Clare Scherer, CEO, Royal Navy & Royal Marines Children’s Fund Expand After a career as a Lighting Engineer in the Theatre I moved to the Charity Sector in 2004. In 2005 I was approached by Julie Stokes, Clinical Psychologist and Founder and The Duchess of Richmond & Gordon, President of the child bereavement charity Winston’s Wish to help open a West Sussex branch of the charity. Winston’s Wish is a Charity for bereaved children founded in 1992 and was at that time offering direct support to families in Gloucestershire with National reach through its helpline. West Sussex health professionals, social services and other providers had identified a clear need within the County for support and thus the second County branch was formed. We were successful in opening the West Sussex branch and I became General Manager of Winston’s Wish in West Sussex, a member of the Senior Management Team of Winston’s Wish and Head of Major Donor Fundraising nationally. Until 2014 I was also a consultant to many other charities (including the Naval Children’s Charity: Royal Navy & Royal Marines Children’s Fund) helping them to develop their strategic plans particularly, in the case of smaller charities, with regard to their fundraising strategies. In 2014 I joined the full-time staff at the Naval Children’s Charity: the Royal Navy & Royal Marines Children’s Fund and in May 2018 I was appointed as the Chief Executive. Having developed and consolidated the team in 2019 we carried out a Strategic Review of the Children’s Fund and in 2020 we announced our name change to Naval Children’s Charity and our plans for the future, particularly leading up to our 200th anniversary in 2025. I am delighted to join the board of Children England, particularly to give a voice to the needs of the Service Child.
David Holmes CBE, CEO, Family Action (Chair of trustees) David Holmes, CEO, Family Action (Chair of trustees) Expand David has senior leadership experience in services for children and families in the voluntary sector, local government and central government, and was Chief Executive of the British Association for Adoption and Fostering for 7 years from 2006 to 2013. He became Chief Executive of Family Action in March 2013. Before moving to local government as a Deputy Director of Children's Services, David directed the Child Protection, Adoption and Children’s Trusts divisions in the Department of Health and then the Looked After Children division in the Department for Education and Skills. He began his career as a solicitor in private practice and then worked for several years in NHS management. David was a member of the Government's Expert Working Groups on Child Protection and the Internet, on the Future of the Care Population, on Private Fostering and on Adoption. He has also served as an Adviser to the Local Government Association on Children's Services David is currently a member of the Advisory Group to the Children’s Commissioner for England. He is also currently Chair of Children England and Chair of Naomi House (a children's hospice group). He is a former Chair of the End Child Poverty coalition, the Connaught Group of children's charities and the Alliance for Children in Care. David was awarded a CBE for Services to Children and Families in the New Year Honours 2014. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Founding Fellow of the Society of Leadership Fellows at the College of St. George, Windsor Castle and a Member of the E3M Social Enterprise Leaders Business Club. He won CEO of the Year at the HR Distinction Awards 2016.
How does this relate to the LGA's call for £2 billion to plug the funding gap in children's services? Expand The Local Government Association has identified that councils will need £2 billion to address the shortfall in funding for children's services by 2020. Whilst this funding from central government would address the immediate funding crisis for children's social care, the sustainability of local services would still be an issue after 2020, when councils would be left to rely on income generated locally to fund children's services. Unless we retain a national mechanism for distributing money from general taxation, poorer areas will face an inevitable discrepancy between the care and protection that local children need and the funds they have available to provide it.
James Fookes, Policy and Public Affairs Coordinator, The Children's Society Expand Frontline work and lived experience are more useful to policy than a degree I worked instead of going to uniWhen all my friends were going to university, I spent a year working. I felt pressure to go to university, but also felt needed at home. I saved the money I earned, unsure whether I’d spend it travelling or going to uni later on. I’ve always been an activistI’ve been volunteering since I was 15, when I joined the Terrence Higgins Trust’s youth leadership scheme. They’re a really empowering employer and gave our team of young people commissioner-style powers to allocate funding to youth projects on sexual health. When I was a teenager my friends and I supported a daycare centre for families in my area who couldn’t afford childcare over the summer holidays. Volunteering led me to my first paid jobI had this idea of doing police training so I could learn about human trafficking, which was the issue I really wanted to work on. But I quickly realised the police wouldn’t suit me! Terrence Higgins Trust has a ‘no degree needed’ culture and a great organic system where young people who’ve been involved informally can stay with the charity, moving into more formal roles. So when I moved to London to finally start a degree in philosophy, they employed me as an LGBT Community Engagement Officer, essentially running outreach services for HIV testing and support. THT were supportive of me studying while I was working for them, but in no way needed me to get the degree – the qualities they need in their frontline staff are honesty, openness, friendliness and being non-judgemental, and I had those already. Would I have got my first job in policy without my degree? I hope soI started working part-time as Policy and Campaigns Officer for THT while I was also part-time Community Engagement Officer. Although I’d got my degree by that point, I think it was my other experience that they thought qualified me for a policy role – I’d done lots of campaigning and internships and of course knew the cause and the organisation’s values well by then. Unfortunately, there is a false divide between ‘service delivery’ jobs and ‘policy’ jobs when I think it’s important to have people who’ve done both. Frontline experience is more useful in policy than a degreeI would never work in a policy area I didn’t have practical experience of. When my job at THT finished as a result of a restructure, I went to Greece on the spur of the moment, and ended up helping to support the refugee population there. That experience now feeds into my work for the Migrant and Refugee Children’s Consortium at The Children’s Society, where policy work enables me to focus my activism. Find your causeMy advice to young people who want to work in a policy and campaigns role is to get involved in the issues you feel strongly about. If you look around your community, there will be plenty of projects and campaigns that need help – just ask how you can be useful. And that includes on issues you’ve got personal experience of: if something unjust is making you angry or frustrated, you can channel that into activism. After all, there’s a lot for young people to feel angry about, and good policy making needs their voices.
