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WRVS chief to step down after four years 1

Governance | Tania Mason | 5 Apr 2011

WRVS chief executive Lynne Berry is to leave the charity this summer after four years at the helm.

She has timed her exit deliberately, just as the organisation is embarking on an ambitious five-year plan to double both income and the numbers of beneficiaries it helps.

Berry joined WRVS four years ago at a time when the charity had essentially “lost its way”, she said.  Under her leadership, the charity has turned a significant deficit into a breakeven position this year or next, while also investing heavily in skills development of staff and volunteers.

Berry told Civil Society the charity has rebranded and sharpened its mission of helping older people get more out of life with a new strapline – ‘Positive about age, practical about life’ – and begun to reorganise its work on a regional and local basis to make it easier for people to find relevant services.

It has installed representatives within local strategic partnerships and is developing services for older people in conjunction with local authorities, GPs and PCTs.

And it has turned its £56m hospital shops and cafes business into a viable social enterprise that not only delivers “tea and sympathy” to patients but also a wide range of information and advice.

Over the next five years WRVS intends to double its income via a combination of contracting, fundraising and selling more of its services to beneficiaries, Berry said. The charity now has over 4,000 different outlets for its work, from lunch clubs to meals on wheels to community transport schemes, which are now being grouped into 200 local and regional hubs. These will soon be searchable on the charity’s website.

Having spent four years working hard to turn the charity around and put it on a sustainable footing, Berry said it felt like right to step down and hand the reins to someone else.

“My sense is that having provided a great foundation for growth, now is the right time to give my notice and move onto the next phase of my career.”

She said she is expecting to develop more of a portfolio of activities, and is already involved in various projects that she hopes to spend more time on.  For instance, she is helping to bring together voluntary, public and private sector partners to deliver Big Society-type projects; plans to spend more time on her existing trusteeships, and is helping to develop new social enterprises that use the skills of older women and increase the numbers of people volunteering.

Berry has now been chief executive of five different organisations, each time helping them to refocus and find new direction. Before joining WRVS she was chief executive of the Family Welfare Association (now Family Action); a former director at the Charity Commission; chief executive of the Equal Opportunities Commission, and founding chief executive of the General Social Care Council.

WRVS will be advertising the chief executive’s job shortly.

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