Member News: Action for Children interim CEO to stay in post for next 18 months

Action for Children has announced that its interim Chief Executive Melanie Armstrong is to remain as CEO of the charity until December 2021.

She was appointed in March following the departure of Julie Bentley for personal reasons.

Recruitment for a permanent CEO was put on hold recently as the UK was hit by the pandemic and the country was placed in lockdown.

Action for Children Chair of Trustees, Sarika Patel said: “The country has been through the biggest crisis of our generation yet despite that we have continued to operate the majority of our services across the UK supporting the children, young people and families who have needed our help most.

Melanie has been steering our organisation through these difficult times and is the best person to lead us out of this emergency.   The Trustees and I agree that now is a time for continuity, stability and leadership and I have asked Melanie to prepare Action for Children for a post Covid era”.

Melanie Armstrong said : “My immediate mission will be to drive forward our response to the pandemic. We have had to react quickly to safely deliver the majority of our services throughout this emergency and I am immensely proud of the commitment and creativity our teams have shown.    The Covid crisis is hitting all charities hard and my aim will be for Action for Children to emerge stronger so we can continue to reach the children, young people and families who need us more than ever”.

Before she was appointed interim CEO in March of this year, Melanie Armstrong was the Interim Managing Director of Corporate Shared Services at Action for Children until December 2019. She has previously held senior roles in both the commercial and not for profit sectors.

Source: 
www.actionforchildren.org.uk

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