# Fundraising and charity leadership appointments in April 2026

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2026/04/15/fundraising-and-charity-leadership-appointments-in-april-2026/
- Published: 2026-04-15T18:15:36+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**This month’s roundup of new fundraising and charity leadership appointments include
announcements from the Charity Commission, Raiser, FoodCycle, Youth Music, The Brain
Charity, Bowel Research UK, Brunelcare, Devon Community Foundation, Eric Liddell
Community, Artswork, goDonate, Make-A-Wish UK, Big Give and Shelterbox.**

## **Charity Commission for England and Wales**

**Kate Sayer** has been appointed as Board Member and Chair of the Audit and Risk
Assurance Committee at the Charity Commission for England and Wales, for a three-
year term from 9 March 2026. The appointment was made by Secretary of State Lisa
Nandy MP.

Sayer is a Chartered Accountant and was part of the founding team of Sayer Vincent,
the audit and advisory firm specialising in social purpose organisations. She served
on the Charities SORP Committee for 15 years and taught charity finance at Bayes
Business School. She was Chair of the Board of Trustees at Bond from November 2019
to December 2024.

## Advertisement

From January 2020 to December 2023 she was Oxfam’s first Director of Integrity and
Ethics. The full [appointment notice is available on gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/board-member-appointed-to-the-charity-commission-for-england-and-wales).

Board Members of the Charity Commission are remunerated at £350 a day.

## Raiser

![Mark Carrigan and Luke Wilkinson](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2026/04/
mark-carrigan-luke-wilkinson-raiser.jpg)

Mark Carrigan and Luke Wilkinson

Impact investment specialist **Mark Carrigan** has joined the board of directors
of [Raiser](https://raiser.uk/), the company working to transform funding for small
charities.

A Senior Lecturer at the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, Carrigan is also a 
non-executive director to The Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing and Rogare –
The Fundraising Think Tank, and also served in that role at Fundraising Ireland (
now Charities Institute Ireland).
Carrigan said:

“Funding pressures, income volatility and increasing expectations around measurable
impact are reshaping how organisations operate and how resources are allocated. 
These trends have brought civil society to an inflection point of forced evolution.
Raiser is rebuilding the sector’s infrastructure, not to reduce the administrative
friction around bidding and funding, but to remove it entirely”.

He added:
“Having taught [Raiser’s co-founder] Luke Wilkinson some years ago, there
is real personal satisfaction in seeing first-hand the ingenuity he is bringing 
to the sector”.

## **FoodCycle**

![Mark Game, CEO at Foodcycle](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2026/04/Mark-
Game-FoodCycle-CEO.jpg)

Mark Game. Photo: Foodcycle

**Mark Game** has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of community dining charity
[FoodCycle](https://foodcycle.org.uk/), joining in mid-April. Game is the founder
of affordable food clubs charity The Bread and Butter Thing and co-founder of The
Community Shop, the UK’s first social supermarket, established in 2013. He brings
25 years’ experience in food surplus redistribution and had previously served as
a FoodCycle trustee from 2017 to 2023.

**He succeeds Sophie Tebbetts**, who steps down after ten years with the charity,
having grown the number of community meals from 26 to 90 across England and Wales.
Tebbetts moves to a role supporting community health initiatives at Royal Papworth
Hospital Charity.

## **Youth Music**

![Adam Joolia](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2026/04/Adam-Joolia.png)

Adam Joolia

**Adam Joolia** has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Youth Music, the national
young people’s music charity. He joins in September from AudioActive in Brighton,
where he served as Chief Executive for nearly two decades, growing the organisation
from a single-post project into a £1.3 million Arts Council England National Portfolio
Organisation.

Joolia will lead Youth Music as it develops its new five-year strategy, with a focus
on income generation, youth voice, and equitable grantmaking.

## **The Brain Charity**

![Matt Meaney with The Brain Charity logo behind him](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.
cloud/2026/04/Matt-Meany-202603.jpg)

Matt Meaney at The Brain Charity All Staff Meeting on 3 March 2026.

**Matt Meaney** has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of The Brain Charity,
the national charity supporting people with neurological conditions. He starts on
20 April, joining from Zoe’s Place where he served as Head of Fundraising for six
years. He previously served as Chief Executive of Wirral Mencap from 2018 to 2020.

## **Bowel Research UK**

![Kathryn Pretzel-Shiels](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2026/04/Kathryn-Pretzel-
Shiels.png)

Kathryn Pretzel-Shiels

**Kathryn Pretzel-Shiels** has been confirmed as permanent Chief Executive Officer
of Bowel Research UK, having served as Interim CEO since October 2025. She has been
closely involved with the charity since 2016, initially as a Trustee and later as
Chair of the Fundraising, Marketing and Communications Committee.

Pretzel-Shiels brings more than 30 years’ experience in international business, 
including 28 years at American Express across three continents and a period as Marketing
Director at PAUL Ltd.

## **Brunelcare**

![](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2026/04/Sonia-Furzland.jpg)

Bristol-based care charity Brunelcare has appointed Sonia Furzland as Interim Chief
Executive Officer from early May, succeeding Oona Goldsworthy who steps down after
six and a half years. Furzland has more than three decades of experience in the 
housing sector, most recently as Interim Executive Director of Housing at Bristol
City Council.

