©Info Chief executive
Sir Nicholas Young
Nick Young has been chief executive of the British Red Cross since July 2001, heading a senior management team of 12 directors who lead on the charity’s strategy and implementation of policies laid down by the board of trustees.
Nick acts as an ambassador for the organisation with government, the media and major donors. He attends and speaks at many public functions and fundraising events, and maintains a close relationship with our President, HRH The Prince of Wales, and has accompanied him on visits to Bam in Iran following the earthquake there in 2003 and to Sri Lanka in 2005 after the tsunami.
Nick was knighted in 2000 for services to cancer care through Macmillan Cancer Support, where he was also chief executive.
Chef de cabinet
Caroline Leighton
Caroline has over 20 years' experience in senior management and executive roles in the voluntary sector across a range of local, regional, national and international charities. She joined the Red Cross in 2007 as operations director in Staffordshire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands and took up her role as chef de cabinet in January 2011. Caroline has responsibility for the CEO's Office including strategy, corporate performance and governance and works closely with the CEO on his external engagement.
Caroline has three sons and lives in North Warwickshire.
Director of communications
Phil Talbot
Phil joined the British Red Cross in July 2004, after five years with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). He served as the NSPCC’s deputy director of communications and was heavily involved with the development of its Full Stop campaign.
Phil’s background is in PR/media relations and internal communications, and he spent seven years as head of UK PR and head of corporate communications for The Body Shop. He also spent 18 months as director of communications for The Body Shop Australasia.
He lives in deepest West Sussex, has a young son Archie, and counts horse racing, music and films among the interests that keep him sane.
Director of finance and business development
Rohan Hewavisenti
Rohan joined the British Red Cross in March 2008. He has over 15 years' experience in the not-for-profit sector. He was previously director of finance and resources at Breast Cancer Care and has worked for ActionAid and Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) in China. He has also lived and worked in France, Italy, the USA and Israel.
He holds non-executive roles with Charity Finance Directors’ Group, and East Thames housing association. He writes and speaks regularly on charity issues.
Director of fundraising
Mark Astarita
Mark joined the British Red Cross as director of fundraising in July of 2003, moving from the National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) where he held the position of deputy chief executive. Since joining the Red Cross, Mark has driven through the new fundraising strategy "Volunteering to Give”, secured an additional £15 million of fundraising investment and seen non-emergency income rise from £55 million to £80 million.
He has responsibility for more than 700 staff and is considered by many in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement as the leading Red Cross fundraising expert. Mark is an accomplished speaker, and never shies away from controversy while hopefully entertaining at the same time.
Director of people and learning
Roger Smith
Roger joined the British Red Cross in 1993 as its head of training, after a successful career in education including nine years as a head teacher. After a year as head of HR and three years as director of support services, he spent six months as lead director in the period leading up to the appointment of Sir Nicholas Young as CEO.
As director of people and learning, Roger’s current responsibilities cover human resources, volunteering, learning & development, organisation development, employee relations, security and the carbon reduction programme.
Director of international
David Peppiatt
David Peppiatt joined the Red Cross in 1996 as a disaster management advisor and held posts in London and Geneva, as well as working on operations overseas, mostly in east and central Africa. From 2002 to 2006, David was seconded to the World Bank's ProVention Consortium, a global partnership on disaster risk management, as head of the secretariat.
In 2007, he returned to the British Red Cross in London to become head of humanitarian policy until being appointed as international director. David is also the chair of the NGO-Military Contact Group.
Director of UK service development
Margaret Lally
Before joining the British Red Cross as director of UK service development in October 2005, Margaret held a number of posts in the NHS and also worked at the Greater London Council. Most of her work has been in relation to community health services, and she served as director of community health services at Haringey Healthcare Trust for a number of years. She joined the Refugee Council as its deputy chief executive/director of operations in 2000.
Her role at the British Red Cross includes overall responsibility for the development of the organisation’s services in the UK, as well as the operational management of some nationally-led services.
Managing director of operations
Mike Adamson
As managing director of operations, Mike co-ordinates the British Red Cross' UK and international programmes, overseeing a unified approach to all our operations. Mike took on this new role in October 2010, but he had previously held several other positions in the organisation between 1992 and 2003, including head of international programme development, director for the London and south-east region, and director of strategy, planning and information systems.
In his years away from the organisation, Mike worked for the National Health Service as director of commissioning and primary care at the Cotswold and Vale Primary Care Trust in Gloucestershire, and spent five years as managing director for services at the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID).
Mike is also a board member of both a regional drug and alcohol charity (Nelson Trust) and the national Compact Voice. Mike lives in Gloucestershire with his wife Lorna and two daughters Eleanor and Sophie. In his spare time he likes to run, cycle and read. He is also a founding member of his local film club.
UK director, Northern Territory
Jean Henderson
The Red Cross’ Northern Territory director was born in Nottinghamshire and has lived there all her life – except when she’s exercising her love of travel. Jean joined the Red Cross as director of Nottinghamshire Branch in 1990 and held a number of operational posts before joining the senior management team.
Previously, Jean worked as a social worker before qualifying as a sign language interpreter and becoming principal regional officer for the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID). She took her MBA at Nottingham Trent University in the three years following her move to the Red Cross.
UK director, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man Territory
Norman McKinley
Norman is a psychology graduate from Queens University Belfast where he was also awarded a master’s degree in social work.
He later took his MBA from the Ulster Business School at the University of Ulster while developing a successful career within the personal health and social services in Northern Ireland.
He joined us as regional director for Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man in 1997 and was subsequently seconded to a number of senior roles within the organisation before being appointed as UK director for Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man in the summer of 2010.
Norman is also a non-executive director of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service where he also serves as chair of the audit committee.
UK director, South Eastern Territory
Liz Page
As UK director for the bustling South Eastern Territory, Liz Page has responsibility for the delivery of Red Cross services across a wide and densely populated area – including emergency response in the capital.
Liz joined the British Red Cross in March 1998 after a successful career as production manager for Gordon’s Gin. She has also worked as an economist for the government of Swaziland. She lives in Highgate.
UK director, Wales and Western Territory
Annie Bibbings
Annie moved from the local rural community council to join the Red Cross in 2000 as director for Hereford and Worcester Branch, taking on the role of operations director for Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire in 2002. She became acting UK director for Wales and Western Territory in February 2008.
She has more than 25 years' experience of working in the voluntary sector, having started her career in music therapy in London in the NHS. She was director of development at Carers UK, where she had a leading role in campaigning and establishing their field operations structure. She is a member of the Marches Employment and Skills Board and plays an active part in a number of statutory and voluntary sector strategic partnerships.
She lives in Herefordshire with her daughter and husband.
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