Meet the team

Charles (known by all as Chas) worked in Banking in the City of London from school age to the last working day of the 20 th century. “I enjoyed my varied banking career with NatWest, and most notably I was in a team of three that started mobile banking for NatWest. Look how far it’s come since!”

Charles took a truck of aid out to Croatia in 1996 in a convoy of 50 smaller vehicles, and what he experienced got “under his skin”. He helped to start Hope and Aid Direct officially in 1999 and has been leading it pretty much ever since, with the unparallelled support of his wife Bev. His financial background has greatly influenced the prudent financial approach that has put Hope and Aid Direct on a sound financial footing.

“It’s my firm belief that we must always be ready to react to any emergency as it arises. We have a good solid foundation of good governance, sound finances, transportation assets and extraordinary volunteers and supporters, and we continually punch above our weight”

Back in 2007, living in Montenegro after many years of working in the financial and travel industries, I chanced upon Bernie Sullivan, a long-time volunteer of Hope and Aid Direct (HaAD).
He persuaded me, as only Bernie can do, to come with him on a humanitarian aid convoy to Kosovo, just up the road from where we were living. It was a life changing journey.
The journey this trip took me on was far more complex than just driving to Kosovo and back, it was a journey that left me questioning most realities that I believed. The trip directly led to 18 years of discovery of the humanitarian aid world, academically through an MSc at The Open University, exploratory through going to many countries that other may consider off limits, and morally but doing something about what I saw there and elsewhere in the world.
After many convoys with HaAD I became a Trustee, alongside my day job of a Technical Director for a marketing business. My journey has impacted all around me, family and friends, a daughter who is studying International Human Rights Law, and many friends who either support or have supported HaAD with fundraising events.

My career has been an administrative one running a business with my husband. I had a mix of interests back in 2008 and joined Hope and Aid Direct on a Kosovo convoy. Here I became hooked. A charity with no paid employees, all volunteers, taking aid direct into the country desperate for help and working with a local partner to deliver straight into the hands of the people needing it. An incredibly sustainable project and charity.

Currently I collect and sort items that are donated by people who live locally. The whole process sustainable because I can collect only items that I know are required and are of an acceptable standard. My additional new role as Volunteer Coordinator allows me to help in the registration of new people who want to help HaAD ensuring they receive all necessary information to support them as a team member.