I have worked in the Manufacturing Industry based around the West Midlands for 44 years and have now retired. Whilst working, I was involved in many school work place experience programmes, as well as being a Queen’s Scout and Scout Leader for a number of years.

I am a Chartered Engineer holding a BSc Honors Degree from the University of Aston, Birmingham. I have also supported the Mechanical Institutes Schools involvement programme. I am currently the District Secretary for District 1210 parts of the West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire, having served as Club President and Club Secretary.

“I believe in providing our young people with openings to develop and succeed in their chosen fields and supporting KidsOut is an ideal opportunity to offer that special chance to many deserving individuals.”

On a personal level I have been married to Carol for 12 years and together we hope we make a difference to those we meet.

Richard is a retired Marketeer who worked in various well known Food production companies for the last 25 years. He is President Elect 23/24 for Luton North Rotary Club .

Richard Volunteers in the Luton Warehouse at least 3 days week to help make the toy boxes and also helps out at the various Question of Sport events across the country

Richard is married to Julie and has two daughters.

From the start of Oliver’s professional career his focus was on the conceptual, holistic approach of every creative project.

Throughout his journey, Oliver had the pleasure of working with some of the worlds most recognised brands in agencies around the globe – from Berlin to Munich, London and NYC.

He has gained extensive experience in this field throughout the years, demonstrating a very high level of creativity on the conceptual and executional side of the agency world.

In 2018, Oliver founded NO Branding Limited – A boutique Branding Agency in Shoreditch, London. NO Branding limited serves a vast variety of clients, especially in the luxury hospitality sector. Understanding the client and more so their customers was always in the centre of his work – from complex CRM solutions to award winning corporate publications.

After studying Leisure and Tourism, Martyn went on to achieve a Business Studies degree and then a postgraduate qualification in PR and Events Management.

He began his career within Public Relations for Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, progressing to Marketing as acting Brand Manager for Moët and Chandon, Dom Pérignon champagne. Martyn followed this to become Marketing & PR Manager for Ignite, the Starwood Hotel Group, and later for the Swiss watch brand maker Breitling, orchestrating the recent Breitling Emergency feature on BBC’s Top Gear. Martyn then became Managing Director of his family run business, Select School Travel

“The world of school educational and skiing tours was very much part of my life when I was growing up and I’m proud and excited to be driving such a family led business, but it is also important to give back and support children in need, that is why I am truly honored to be involved in KidsOut.”

Lisa has worked in the media for over 30 years and has considerable experience across the industry.

She worked for the Daily Mail’s regional publishing company in the 90’s and developed their relationships with Local and Central Government, political parties, and national and regional news publishers. She was promoted to Group Sales Director for The Mail’s print operations in 2006.

Lisa is now a media and PR consultant to several organisations, various celebrities and well-known personalities. Her client base is diverse and has included amongst others, Michelin Star chefs, authors, sport stars, charities, fashionistas, and artists.

It was whilst working with artists that she was introduced to KidsOut and was inspired by their work.

On finding out the charity often received art as donations as a way to raise funds she established the relationship with Hove Street Art Gallery, Hove, who now provide valuable gallery wall space with 100% of the art’s sale price going to KidsOut causes. All artists and sculptors exhibiting are encouraged to donate a percentage of sales to the charity and the owner of the gallery donates a sum from every piece of his own art he sells.

Lisa is currently working on a collaboration between KidsOut, the RAF, a Premier League football club, and several other leading UK companies, who are supporting a project to provide children with their own ‘child appropriate’ digital platforms offering guidance on emotional struggles and encouraging children to speak about their emotions.

Lisa lives in West Sussex along with her pack of several rescue dogs and foster dogs. She supports The Dogs Trust Freedom Project who helps women fleeing domestic abuse by fostering their dogs until they can care for them again themselves in a safe environment.

Penny’s long and happy career as a global HR and People leader spanned travel, retail, professional services and technology. Having spent time as a senior HR player for some famous household brands, including BA, Kingfisher, TK Maxx and P&O Cruises, and smaller entrepreneurial businesses she recognises how fortunate she has been with her career.

She now has her own consulting and executive coaching organisation, working with individuals, teams and organisations, keeping her enduring passion for the ways in which the human spirit and intent can bring about positive change.

“All that I have achieved and enjoyed in life has come from the people I grew up with and from making the most of the chances which have come my way. Through my association with Kidsout, I hope to ensure that children I haven’t yet met, and maybe never will, will have the opportunity to experience joy and light in what might otherwise be pretty grey.

Increasingly, I see the importance of a life with joy and hope which is available to all children, regardless of their start.

