Rethink Mental Illness appoints chief executive
Rethink Mental Illness has announced that Brian Dow has been appointed as its next chief executive.
Dow will take up the role in April 2027, succeeding Mark Winstanley, who announced his retirement earlier this month after 40 years of service to the organisation.
Dow joined Rethink Mental Illness as deputy chief executive in 2014, and has spent more than 20 years overall in the voluntary sector across organisations including Shelter, School Food Trust and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
He also represents Rethink Mental Illness on the Richmond Group, a collaboration of leading health and social care charities, and is also chair of the Head On campaign, encompassing over 20 mental health charities.
New CEO for the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute
The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, the charity founded and chaired by Martin Lewis (of MoneySavingExpert), has announced Conor D’Arcy as its new chief executive, effective from December to replace outgoing CEO Helen Undy.
D’Arcy has been deputy chief executive of Money and Mental Health since 2024, having also acted as interim chief executive from May 2023 to April 2024. He previously served as the charity’s head of research and policy.
Prior to joining Money and Mental Health, D’Arcy held roles at the Resolution Foundation, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Co-CEOs confirmed at PBE
Think tank PBE has appointed Jon Franklin and Cassia Dingwall as permanent co-CEOs, with the duo having led the organisation on an interim basis since September 2026.
Franklin and Dingwall have almost 20 years’ combined experience at PBE, with Franklin serving as chief economist and Dingwall as director of finance and operations.
The pair will share responsibility for PBE’s overall leadership and direction, with Dingwall leading across organisational strategy, operations and finance, while Franklin will share leadership of the organisation with strategic leadership of the research function.
Robertson Trust CEO to step down
After more than six years at Scottish grant-making organisation the Robertson Trust as CEO, Jim McCormick has announced he will be stepping down from the role at the end of March 2027 in order to move on to pursue other interests via consultancy.
McCormick said: “It is the honour of my working life to lead the Robertson Trust until next March.
“Since our 10-year strategy was published during the pandemic, we have made steady progress to becoming an open and trusting funder – independent but not neutral, clear on the contribution we can make, but acutely aware of the hardship and insecurity experienced by the people and places we are here to serve.
“Next year is the right time to stand down, both for me personally and in terms of the trust’s strategy cycle.”
New chair for OSCR
Scottish charity regulator, OSCR, has appointed Pauline Radcliffe as its new chair, effective from 1 December and serving a four-year term.
Radcliffe has more than 34 years of cross-sector experience including serving as chair of the CLD Standards Council for Scotland since May 2026 and chief executive of the SCQF Partnership until December 2025.
She has also worked as a Scottish government policy adviser in tertiary education and has held accountable officer and company secretary responsibilities for several regional and national charitable and public sector organisations.
Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation appoints director
Arts and culture foundation, the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, has announced the appointment of Rebecca Lloyd as its new director.
Lloyd has more than 20 years' experience in philanthropy, strategic grant-making and charitable leadership and will succeed outgoing director Sarah Miller.
Lloyd’s previous experience includes nearly a decade leading grant-making and philanthropy for the King Charles III Charitable Fund, as well as senior positions at the Masonic Charitable Foundation, alongside earlier fundraising roles with WaterAid, Voluntary Service Overseas and the National Autistic Society.
New executive director at Mencap
Learning disability charity Mencap has appointed Nic Alderson as executive director of personal support, effective from February next year.
Alderson will join Mencap from stem cell transplant charity Anthony Nolan, where she served as chief operating officer for the past 13 years.
Prior to Anthony Nolan, Alderson held senior leadership roles at the NSPCC, where she led a national transformation programme across direct services, Shelter and the Refugee Council.
Natural History Museum appoints director of development
The Natural History Museum has announced that it has appointed Chris Till as its new director of development, effective from 16 November.
Till has more than 20 years of senior fundraising and philanthropy experience spanning the environmental, cultural and charitable sectors, and joins the museum from Greenpeace International, where he is currently global philanthropy director.
Previously, Till spent a decade at Greenpeace UK as deputy fundraising director.