Joanna Manning, National Lead Substance Misuse, The Children’s Society People have always seen the potential in me Expand As someone who entered the sector in 1991 as a volunteer with few qualifications, I welcome your campaign. I left grammar school at 16 with no qualifications and little aspiration. Although I always kind of felt I had something to offer – empathy and understanding. I grew up in a working class family who didn’t go to university or have degrees, plus as a family we had our own share of dysfunction and stress to deal with. In my career I have been lucky and people have always seen the potential in me and looked beyond qualifications. As a manager in a children’s charity I too have done the same with others and the service and especially the service users have benefitted as a result.
Katharine Sacks-Jones, CEO, Become Expand Katharine is the Chief Executive of Become, the charity for children in care and young care leavers. Become helps young people to heal, grow and unleash their potential. They do this through direct support, driving improvements in practice and campaigning for change. Katharine has a background in politics and campaigning and has worked in charity sector for over 10 years. She has worked on issues including homelessness, unemployment, mental health and domestic abuse. Before joining Become Katharine was the inaugural Chief Executive of Agenda, the alliance for women and girls at risk.
Katherine Hill, Strategic Project Manager, 4in10 London Child Poverty Network Katherine Hill, Strategic Project Manager, 4in10 London Child Poverty Network Expand Katherine Hill, Strategic Project Manager, 4in10 London Child Poverty Network We are delighted to announce that Katherine Hill will be joining our team as 4in10's new Strategic Project Manager on March 8th. She joins us after serving for several years as a specialist to the Joint Committee on Human Rights in parliament, and before that she has had a succession of human rights policy and campaigning roles at Age UK, Scope and The Children's Society.
Kathy Evans, Chief Executive Chief Executive Expand Kathy Evans, Chief Executive Kathy joined Children England in 2010 as Deputy Chief Executive, leading Children England’s Programmes as the DfE’s Overarching Strategic Partner for the VCSE sector. She became CEO in April 2013. After graduating from Trinity College Cambridge, Kathy took a full-time CSV volunteer placement in a children’s home, leading her to train in counselling and to work with young people in secure accommodation for several years. She moved into policy work in 1997: firstly for DrugScope, specialising in drug treatment for young people; then to The Children’s Society where she remained for 8 years, as its Policy Director. During her career Kathy has been the Chair of the Standing Committee for Youth Justice, a trustee of the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, a member of the ACMD Hidden Harm group and DCSF Care Matters advisory group. She was also consultant to the Police Foundation and Justice, devising potential alternatives to Youth Courts, to support the Independent Commission on Youth Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour. Kathy is also passionate about her role as a Humanist Celebrant for the BHA, performing non-religious weddings and baby namings whenever she is able! Contact: [email protected]
Keir Lewis, Research and Learning Officer, 4in10 London Child Poverty Network Expand I have joined 4in10 from the Just Finance Foundation, where I devised and rolled out their Covid Cash Recovery training for hundreds of voluntary organisations. I recently completed an MSc Inequality and Social Science at LSE and have also previously worked for the National Careers Service, Thriving Places Initiative, and Yik Yak app.
Lauren Seager-Smith, CEO, Kidscape Expand Lauren Seager-Smith FRSA is CEO of the UK based bullying prevention charity Kidscape. Lauren has worked in child advocacy and youth development for over twenty years previously working for the National Children's Bureau, Save the Children and global volunteering charity Lattitude. Lauren is a member of the Action for Children England Committee, UK Safer Internet Centre Board and Internet Matters Expert Advisory Panel. Lauren is a regular media spokesperson and campaigner, with a focus on child rights in education and the digital world.