Fundraising and leadership appointments round-up for March
Howard Lake | 14 March 2025 | News
Our latest round-up of new appointments features Casper Harratt, David Rose, Josie Jakup, Guy Hollway, Rob Melville, plus a patron role for HRH the Duke of Edinburgh.
Casper Harratt to Rosterfy
After 12 years at Blackbaud and JustGiving Casper Harratt has been appointed as General Manager for UK & Europe at Rosterfy. At Blackbaud and JustGiving he was Senior Director Commercial & Operations and before that Director of Marketing at both organisations.
Melbourne-based Rosterfy “connects communities to events and causes they are passionate about through their volunteer management software platform”.
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Announcing his move on LinkedIn Casper said:
“It was going to take something special to draw me away, and I know I’ve found it in Rosterfy. Switching from the world of fundraising to the world of volunteering, I’m over the moon to join another mission-driven tech company with the goal of making the world a better place right at its heart.”
David Rose at Pancreatic Cancer UK
Pancreatic Cancer UK has appointed David Rose as its new Chair of Trustees. He replaces Eleanor Phillips, whose term ended as Chair in January.
David has more than three decades of healthcare leadership expertise, including leading an NHS hospital trust and the health authority in Warwickshire. More recently, he has been leading businesses delivering high-quality health care for NHS patients in primary care, diagnostics and hospital services.
David also has personal experience of pancreatic cancer after his mother died from the disease in 1986, aged 44. The news came as a real shock to David, who was just 17 years old at the time. Unlike other forms of cancer, survival rates for pancreatic cancer have barely improved since the 1970s.
David joins Pancreatic Cancer UK as it prepares for its largest ever partnership as the official charity for the 2025 TCS London Marathon. Through its campaign, ‘The Ultimate Test’ Pancreatic Cancer UK is aiming to raise £2 million. The money will help put the first-ever early detection test for the disease into the hands of doctors, a breakthrough that could save thousands of lives.
Josie Jakub is new CEO of Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide
Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide (SoBS) has announced the appointment of Josie Jakub as its new Chief Executive Officer.
With a three-decade career in international business leadership and a deeply personal connection to the organisation’s mission, Josie will drive forward SoBS’ commitment to ensuring that no-one bereaved by suicide has to struggle alone.
She has held leadership roles at Amazon, Symantec, and LexisNexis, where has driven strategic growth, fostered innovation, and led diverse teams to success.
Her dedication to SoBS stems from personal experience—Josie lost her fiancé, Olivier, to suicide in 2017, just weeks before their wedding. In the wake of this profound loss, she turned to SoBS for support and has since become a passionate advocate, group facilitator, and champion for suicide bereavement awareness.
Guy Holloway joins Marine Society & Sea Cadets as CEO in May
Guy Holloway is to join Marine Society & Sea Cadets (MSSC) its new Chief Executive, starting on 16 May 2025.
He joins MSSC with nearly 20 years of experience in the charity sector, dedicated to supporting young people and delivering life-changing opportunities globally. He has worked in major organisations such as the Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, where he played a key role in empowering young women worldwide, as well as leading initiatives in education, health, and youth development across the UK and internationally.
He succeeds Martin Coles CBE who has led the MSSC for 15 years.
MSSC Chair, Jeremy Penn, said:
“[Guy’s] passion for youth development, combined with his strategic leadership experience, makes him an excellent fit for MSSC as we continue to grow and evolve. We are confident that under his leadership, MSSC will continue to thrive and provide outstanding support to young people and seafarers.”
Rob Melvill joins BBC Media Action as Director of Fundraising
Rob Melvill has been appointed Director of Fundraising at BBC Media Action, the BBC’s international charity. He took up the role on 11 March and will lead a newly combined directorate focused on income generation.
As an independent charity within the BBC family, BBC Media Action is wholly reliant on donors and supporters to carry out its work around the world in support of independent media and trusted information.
Rob will oversee the charity’s individual giving, major donor, corporate partnerships, events and business development teams.
He was previously Director of Relationships Income and Engagement at the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), where he led the charity’s major giving, trusts & foundations, statutory funding, and corporate partnerships teams, along with special events.
Before that we was Head of Income Generation at Citizens Advice, where he built and delivered a successful diversification of income strategy, moving it away from reliance on statutory income amid a fast-changing economic climate.
Simon Bishop, CEO of BBC Media Action, said:
“Rob has a strong track record as an adaptable and innovative leader who excels at leading teams to meet and exceed targets. I think he’s going to be a fabulous Director of Fundraising and I’m looking forward to working with him and our talented fundraising directorate, as we diversify and increase our unrestricted income and continue our impressive record of raising programmatic funding from major global institutional donors, including governments, United Nations agencies and leading foundations, in support of our bold new strategy.”
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh is NCVO’s new Royal Patron
NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations) has announced HRH The Duke of Edinburgh as its new Royal Patron, “continuing its proud and historic relationship with the Royal Family”. The late Queen Elizabeth II served as NCVO’s Royal Patron from 1953 to 2022.
The Duke of Edinburgh has shown a lifelong commitment to the advancement of charitable causes and is a passionate advocate for the power and impact of volunteering, particularly empowering individuals and fostering community support across the UK.
Dr Priya Singh, Chair of Trustees of NCVO said:
“We are thrilled to welcome HRH The Duke of Edinburgh as our new Patron and look forward to working together to ensure the voices of charities and volunteers are heard. His passion for charitable work and volunteering will help us shine a light on the vital work charities do every day. The Duke will be a wonderful ambassador, championing the invaluable contributions of charities and volunteers and inspiring others to support their vital work.”
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.