RICHMOND GROUP OF CHARITIES - Key Persons
Catherine has been leading Royal Voluntary service as Chief Executive since August 2017. Starting her career as a trained nurse in the NHS , she has extensive experience across all sectors building innovative and sustainable services and inspiring and enabling voluntary action. Her key passions are frontline service delivery and enabling the gift of voluntary service which recently saw her leading the development of a number of large-scale initiatives to support the NHS and our communities during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Before joining Royal Voluntary Service, Catherine was Chief Executive of Samaritans, which provides confidential support to anyone experiencing a tough time in their life. Whilst at the helm for almost 7 years, Catherine was responsible for developing a long-term strategy that saw the organisation become the thought leader of suicide prevention and innovator of postvention services in the UK. This resulted in her being awarded a CBE in 2016 for services to suicide prevention. Catherine was fortunate enough to also spend some time working in the Asylum and Refugee support sector which in her own words was exceptionally humbling and tough.
In her career Catherine is also well known for her leadership roles across the world of volunteer infrastructure having held CEO roles in CVS/Volunteer Bureau and Community Action organisations. As Chair of Directory of Social Change for many years she understands the key role that small charities make to their local communities. With a keen appetite for collaboration, Catherine has recently led the development of Shaping the Future With Volunteering coalition that she now Co Chairs with Matt Hyde. She was recently appointed as Vice Chair of the Richmond Group.
Her time as CEO of NDPB national funding agency, Capacitybuilders placed her at the heart of government and VCS funding decisions. The breadth of experience that Catherine has been able to secure also included a period of time working in the Asylum and Refugee support sector. Catherine is particularly proud of her five children and five grandchildren who keep her grounded and eternally entertained and busy.
Job Titles:
- Physical Activity and Health Influencing Manager
Emma joined The Richmond Group in June 2022. Previously she spent two years at Art Fund, the national charity for art, where she was the policy manager advocating to government and the public for museums and galleries. Prior to that, she spent four years in various policy and external affairs roles at the Association of Charitable Foundations, working to influence the operating environment for grant-makers and philanthropists. She also has experience in fundraising and project development for an international peace building charity.
Emma completed a masters degree in International Relations, specialising in gender, and an undergraduate degree in International Relations and Spanish. In a voluntary capacity, Emma is vice chair of her local council for voluntary services and has also volunteered with older people, asylum seekers and sports clubs.
Job Titles:
- Programme Manager for Taskforce on Multiple Conditions
Eve manages our partnership programme with the Royal College of General Practitioners and Guys and St Thomas' Charity to improve the lives of people living with, or caring for, people with multiple long-term conditions.
Eve has over 12 years of experience in health policy, research management and NHS quality improvement, previously working as the Associate Director of Research and Governance at the National Joint Registry. After graduating from UCL with a first-class BA in social sciences, Eve began her career working in the community sector, as an outreach worker with a homelessness charity. From there she took a role with the Royal College of Physicians and has worked in the field of health and care quality improvement ever since. She has also previously worked at The King's Fund and the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership.
Eve joined the Richmond Group in July 2018.
Job Titles:
- Physical Activity and Health Project Coordinator
Gail's career in health began with returning to complete a nutritional therapy degree as a mature student, which led to 10 years working in health promotion in the charity sector. During this time she managed an award-winning volunteer outreach programme, working with people with lived experience of cancer to raise awareness of the disease among at-risk groups. She also developed a bowel cancer awareness training programme for health professionals working closely with the National Bowel Screening Service. Passionate about physical and mental health, Gail is also a qualified personal trainer and enjoys teaching exercises classes in her spare time.
Juliet has been Chief Executive of the Stroke Association since June 2016 and Chair of The Richmond Group since January 2022. The Stroke Association is the UK's leading stroke charity promoting life after stroke. With a turnover of £35m per year and a staff team of 800, the organisation's activities extend from funding stroke research, to providing services to stroke survivors and their families, influencing and campaigning for change, and educating and working to prevent strokes. There are 1.2 million stroke survivors in the UK, yet stroke still remains the fourth single largest cause of death in the UK and second in the world.
Juliet co-chairs the Stroke Delivery Programme Board with NHS England and is a member of the NHS Assembly. She is a World Stroke Organisation Board member and Fellow. She was awarded the Order of the British Empire Medal (OBE) in the Queen's 2020 New Year's Honours list.
Prior to joining the Stroke Association, Juliet was at Macmillan Cancer Support for 16 years in a range of roles covering strategy, policy, research and HR. From 2011-2015 she was Executive Director of Services and Influencing with a staff team of 800 and a budget of £150m. She oversaw a programme of award-winning innovations and service design across the UK, and secured important government commitments to improve patient experience and post-treatment support through the 2015 Cancer Strategy for England.
Prior to Macmillan, Juliet worked at the British Red Cross in strategy and service evaluation, the Community Development Foundation in fundraising, and a political consultancy. She was a trustee of the Long-Term Conditions Alliance and chaired the Cancer Patient Experience Board for University College London Hospital (UCLH) from 2011-2014.
Juliet has a degree in Modern Languages in Oxford and a postgraduate diploma in management. She ran the London Marathon for the Stroke Association in April 2019.
Job Titles:
- Physical Activity and Health Programme Manager
After completing a Combined Arts degree from the University of Leicester Michelle began working on community physical activity projects via a stint in local government. She then joined the national Walking for Health team under its stewardship of the Ramblers and Macmillan Cancer Support. Following this Michelle moved into the private sector, working for Intelligent Health and managing their innovative physical activity programme, Beat the Street. Michelle joined the Richmond Group in June 2017.