Charity leaders appointed to House of Lords

21 May 2018 News

Two charity founders and former chief executives are among 13 new members of the House of Lords.

Prime minister Theresa May last week announced the creation of nine Conservative life peers, as well as three Labour peers and one DUP peer.

The list of Conservative peers includes Catherine Meyer, who founded Action Against Abduction, which has campaigned for changes in the law on child abduction. Meyer, a stockbroker and later wife of the British ambassador to Washington, lost her own children to their German father when they were 12 and nine, and despite a legal battle spanning almost a decade, did not see them again until they became adults. She founded her charity in 1999 to ensure other parents did not endure the same problems. She stepped down as chief executive in 2016.

The list also includes Diana Barran, who was the founder of Safe Lives, a domestic abuse charity. Barran, a former financier, created the charity in 2005, and it pioneered the use of the Dash risk checklist, which is used by UK police forces to assess the danger of domestic abuse, and has trained workers who help former victims to become safe. Barran stepped down recently after 13 years in charge.

The list of Conservative peers also includes Amanda Sater, chair of two charities – the Queen’s Club Foundation and StreetGames. On the Labour list is Martha Osamor, who is chair of the Haringey Law Centre, and has been involved in the organisation since the 1970s.

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