AFF - Key Persons
Abbie is a career diplomat, working for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. She has 20 years' experience in international relations, specialising in conflict. This has included overseas postings to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Throughout her diplomatic career, Abbie has worked regularly alongside the Armed Forces in operational theatres and is a former Royal Naval Reservist. She has also spent time working in the military charity sector supporting veterans.
Abbie is an Army spouse and mother, a keen triathlete and proficient linguist, who enjoys travelling and engaging with diverse cultures.
Job Titles:
- Education & Childcare Assistant
Job Titles:
- Devolved Nations Assistant
Job Titles:
- Education & Childcare Specialist
Job Titles:
- Foreign & Commonwealth Advisor
Job Titles:
- Money & Allowances Specialist
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive
- Member of the Executive Team
You are here / Home / About AFF / Who we are / Chief Executive, Collette Musgrave
Collette joined AFF from the public sector, where she developed a background in strategic planning, policy development and management. She worked as a civil servant across a number of policy areas in the Ministry of Defence, and in postings to the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, before taking a mid-career break to become a commissioned officer.
On her return to the civil service, she developed a focus on operational delivery and business improvement, before completing the Royal College of Defence Studies course with an MA in Strategic Studies. After accompanying her soldier on a NATO posting, she joined AFF, originally as the UK and Overseas Director, and now lives in Wiltshire.
Job Titles:
- Foreign & Commonwealth Advisor
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Heather qualified as a lawyer in a private practice in London and since qualifying has worked as an in-house company/commercial lawyer for over 20 years at various companies including Cape Plc and Interserve Plc. At Interserve, she held the role of Member Nominated Trustee on the Pension board and held the positions of Director and Interim Chair on the Interserve Charity, IEF. Heather joined Serco in March 2017 as Head of Legal and Contracts Services, based in Hook.
Her passion is diversity and she was privileged at her previous company to have been a founder of the Women's Network, and linked with many leading companies and allies across the diversity network in the UK. At Serco Heather is supporting the inclusion hub activities and is part of the GC D&I network.
Heather lives in Reading, UK, with her husband, daughter and son. In her spare time she chauffeurs her children to ballroom dancing competitions and music performances.
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Director of Marketing and Communications in Europe
James is the Director of Marketing and Communications in Europe and India for global infrastructure consultancy AECOM.
James served as an officer in the Royal Artillery, deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan, where on his last tour he was a Fire Support Team commander attached to 3 SCOTS, The Black Watch.
Julia is now a happy retiree but her career began in the Army where she was in the first platoon of women to live in and pass out of Sandhurst.
After her nine years of military service, she worked in the retail, construction and service sectors. Latterly she was the Managing Director of Justice and Immigration at Serco and then Chief Operating Officer for the UK Division.
Julia now does pro bono work helping small companies with their strategy and growth ambitions. Passionate about inclusion and diversity, she also led the Women's Network at Serco.
Julia lives in the Lancashire hills with her husband Phil and their two bearded collies and enjoys walking, travel, rugby, good food and wine and all things equestrian.
Job Titles:
- Health & Additional Needs Specialist
Job Titles:
- Foreign & Commonwealth Specialist
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Team
- Governance Manager
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Global Head of HR at Life Sciences Company Abcam
Nikki is the Global Head of HR at life sciences company Abcam. She's a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and brings a diverse background in international HR, leadership and development.
Nikki has almost two decades of experience of Army life, serving in the Adjutant General's Corps (Staff and Personnel Support). She is also an Army spouse and mother.
Having faced the unique challenges and sacrifices of Army life from both a service persons and a spouse's perspective, Nikki is passionate about improving the lives of Army families, wherever they are located.
In her spare time Nikki enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, and exploring the UK in her campervan Teddy.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Team
- Operations Director
You are here / Home / About AFF / Who we are / Operations Director, Paddy Bleakley MBE
After a long military career, Paddy joined the AFF team in 2022 as the Operations Director.
Prior to being appointed, Paddy served for 38 years in the Regular Army. Joining the Army at 16, Paddy completed 22 years in the ranks prior to being commissioned in 2007 and finally retiring as a Lt Col in 2022.
Paddy has completed several tours over the years, including Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Cyprus, Iraq and Afghanistan.
As part of Paddy's transition to civilian life, he completed a degree in Leadership and Management, completed the Charity Management course and also attended and passed the Director Development course.
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Partner at Deloitte
Paul is a partner at Deloitte and leads Deloitte's Defence Consulting business. He is a Chartered Management Accountant and, after a career in the Army, was the Head of Finance at the National Asylum Support Service before joining Deloitte in 2006.
He has worked has extensively across Defence on some of its biggest programmes. During his Army career he served around the world including in Germany, Canada, Hong Kong and Northern Ireland, moving 16 times in 20 years.
He is a passionate supporter of the Armed Forces and keen to help deliver better outcomes for all serving personnel.
Paul is married with two children and lives in Redhill in Surrey. He enjoys running, football, sailing and rugby, and needs to do more reading!
Ru has been involved in major transformation programmes across Defence, health and the third sector. While in the Army, he saw service overseas with the MOD and was Chief of Staff at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM).
On leaving the Army, he moved into director roles at both BT and AO as well as running his own consultancy.
Since then, he has been Chief Executive at Noah's Ark Children's Hospice where he led a £13 million campaign to create a new hospice building - The Ark - to serve north and central London. He also led St Elizabeth Hospice in Suffolk through COVID-19 and he is now Chief Executive at Hamelin Trust.
He is a strategic advisor to the Care Quality Commission and a Board member at the University Hospitals Birmingham Charity.
He is a keen open water swimmer and spends as much time as possible with his family and two Labradors walking and enjoying the coast of the UK.
Job Titles:
- Health & Additional Needs Assistant
Job Titles:
- Foreign & Commonwealth Advisor
Job Titles:
- Forces Families Jobs Administrator
Job Titles:
- Foreign & Commonwealth Advisor
Job Titles:
- Money & Allowances Assistant
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Chief Executive Officer at Agria Pet Insurance
Vicki is the Chief Executive Officer at Agria Pet Insurance. Vicki has a background in UK and international insurance, customer experience and leadership.
She previously worked in the life and pensions insurance sector, for companies including Aviva, LV= and Wesleyan.
Prior to that, Vicki spent ten years in the Army, culminating in her role as a Squadron Commander, when she took 300 soldiers to Iraq, and was responsible for casualty evacuation from the front line.
Vicki is a keen and competitive equestrian. She also loves running, swimming and skiing. Vicki lives with her partner Andy, their son AJ, their two dogs, Willow and Fern, and cat Simba.
Job Titles:
- Head of Finance
- Member of the Executive Team
You are here / Home / About AFF / Who we are / Head of Finance, Vivienne Franklin
Vivienne joined AFF as Head of Finance in 2022. She is a qualified accountant, starting her career in commerce before deciding to pursue a career in the not-for-profit sector, where she has worked in finance, IT, HR and compliance as well as organisational development. She has extensive experience in areas such as financial governance, reserves management and grant funding. She has also served as a trustee and school governor.
Outside of AFF, Vivienne enjoys supporting young people through her work with Girlguiding and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and combines this with her love of the outdoors and climbing mountains!