Who’s Moving: GOSH Charity, Greggs Foundation, Autistica and more

08 Nov 2021 News

David Germain is a trustee of the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity

Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity appoints new trustee

Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH Charity) which raises money for the hospital of the same name has appointed a new trustee, David Germain. 

Germain works at insurance company RSA as group chief information officer. He has over 25 years of experience as a leader of global technology and digital strategy. He was ranked ninth in the Financial Times Top 100 BAME Technology Leaders in 2019. 

On his appointment, Germain said: “It's an honour to join the charity and serve as a trustee. This is an exciting time for the charity to accelerate funding, supporting families and children. In addition to the research into children's health and the opportunities to embrace the digital era, I'm looking forward to contributing and getting to know the exceptional members of staff that work for the charity.”

New chair for Greggs Foundations

Greggs Foundation, the independent grant-making charity linked to Greggs plc, has appointed Joanna Dyson as its new chair. Dyson succeeds Andrew Davison, who stepped down from the role earlier this year. 

Dyson was appointed after a national recruitment campaign. She works as head of food at FareShare where she worked as head of food and has experience as a consultant and advisor to the Department of Health. She is also a trustee and previous chair to HENRY, a charity which focuses on healthy childhoods. 

On her appointment, Dyson said: "I am absolutely delighted to be appointed as chair of the Foundation.  It is a privilege to be given the opportunity to be part of this fantastic organisation that makes such a difference to so many individuals and local communities.  I look forward to working with the foundation team and the board of trustees and building on the tremendous legacy that Andrew Davison leaves as he retires after many years' service as chair."

Young Enterprise Scotland appoints first young trustees

Young Enterprise (YE) Scotland, a non-profit business education provider exclusively for young people, has appointed two young entrepreneurs to its board of trustees. 

Lyle Hamilton (19) and Lara McGowan (20) are alumni of the charity’s enterprise-led programmes and will take up their new roles in December this year. 

Bill McDonald, chairman of YE Scotland, said: “The role of enterprise education in schools and colleges has never been more important. Recruiting Lara and Lyle to the board will bring a fresh insight into how access to enterprise-learning and the expansion of our programmes can offer a greater range of career options for young people.

“Lara and Lyle are both highly motivated, resourceful and hardworking individuals with a strong social conscience and they both have immediate experience of setting up businesses as school leavers.”

New chair for Autistica 

Autism research and campaigning charity Autistica has announced the appointment of Stephen Boyle as its new chair of trustees. Boyle succeeds Gill Ackers, who steps down after almost three years as chair. 

Boyle joins from Hakluyt, a strategic advisory firm, where he works as a partner. He has previous consultancy experience at firm giants L.E.K Consulting and PwC, and was head of strategy for a major gas supplier. He has been appointed chair after joining Autistica as a trustee earlier this year. 

Dr James Cusack, CEO of Autistica, said: “Gill has been a brilliant and supportive chair and I know that she’ll remain involved with what we’re doing as an organisation. I am excited to be working with Stephen in his new role and I am confident he will be able to build on the progress we have made and help us reach new heights.” 

New trustee for Young Lives vs Cancer

The UK's leading charity for young people experiencing cancer, Young Lives vs Cancer, welcomes Sathya Bala as a trustee this month. She will work with the charity to support its strategic targets in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB). 

The new trustee is the founder and CEO of True Change, a consulting company that aims to build more inclusive workplaces. She is also the founder of My Skin My Story, a non-profit community that connects and empowers women of colour. Bala has several years of experience in managerial roles at companies like CHANEL, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Sainsbury's and HSBC. 

Rachel Kirby-Rider, CEO of Young Lives vs Cancer, said: “We are delighted to have Sathya Bala join the board as a trustee. She brings with her a huge amount of knowledge, expertise and skills and we look forward to Sathya supporting Young Lives vs Cancer to continue its journey to be a truly diverse and inclusive organisation where we work tirelessly to reduce inequalities.”

Co-op Foundation names new head of funding and partnerships

Co-op Foundation, has appointed Louise Snelders as new head of funding and partnerships. 

Snelder previoulsy worked for National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF), where she was head of funding. She was a trustee for YMCA North Tyneside for five years and acted as chair for the final year. 

Nick Crofts, chief executive of the Co-op Foundation, said: “Having Louise on our senior leadership team is a real coup for us. Her background working to improve communities is a perfect fit for the work we do at the Foundation to improve wellbeing, skills, and spaces across the UK. Louise will be integral in helping us build on our successes so we can move forward into a really exciting future.”

Heart of England Community Foundation gains new chair

Heart of England Community Foundation, which operates in the West Midlands and Warwickshire, has appointed Chris West as chair following the departure of Phil Ewing, who occupied the role for four years before stepping down last month. 