## **Devon Community Foundation**

![Jake Moores OBE DL](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2026/04/Jake-Moores-OBE-
DL.jpg)

Jake Moores OBE DL

**Commodore Jake Moores OBE DL** has been appointed as the new Chair of the Board
of Devon Community Foundation. He brings a 37-year career in the Royal Navy, during
which he commanded three submarines, and has since served in a range of civic and
charitable roles in the county, including as High Sheriff of Devon from March 2024
to March 2025.

He has played a leading role in commemorative and community initiatives, serving
as Chairman of _Shrouds of the Somme_, a major art installation marking the centenary
of the Battle of the Somme in 2016 and the centenary of the end of the First World
War.

## **The Eric Liddell Community**

![Megan Veronesi](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2026/04/Megan-Veronesi-202604.
jpg)

Megan Veronesi. Photo copyright [Chris Watt](https://www.chriswatt.com)

Edinburgh-based dementia care charity The Eric Liddell Community has appointed **
Megan Veronesi** as Chief Executive Officer from 1 April 2026, succeeding John MacMillan
who had led the charity since 2016. Veronesi brings more than 15 years of third 
sector experience, with senior roles at Royal Trinity Hospice, Firstport, and Edinburgh
World Heritage, and more recently as a freelance interim CEO and consultant.

## **Artswork**

![Co-CEO Annabel Cook,  Chair of Trustees of Artswork Katie Jackson,  and Co-CEO
Louise Govier](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2026/04/Annabel-Cook-Katie-Jackson-
and-Louise-Govier-edited.jpg)

l-r: Co-CEO Annabel Cook, Chair of Trustees of Artswork Katie Jackson, and Co-CEO
Louise Govier

Youth arts development charity [Artswork](https://artswork.org.uk/) has appointed
Katie Jackson, Chief Marketing Officer at Channel 4, as its new Chair of Trustees.
Jackson joins Co-CEOs Annabel Cook and Louise Govier as the charity continues its
work supporting young people’s access to the arts.

Jackson has responsibility for the broadcaster’s brand strategy and its Marketing,
Media, 4creative and Communications teams.

Through amplifying youth-voice, placemaking, creative career opportunities and learning
for 35 years, Artswork has worked to improve young people’s life chances and making
a difference.

## **goDonate**

![Vanessa Cartwright](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2026/04/Vanessa-Cartwright.
jpg)

Vanessa Cartwright

![Scott Gray](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2026/04/scott-gray.gif)

Scott Gray

Online fundraising platform [goDonate](https://go-donate.uk/) has appointed two 
non-executive directors. **Scott Gray**, former inaugural Chair of the Chartered
Institute of Fundraising Supplier Forum and previously CCO at Elovate, joins alongside**
Vanessa Cartwright**, a Founding Adviser to AI-powered gifting platform Generous
and former President North America & UK of Astound Digital.

## **Make-A-Wish UK**

![Sara Millar](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2026/04/Sara-Millar.png)

Sara Millar

**Sara Millar**, 22, from Glasgow has joined the board of trustees at Make-A-Wish
UK, becoming **the charity’s youngest ever trustee**.

Millar had her wish granted by the charity in 2019, to meet chef Gennaro Contaldo,
after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma aged 14. She subsequently served
on the charity’s STARboard young people’s advisory board and as Youth Advisor to
the board before joining as a full trustee.

![Sara Millar's wish with Gennaro Contaldo](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/
2026/04/Sara-Millar-wish-with-Gennaro-Contaldo-2019.jpeg)

Sara Millar’s wish with Gennaro Contaldo

## ⏎ **Big Give**

![Lorraine Kelly, Megan McCubbin, Deborah Meaden and Ruby Wax - new Big Give ambassadors](
https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2026/04/four-big-give-ambassadors-202604@2x.
png)

Lorraine Kelly, Megan McCubbin, Deborah Meaden and Ruby Wax – new Big Give ambassadors

Match funding charity Big Give has named four celebrity ambassadors: broadcasters**
Lorraine Kelly** and **Megan McCubbin**, comedian and mental health campaigner **
Ruby Wax**, and investor and _Dragons’ Den_ panellist **Deborah Meaden**.

All four have previously supported charities taking part in [Big Give](https://fundraising.co.uk/tag/big-give/)
campaigns. The charity, which raised a record £57.4 million in one week through 
its 2025 Christmas Challenge, has set a target of raising £1 billion for good causes
by 2030.

## Shelterbox

![Richard Nightingale, in front of a green wall or background](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.
cloud/2026/04/Richard-Nightingale.png)

Richard Nightingale

International disaster relief charity ShelterBox has appointed **Richard Nightingale**
as its new Director of People & Culture.

With more than 20 years’ experience leading HR teams in the corporate world, Richard
has held senior roles on executive and leadership teams. He previously worked in
financial services and held HR Director roles in Barclays, Kensington Mortgages,
Investec and Sun Life of Canada. 

He has relocated to Cornwall with hiis family to work for Shelterbox.

Since launching in 2000, ShelterBox has supported more than 3 million people in 
around 100 countries with shelter and essential items like water filters, solar 
lights, blankets, and mosquito nets. 

As well as [Lebanon](https://shelterbox.org/lebanon-middle-east/), ShelterBox teams
are currently supporting people displaced by conflict in Sudan and Gaza, as well
as by Cyclone Gezani in Madagascar.