Cheryl Ward, Group Chief Executive


Cheryl Ward is the Group Chief Executive. Cheryl was appointed as Chief Executive in 2012, having been Development Director from 2009.

Cheryl joined Family Fund as Commercial Manager, bringing a wealth of experience from her previous careers within financial services and retail corporate sales. Cheryl has overall responsibility for the the charity and it's trading arm, Family Fund Business Services.

"Each year Family Fund provides a lifeline to thousands of families on the lowest of incomes, and each year we strive to do more. It is a privilege to work in an organisation where by the fruits of your labour can be so life enhancing to so many disabled children, young people and their families.”


Ben Calverley, Director of Grants Services

Ben joined Family Fund in July 2009 as an Applications Officer, moving on to the role of Grants Manager, and then Director of Grants Services in 2013. He is responsible for the operation of all grant schemes delivered by Family Fund, alongside many of the other services on offer and in development.

The Grant Services department consists of the Applications Team, delivering all our grant schemes efficiently and effectively, the First Contact Team, who respond to all your emails and phone calls and offering help and advice, the Safeguarding and Policy Team, who ensure our current operations are doing what families want them to do, and the Programmes team who are responsible for developing and delivering new and exciting initiatives at Family Fund. Aside from grant schemes, these teams also work together to deliver support to families through information advice and support, including our work in sleep support, digital skills and other signposting, alongside Family Fund home visits.

Supported by the Grants Services management team, the department consists of over 50 staff.

"You can never help enough, but seeing first-hand how much hard work people are willing to put in, to help as much as they can, is the best job I’ve ever had!"


Andy Harper, Director of Development and Engagement

Andy joined Family Fund in October 2016 bringing 25 years of experience working within the public and voluntary sectors in the fields of economic and social inclusion. He heads up the Business Development team who have responsibility for partnership development, income generation, research and marketing and communications activities.

"Family Fund does a great job supporting disabled children, young people and their families. I'm keen that we make full use of our strong links with families, both to help shape further development of the support we offer, and to inform our work in influencing wider policy and support across the UK".


Claire Locker, Director of Finance

Claire Locker has been working at Family Fund since 1999. Claire joined Family Fund as a Finance Assistant and has successfully progressed to her current role as Director of Finance. Claire has overall responsibility for finance, HR, procurement, risk and compliance for both Family Fund and Family Fund Business Services.

"Family Fund is committed to making a difference and being a voice for all families caring for a disabled child. We have a reputation for efficiency and in these difficult times I am proud that we are all working hard to help more families than ever before."


Andrew Newton, Director of ICT

Andrew joined Family Fund at the start of 2016, bringing his wide experience of private sector IT and telecoms management to help the organisation benefit further from the use of information technology. He provides strategic leadership and management of the ICT service for both Family Fund and its trading subsidiary, Family Fund Business Services.

Family Fund’s ICT team aims to deliver effective and efficient information technology, systems and telecoms to enable us to help disabled children and their families. This includes dedicated information systems to administer grant services and web-based systems to enable families to submit applications and communicate with Family Fund.  Andrew is also responsible for information security, ensuring that families can rely upon the confidentiality of their personal information.


James Turton, Chief Operating Officer

James joined Family Fund in 2018. In his role as Chief Operating Officer, he oversees the work of the teams that are responsible for Family Fund delivering over 88,000 grants and services a year to families across the UK. James worked in the consumer goods industry for over 25 years. He has held senior sales and marketing director roles in Young’s Seafood, Aunt Bessie’s and United Biscuits. Prior to Family Fund, he was Managing Director for McVities Cakes in the UK, a £50 million business with over 250 employees.

James started his involvement with Family Fund as a Non-Executive Director of Family Fund Business Services in 2016, and then extended his involvement to being a Trustee of the main charity in 2017 before becoming Chief Operating Officer. He very much hopes that his commercial and broad business experience can help the charity evolve and develop as it faces new opportunities and challenges in the future.