KidsOut brings such positivity to the world through their work with children and families nationwide; it is an organisation with which I am truly proud to be associated.”

I currently work as an IWG Regus Community Manager at Oxford House, Newbury. I’ve lived in nearby Hungerford for over 30 years with my wife Charlotte where we have been lucky enough to bring up our two children and are now grandparents.

Christmas 2021 saw Oxford House being one of 112 IWG centres in the UK that supported the giving tree campaign. My centre also acted as a collection point for our cluster of nearby centres and eventually I had a meeting room full of toys donated by our generous clients. The generosity and feedback from our clients were overwhelming but nothing compared with meeting Gordon Moulds in person and hearing the awesome work that KidsOut carry out throughout the year.

As a parent and grandparent, I cannot imagine the hardship these children and families go through and wholeheartedly support KidsOut in everything they do.

William is Managing Director of International Gateways and Global trade services at FedEx Express, responsible for International Operations and ensuring that FedEx consistently delivers outstanding levels of service for its customers.

William was promoted to Managing Director in 2007, having first joined the company in 1988, amassing an impressive 20 years managerial experience in the sector.

For the last seven years William’s main aim continues to be motivating his team to seek excellence in leadership, ensuring quality principles and improving business results.

A keen supporter of charitable initiatives, William regularly makes time to work with a number of not-for-profit organisations. William firmly believes that a CSR strategy has to be actively pioneered and championed from the top, as well as by team members throughout all levels of an organisation in order to succeed.

Key achievements include winning the Five Star Award; one of the highest awards for individual accomplishment at FedEx Express.

Mimi Novic is an inspirational author, motivational speaker and self-awareness teacher whose life affirming quotations have been used around the world including by the Former First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama.

Mimi’s positive thinking and effervescent style has captured a wide audience from all backgrounds, and her self-awareness techniques inspire people across the world. Her writings and quotes are considered some of the most popular in modern times. Mimi has also helped inspire children with positivity workshops.

Her guided meditations and music came to life through the many requests of clients, patients and other therapists, who expressed a need to have guided audio meditations and also music only works, that they could use for their clients and also individually for themselves. Her mesmerising music is used worldwide in retreats, spas, by health practitioners, therapists, as well as being licensed for background music for various projects.

Mimi, who has supported The Prince’s Trust for many years, donating funds from many of her projects to the Trust, is now also supporting KidsOut and is utilising her skills to help disadvantaged children.

Caroline is a transformational non-executive Director, with a previous 17 year career as a litigation lawyer at top UK law firms. She has been a board member of CILEX (Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) for a number of years, and proudly lead the organisation as President during 2021/2022. Caroline has been at the heart of a number of strategic objectives during her time at CILEX, representing the needs of the 20,000 CILEX members.

Much of Caroline’s career has also been spent working for and championing the needs of vulnerable adults and children following life-changing injuries and she has a strong desire to support disadvantaged children and their families. Her association with KidsOut began after learning of the charity and its objectives through contacts and immediately feeling drawn to support the charity further.

She also has deep-rooted enthusiasm for health, fitness and sport and is a share-holder and Director in a chain of gyms in Sheffield. She is a qualified personal trainer herself and actively participates in a variety of sport and gym based exercise.

Caroline lives in Sheffield with her husband and their daughter.

“Since becoming a father I reflected on my own childhood and what I want for my children. I soon realised that I wanted to put something back into the community and help families and children less fortunate. It didn’t take me long to find KidsOut. I am totally in tune with their values and beliefs, and feel honoured to be part of the charity.

“We have set up a successful committee in Southampton, but would be keen to hear from people that would like to set up in Hampshire and surrounding area.”

“I support KidsOut because it does great work for the children who need as much help as we can give them.”

Susie Robbins is a play advocate and founder of Resolve to Play. Susie believes in the power of play to help children communicate, learn and to make sense of the world around them.

With a background in education and inclusion Susie is passionate about making play accessible to all families and lives by the ethos that ‘play is enough’.

I have to admit, whilst I am a fairly regular fundraiser, my relationship with KidsOut is a pretty new one. I only became aware of the charity through a speech provided by Gordon Moulds (CEO) on my weekly Covid-19 colleague call at work. I work for Direct Line Group, and have done for 20+ years.

Gordon came on to thank us for donations we’d provided to help the families in each of the 319 UK refuges. Some of the stories he shared, and the emotional way in which he did it, really struck a chord for me. I’m not ashamed to admit that I was moved to tears. As a father myself, hearing these stories really reminds me how lucky we are, and that there is always hope.

