New CEO for In Kind Direct, plus more charity mover news
Melanie May | 30 January 2025 | News
Michael Gidney joined In Kind Direct on 13 January while elsewhere, three charity CEOs have announced their intention to stand down this year, and Lumos has appointed a new Chair of Trustees.
Ken Towle appointed Chair of Trustees at Lumos
Lumos has announced the appointment of Ken Towle as Chair of Trustees. Towle’s career spans retail leadership and consulting, bringing strategic expertise to the charity.
Towle has held roles at Tesco, Alshaya, Asda, and Nisa, and consulted with global firm the Boston Consulting Group, and is currently a Senior Advisor with KPMG and Trustee of Prostate Cancer UK.
Advertisement
In Kind Direct announces appointment of Michael Gidney as CEO
Michael Gidney has joined In Kind Direct as Chief Executive Officer, effective as of 13 January 2025. Gidney joins In Kind Direct following his role as Chief Executive of the Fairtrade Foundation: a position he had held since 2012.
Before joining the Fairtrade Foundation in 2009, Gidney spent eight years as Director of Policy at Traidcraft, where he led the charity’s research and advocacy programme on issues including international trade policy, corporate accountability, competition and responsible sourcing.
Canal & River Trust Chief Executive Richard Parry to stand down this summer
The Canal & River Trust has announced that its CEO Richard Parry is to stand down from his role this summer after serving 12 years in the post. A recruitment process for the Trust’s next Chief Executive will get underway shortly.
Parry joined the Trust in 2013, a year after its creation, and commented:
“It has been an honour to lead the Trust through such a key period, working to build a sustainable future for our historic canal network, increasing the number of people benefiting from it and wider appreciation of its value to the nation.
“After 12 years it is the right time for me to hand over to a new Chief Executive to lead the Trust on the next stage of its journey, alongside our Chair, David Orr CBE who took up his post two years ago. My departure this summer will fit into a cycle of succession, so that David and the new Chief Executive can look to the longer-term future, including strengthening the Trust’s partnership with Government with over four years of the current parliamentary term to run.”
National Deaf Children’s Society CEO to step down
Susan Daniels will step down from her role at the National Deaf Children’s Society in July 2025, after 33 years’ service. Daniels joined the National Deaf Children’s Society as CEO in 1992 and has led the way to improving the lives of deaf children and their families including driving the introduction of the NHS Newborn Hearing screening programme and increasing the focus on the importance of early intervention for children with hearing loss. Under her leadership, the National Deaf Children’s Society has grown from a small charity with an income of £1 million to one with a turnover of over £33 million.
Before joining the National Deaf Children’s Society, Daniels, who is herself profoundly deaf, was Head of Education, Employment and Training and then Head of Policy and Research at the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID). In 2006, she was awarded an OBE for services to deaf children and their families. As well as her role as chief executive at the National Deaf Children’s Society, Daniels is also Chair of Groundbreakers, an informal network of female voluntary sector CEOs and a governance trainer for Civil Society, roles she intends to continue.
Chris Martin to step down from CEO role at The Mix
Following the merger of digital youth support charity The Mix with Mental Health Innovations, Chris Martin has announced he will be stepping down as its CEO at the end of January to focus on supporting charities in the youth and mental health sectors with the adoption of new technologies.
Martin was appointed CEO of YouthNet in 2015 and led its merger with the Get Connected helpline to form The Mix in 2016. The Mix has worked closely with Mental Health Innovations since its inception. Under Martin’s leadership, the charity merged with Mental Health Innovations in September 2024, to create a new ecosystem of mental health support focusing on early intervention. Andrew Harrison, the former Chair of Trustees at The Mix, will join Mental Health Innovations, taking on the role of Chair of its combined board of trustees.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.