Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) chief executive Neil Heslop will step down later this year, the organisation has announced.
Heslop, who became CEO in 2020, has decided to retire from full-time executive roles, the charity said, and CAF trustees have begun the search for a replacement.
During Heslop’s stewardship, the charity said its annual distributions have almost doubled from more than £700m when he joined.
In September 2025, it was announced that CAF distributed its highest-ever sum of £1.2bn to charities on behalf of individuals and businesses in its last financial year.
The outgoing chief executive said: “For the last six years it has been the privilege of my career to work with dedicated colleagues to support the charities and donors that CAF exists to serve.
“The organisation is well placed to further grow its contribution to people, communities and causes and support more donors to realise greater impact with their giving.”
Organisational growth
CAF’s income has steadily risen during Heslop’s tenure: notably from £1m in the year ending 30 April 2021 to £1.4m in 2024-25, surpassing its spending that year of £1.2m.
Heslop has also played a part in successfully encouraging the UK government to create the Office for the Impact Economy, which will aim to give a “single front door” for investors, philanthropists and businesses to partner with the government to increase social impact.
Edward Braham, CAF chair, thanked Heslop for leading the charity often in a “challenging” external environment.
Braham said: “We wish him the very best for the future.”
Heslop added: “I am profoundly grateful to those I have been fortunate to work with for their commitment, collaboration and the warmth shown to me.”
Before joining CAF, Heslop co-founded and served as a trustee at Blind in Business – a charity which supports blind and partially sighted people into work – for 26 years from 1992 to 2018.
He was RNIB managing director from 2013 to 2016 before leading Leonard Cheshire for four years prior to joining CAF.
Heslop has also served as an ACEVO trustee since 2020.
CAF is a group of charitable organisations in the UK and North America which operates globally.
In the UK, the charity owns private subsidiaries CAF Bank and CAF Financial Solutions.