As a result of this, I started to research the charity. I was blown away with the values, work, achievements and overall fantastic support they provide. So much so, I wrote to them asking if I could help. After some careful thought, and a chat with Kathy Capper, I decided to start by running 26.2 Marathons to raise money for the team. Although I’m a keen runner, this represents easily my biggest challenge yet, but I know deep down I can do it.

As an ambassador for the charity, I hope to become a lifelong member of this wonderful team. And do my bit to help the unbelievable work they do in putting a smile on the faces of families and children at their most vulnerable. It is a great honour to be asked, and yes, I cried at that too.

First and foremost a devoted dad, partner and family man.

KidsOut is a charity particularly close to Derren’s heart and he’s a keen advocate of spreading the KidsOut ethos and mantra – “fun and happiness”. Derren is particularly passionate of providing fair and equal opportunities particularly in the young, given their early experiences are formative and form the backbone of their futures – “we can all make a difference to society”.

Having worked in financial services for over 20 years, since 2016 Derren has shifted his focus to the financial technologies vertical.

Born in England to Jamaican parents and raised in Germany from age 4 to early teens, Terri Walker has many cultural origins that allowed her to experience the world in a different way –– experiences which she had no difficulty in translating into her music and win a wide audience that has been extremely supportive over more than 2 decades since she introduced herself to the world as an artist.

With musical roots spread over the world, it’s been a journey in itself to witness Terri Walker’s growth in the global music scene. Four albums (Untitled, L.O.V.E, I Am, Entitled), a long-standing collaboration with UK’s iconic producer Joe Buhdha (Untitled to Entitled and The BreakOut EPs), stateside fruitful musical friendships and partnerships with Salaam Remi (Champagne Flutes), Ski Beatz and Damon Dash (Roc Nation), a powerful duo alongside Nicole Wray, the critically acclaimed Lady project, on Truth & Soul –– and this is just a brief overview of Terri Walker’s fingerprint on the music scene.

Add to that (ongoing) collaborations and stage sharing with fellow legendary artists such as Omar, Goldie, Lonnie Liston Smith, and continuous work with equally brilliant musical minds like Mancunian duo Children Of Zeus, The Floacist, DRS, Moses Boyd, Swindle… All these projects have at least couple of common denominators: Terri’s love of unapologetic artistic expression and applauded work ethics.2019 also found Terri sitting behind the decks and hosting her own radio show on Soho Radio, the monthly Melting Pot, where she shines a light on individual people that have inspired her throughout her journey, as well as championing new, up-and-coming artists, but also reminding the listeners about all the classics out there.There’s no sign of her stopping – or even slowing down – anytime soon, so the best thing would be to join Terri Walker on her explorative journey of artistry.

Michelle Emmerson is the Managing Director of Blue Monday a People Consultancy based in London, providing strategic HR support to CEO’s, Chairman and business leaders. As a former CEO of Walpole British Luxury and Global HR Director at ASOS, BBC Worldwide and EMI Music, Michelle has supported KidsOut for many years and is passionate about ensuring children have fun and happiness as they grow and develop.

Michael Doerr, Oeno Group’s founder and CEO, has been passionate about luxury assets from a very early age, starting his first business buying and selling high-performance sports horses at just 14 years of age. This experience gave Michael the best start in learning how to manage and make profits from high-end assets. Michael went on to found and manage three luxury asset investment companies, taking Oeno from a money-losing start-up to a multi- award-winning whisky and wine group based in 6 countries cross the globe.

Jo is a member of the Board at Green Park Interim & Executive Ltd (a global talent advisory firm with a focus on building diverse senior leadership teams and more equitable workplace cultures) and leads Green Park’s Executive Search Business.

With 25 years of experience in resourcing and executive search, Jo has lived and worked in both the UK and Australia. Outside of work, I am married with two daughters and when I have a moment to spare, I enjoy travelling, horse riding and taking my 2 dogs on long walks in the country.

“My first interaction with KidsOut was when Helen Pitcher invited me to the annual ball a year ago where I was so moved by the stories of bravery and the incredible work KidsOut do to bring a smile and happiness to disadvantaged children. When I was asked to be an Ambassador for KidsOut I jumped at the chance. Through the work we do at Green Park in building a fairer and more equitable world of work for children of the future, I felt KidsOut stood out as a charity focused on providing similar positive experiences for children now and in their lives ahead.”

Jake joined the KidsOut Youth Ambassador team in 2021 after showing amazing initiative from our Giving Tree 2020. Jake is continuing to help KidsOut with various fundraising activities in his local area.

“I chose to help kids out after hearing about all the children who possibly wouldn’t get any presents. And decided I wanted to get involved and buy as many presents as I could. I will also continue to support the charity by fundraising including a sponsored walk.”

We are so thrilled to welcome Jake to the KidsOut team.