West has been promoted from vice chair of the charity, and has experience in consultancy, finance and management.

West said: “I’ve sat on the board at the Foundation for the last four and a half years, and now it’s an absolute honour to be taking on this role. During my time at Heart of England, I have been witness to many amazing projects, and cannot wait to continue to help lead the way and develop the Foundation further in the next few years.”


From Me to You appoints new trustee

From Me to You, a charity which encourages writing letters to patients undergoing treatment, has appointed Anne James to its board of trustees. 

James has board experience from Restore, an Oxford based mental health charity, where she acted as a trustee for over ten years. She was also an art reviewer at The Oxford Times for 15 years. 

James said: “I feel very privileged to have been invited to become a trustee of From Me to You. I hope that my background in social care and working with and within the voluntary sector will prove useful to the charity.

“I enjoy writing and believe strongly in the power of the written word, and to that end I greatly enjoyed my fifteen or so years as one of The Oxford Times arts reviewers. I am looking forward to putting my skills to good use and now also writing letters as part of From Me to You.”


New head of business development for Ambient Support

Social care provider Ambient Support has appointed Gina Benjamin in new created position head of business development. 

Benjamin returns to the charity 18 months after leaving to become a regional manager at Achieve Together, a provider of associated complex needs support.  She previously acted as Ambient Support’s operations manager for five years, and worked at disability charity Community Options in various managerial positions for almost 14 years. She also has experience as a mental health support worker. 

Commenting on her return, Benjamin said: “I am extremely excited to be working at Ambient Support in this new role. With extended experience and knowledge gained from working in a number settings and sectors of social care, I return with a renewed passion to bring new ideas that can make a positive impact and help further develop Ambient’s business model.” 

The Gannochy Trust appoints new CEO

The Scottish community improvement charity The Gannochy Trust has appointed Andy Duncan as its new chief executive. He replaces Joanna McCreadie who left the trust to become CEO of Redress Scotland, a public body dedicated to supporting people who experienced historical child abuse in care. 

Before his appointment, Duncan was estates manager at The Gannochy Trust for seven years. 

Duncan said: “My primary motivation for joining the trust was the opportunity to work for an organisation that genuinely makes a difference to people’s lives and the wider community.  The ethos and diversity of the trust’s operations attracted me then and I am delighted to be taking up this role at such an exciting time in the trust’s development.”

New chairman for British Safety Council 

Leading health and safety charity The British Safety Council has appointed Peter McGettrick as its chairman. 

McGettrick succeeds Lawrence Waterman, who stood down after four years in the post. McGettrick has acted as deputy chairman for the last year. He works as a partner, managing director and safety practitioner at Turner & Townsend and has held various leadership positions and has worked at the BBC, HMRC, DWP, MBNL and Southampton City Council. 

Mike Robinson, chief executive of the charity, said: “Peter brings a wealth of expertise from a successful career leading consultancy and advising on major infrastructure projects and I know he will bring fresh insight and new ideas to the role of chairman.”

He added: “There has never been a more important time for employers to consider the safety, health and wellbeing of their staff, both in and outside of work, following the Covid-19 pandemic. It has to be a priority for any organisation looking to succeed today.”


Auditory Verbal UK appoints new trustees

Auditory Verbal UK (AVUK), the non-profit auditory verbal therapy programme which supports deaf babies and children, has appointed two new trustees. 
Vinay Purwaha joins AVUK as a trustee after his two children attended the AVUK programme due to being diagnosed with hearing loss. He has experience as a programme manager. 

He said: “I have seen with my own children the aspirations of AVUK to provide children with hearing loss the opportunity to lead enriched lives and it inspired me to want to take a bigger role with the charity and its plans for the future.”

Milly Ehren joins from City of London Corporation where she has worked as a strategic project lead for five years. She has experience as a charity project manager at the company, and has worked as a case worker at London Emergencies Trust and a team coordinator at the education charity Action Tutoring. 

Ehren will act as AVUK’s board lead for diversity, equity and inclusion. On her appointment, Ehren said: “I have lived with a Crohn’s disease for seven years which is a chronic invisible illness. Combining my personal experiences and professional skills will help me support the vision of the charity to support deaf children and their families in helping these children learn to listen and talk and achieve their potential.”


New CEO for Bank Workers Charity

Bank Workers Charity, a charity that supports current and former bank employees, has appointed a new chief executive, Ed Holloway, who is set to take up the role next January. 

Holloway joins from MS Society UK, where he is executive director of digital and services. Though he has been in this role for two years, he has been with the charity for almost 14. Additionally, he has experience as a trustee for Africa's Future and as a project systems manager at the Social Care Institute for Excellence.

Holloway said: “I am excited to be joining BWC at such an important point in its development. The need for charities to be relevant for the people they help has never been greater, and BWC serves a wide community in a number of diverse ways.”

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