Cassy Harrison - Independent Safeguarding Advisor Expand Cassy Harrison is a qualified Social Worker and brings extensive safeguarding expertise having spent over 20 years working in the sector. She is an experienced senior leader having spent a number of years as a Head of Safeguarding working across both the voluntary sector and public inquiries, developing and implementing effective safeguarding strategies. She is keen to use her expertise to deliver better outcomes for children and families, with a focus on improving safeguarding practice, inspection work and quality assurance. Cassy is a partner of SaS Consultancy Group, providing specialist safeguarding and trauma informed expertise to organisations that provide services and engage with vulnerable groups, undertake investigations and public inquiries. She is an accredited reviewer for adult and child safeguarding reviews and domestic abuse related death reviews.
Euan Wilmshurst Expand Euan Wilmshurst runs his own consultancy, KW Strategy, based out of Billund in Denmark, and has extensive experience across philanthropy, NGOs and the private sector. Currently, Euan holds a portfolio of advisory and board roles across the global education and early childhood sector, shaping strategies for organisations such as Education.org, the Global Schools Forum, Street Child & Cambridge Partnership for Education, and serving on the boards of HomeStart UK, STIR Education and Nudel Kart. In his previous role as a member of the LEGO Foundation’s global leadership team, he was responsible for advocacy, partner engagement, and external communications, focusing on the transformative power of learning through play in education and early childhood development. Euan has twice served on the board of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) representing the private sector and private philanthropy. He has also been an advisor to the Clinton Global Initiative’s Education Working Group and DFID’s Girls Education Challenge, providing strategic guidance in international education policy and development.
Faiza Waheed Expand Faiza Waheed is a senior finance leader with significant experience in the National Health Service. Most recently she was Deputy Chief Finance Officer at a clinical commissioning group in South London and has worked with stakeholders across the public sector. In addition to deep sector experience in the health sector, she also has senior level auditing experience in the private sector. Faiza has advised committees and boards on risks in all areas. She brings strong financial scrutiny, risk management and change management skills. At a local level Faiza is active in the voluntary sector in particular with Kids First (Merton Mencap) in South London. She is passionate about making a difference for families, especially during the childhood years.
Lin Hinnigan - Chair of Trustees Expand Lin Hinnigan was previously Chief Executive of the Youth Justice Board and has had a successful track record of strategic leadership as a director and Chief Executive of a number of public bodies and within the Civil Service. She has led organisations responsible for the regulation of social work, the development of the school curriculum, assessment and qualifications, and the oversight of teacher training and development. Having initially trained and worked as an educational psychologist, Hinnigan has a proven passion and track record for supporting children and young people to improve their life chances. Hinnigan takes up the role at Home-Start UK alongside her existing Chairing roles at Make A Wish - a charity supporting critically-ill children and Working Chance - which supports women involved in the criminal justice system back into employment.
Pearly Siffel Expand Pearly Siffel is a global strategy executive with over 16 years’ experience in professional services and financial services across Europe, the Middle East, Australia, North America, and the UK. She is accomplished in opening up new markets, developing high-performing teams and driving organisational transformation to unleash growth. Pearly is personally committed to helping underprivileged people improve their mental and physical well-being. For several years, she was a Committee Member and volunteer with Dress for Success in Australia and the US, helping women thrive in work and life. Additionally, for the last 20 months she’s provided strategic guidance and coaching for The Children’s Society in the UK, which supports abused children to build their confidence and well-being.
Ray Ayivor - Treasurer Expand Ray Ayivor is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and holds two Masters degrees in Change Management and Finance. He also holds a Diploma in Charity Accounting from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Ray has been actively involved in charity and social action work in Africa and the UK for over 25 years. His UK experience includes working for charities that have delivered services in the areas of adult and social care, international water and sanitation, mental health and youth and social action. Having developed a keen interest in the role of the family setting in the development of the wider society, Ray comes to Home-Start UK looking to make a meaningful contribution to ensuring that children have the best starts in life and grow into adults who are actively engaged in the building of a stable and beneficial society.
Sarah Duxbury Expand Sarah Duxbury has over 25 years of public sector experience with an extensive career working in local government. She is a qualified solicitor and an experienced public sector leader, specialising in legal and governance advice. She currently works as Director of Strategy, Planning and Governance at Warwickshire County Council. Over the years, Sarah has led an expansive portfolio at Director level which has included areas such as HROD, asset management, corporate communications, corporate policy, legal services, information governance, change management and community partnerships. Sarah has a passion for delivering public services around the needs of children and families to address disadvantage and promote equity of opportunity and life chances.
Tara Spence Expand Tara Spence is the Chief Executive Officer of Home-Start in Suffolk. Since taking over the leadership in 2015, she has played a key role in the charity's 520% growth as well as the successful merger of two neighbouring organisations to create Home-Start in Suffolk. Through a network of almost 300 highly qualified volunteers, the organisation offers family support throughout the county and holds the Queen's Award for Volunteering. Due to her extensive expertise in the voluntary sector, Tara developed and led Suffolk and NE Essex’s ICS, VCFSE resilience agenda, which establishes guidelines for the VCFSE's commissioning and non-commissioning interactions with the health and care system.