New CEOs for Wiltshire Wildlife Trust & FIGO, plus other charity people news
Melanie May | 11 May 2023 | News
A round up of recent people news from across the sector, including new CEO and trustee appointments, as well as the death of Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance Co-founder and Chair.
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust announces new CEO
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust has appointed Jo Lewis as its next CEO, replacing Gary Mantle who retires this year after 33 years at the helm. Lewis joins the Trust in mid-August from the Soil Association, where she has been Policy and Strategy Director for the last eight years. She is a member of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission’s ‘Farming Leadership Group’ and of the Food Ethics Council, which she formerly chaired. Before joining the Soil Association, Lewis was Convenor of Defra’s Sustainable Consumption Roundtable and Head of Policy at think tank Green Alliance. She led the ‘Food for Life’ programme, and founded the ‘Food for Life Served Here’ scheme which now certifies two million healthy and sustainable meals served every day in schools, hospitals and care settings.
Statement released by Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) following the death of its Chairman John Bullough MBE pic.twitter.com/hWaR6Y3SL7
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— SCAA (@ScotAirAmb) May 8, 2023
Co-founder & Chair of Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance dies
John Bullough, who was Co-founder and Chair of Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance, died suddenly on 4 May, at the age of 54. Bullough had been involved with SCAA from inception and, together with his fellow co-founders, and saw the charity grow into a major and integral part of the country’s emergency services network. In a tribute, Vice-Chair Mike Beale said:
“His brand of enthusiasm for fundraising was to be admired and over the 10-year history of SCAA he saw over £50 million raised, crews responding to nearly 5,000 call outs and thousands of lives saved or impacted upon.
“John will be sadly missed by everyone at SCAA and our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time.”
FIGO appoints Frances Longley as new CEO
The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) has announced the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer. Frances Longley will join FIGO in July, bringing with her more than 25 years of leadership and governance experience in domestic and international charities. Longley will replace current CEO Professor Mary Ann Lumsden, who has led FIGO since 2020 and is retiring from the post. Longley was ActionAid UK’s first woman CEO in its 50-year history. Prior to that she worked with CARE International UK as Executive Director for Programmes & Policy, following four years as Chief Executive of Amref Health Africa UK. She held senior interim roles with Unicef UK. She was also appointed as chair of the UK NGO sector working group on Leadership and Culture for Safeguarding in 2018. She regularly writes and speaks on the role of leadership and culture, and has provided consultancy and mentorship to organisations and individual leaders.
Youth Music announces six new trustees
The new recruits will help Youth Music achieve its mission to equalise young people’s access to making, learning and earning in music. Following a competitive recruitment process, the six new trustees are: Andrew Lansley, Innovation Manager for Cheltenham Festivals, Senior Academic at the University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham Culture Board coordinator and in his spare time performs as double bassist with Thrill Collins; Berkeley Edwards, Head of Music and a principal at law firm Clintons; Bre McDermott-King, an International Product Manager at AWAL, a record label under Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd; Hanna Chalmers, a senior research practitioner who has spent her career working in, and around the media, tech, music and entertainment industries; Paul Bonham, who currently leads the Music Manager Forum’s ground-breaking Accelerator supported by YouTube Music; and Sarah Brown, national programme lead for children and young people’s mental health at NHS England.
Three new trustees for London Marathon Foundation
Three new members have been appointed to the London Marathon Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Councillor Mete Coban MBE, Yogesh Patel and John Tennent have joined the Board, bringing with them a wealth of experience to support the effective governance and operation of the London Marathon Foundation. Councillor Mete Coban MBE is the youngest ever elected Councillor in the London Borough of Hackney, currently serving as the Cabinet Member for Energy, Waste, Transport and Public Realm. Coban is also the founder and Chief Executive of My Life My Say; Yogesh Patel has been working in Digital and Technology Transformation for more than two decades and is currently a Managing Director (Head of Transformation) at Coutts & Company; John Tennent is an experienced Finance Director and Charity Trustee, specialising in financial and risk management, and co-founder and CEO of Corporate Edge.
New Chair of trustees for The Sleep Charity
Doncaster based charity, The Sleep Charity, has announced the appointment of Helen Michaels as its new Chair of trustees. Michaels is an experienced board-level adviser and coach, with over 25 years of experience in governance and transformational and cultural change for charities, not-for-profits, SMEs, and FTSE 100 companies. Michaels is a graduate of Warwick University and the FT non-executive director diploma. She also has executive diplomas from INSEAD and the Institute for Applied Behavioural Science (USA). In addition, she is an accredited practitioner of several psychometric instruments and a fellow of the RSA. Her experience includes executive roles in Customer Experience, Marketing, HR & Finance at British Airways, Monarch Airlines, Price Waterhouse Coopers, and Baker Tilly. Michaels has previously served as a charity trustee and Vice-Chair, as well as having coached and mentored individuals in the third sector.
Playlist for Life appoints Michael Timmons as Executive Director
In its 10th anniversary year, music and dementia charity Playlist for Life has appointed a new Executive Director. Michael Timmons was appointed to the role in April after previously serving as Head of Operations and Deputy Director and then taking on the role of Interim Executive Director in January 2023. He has been with the organisation since 2019 and will now lead on strategic plans to reach every person living with dementia in the UK through strategic partnerships, community work and awareness-raising campaigns. Timmons earned a BSc (Hons) in Psychology from the University of Glasgow and has over 10 years’ experience in the voluntary and health and social care sector working to drive change in communities. He has worked in a variety of leadership roles in organisations including Wheatley Care in Scotland. He is currently Chair of the Board of Directors for the Patients Advocacy Service at The State Hospital.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.