more than 1,100 children with life-shortening conditions and their families in Wales since it first opened its doors in 1999.
“It now costs £5.2m a year - equivalent to £14,500 a day - for us provide those care and support services. The vast majority of that sum we raise ourselves, thanks to the generosity of our amazing supporters in Wales and beyond.
“This is an incredibly challenging time to be fundraising with the rise of cost of living hitting everyone hard but it is so important that we are able to raise the funds we need to ensure that every family with a child with a life-shortening condition in Wales gets the support and care they need, when and where they need it.”
Auditory Verbal UK welcomes trustees to its board
The charity for deaf babies and children, Auditory Verbal UK (AVUK), has appointed two new trustees to its board.
Katherine Bartrop has experience in the charity sector as the former head of regional fundraising at Parkinson’s UK and as area manager for fundraising and communications at the RNLI.
Bartrop’s youngest son was diagnosed as profoundly deaf as a newborn, so she has first-hand experience of having a deaf child. He joined one of AVUK’s programme’s last August.
She said: “With firsthand experience of having a deaf child I can see the real tangible difference AVUK is making and could make to the lives of so many more deaf children and their families. But there is an urgent need for Auditory Verbal Therapy to be available to more families.”
Gillian Smith leads on people and culture at HMRC. Previously she has been a governor at Great Ormond Street Hospital. She said: “My own experience both professional and personal means I am driven by a determination to help build a fairer world with good access to provision and removing barriers that create disadvantage.”
Engage Britain appoints two new trustees
Engage Britain has announced Adam Hawksbee and Joshua Simons will be joining its board.
Hawksbee is deputy director at the think tank Onward. Previously, he has worked in senior roles at the West Midlands Combined Authority and Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative in the US.
Simons is a research fellow in technology and democracy at Harvard University in the US. He is the founder and trustee of the Civic Power Fund and a trustee of the New Economics Foundation.
Former politician becomes cancer charity patron
David Lidington, the former Conservative MP for Aylesbury, has become a patron for the Buckinghamshire healthcare charity Cancer Care and Haematology Fund.
He said: “I am very pleased to become patron of the Cancer Care and Haematology Fund. I was aware of the charity's valuable work throughout the period I was MP for Aylesbury – from their raising money to build a specialist treatment unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital to their ongoing support for the local NHS Trust's facilities across Buckinghamshire and adjacent counties.”
The Mix appoints teenage chair of its youth advisory board
The Mix, a London-based youth charity, has appointed 19-year-old Michael Lister as chair of its youth advisory board.
As chair, Lister will lead on the recruitment of six young people who will support the senior management team and work closely with the board. The Mix has said its goal is to empower young people to take a meaningful leadership role in the senior governance of a charity.
Andrew Harrison, chair of the Mix said: “Welcoming Michael as chair of the new youth advisory board is a hugely exciting step for the Mix and sets a fantastic example of using youth governance to drive change. Sharing our platform with young people at the highest level of decision making will allow us to build a truly youth-led charity, to authentically represent the voices of our users and to continue our ambition of becoming the first young person's charity led and governed by young people. I'm looking forward to working closely with Michael and I know he will do great work at the Mix.”
The youth advisory board will meet five times each year and each member will be mentored by a member of the charity’s board. The Mix has said the youth board will have as much responsibility as the board but will not be legally responsible for the charity.
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