Cheryl Ward, Group Chief Executive

Cheryl Ward is Group Chief Executive of Family Fund and its trading subsidiary Family Fund Business Services.

Cheryl joined Family Fund as Commercial Director in 2008 and became Group CEO in 2012. During her tenure Cheryl alongside her team has raised the charity’s reach and profile, providing practical and essential grants and services to around 150,000 families every year. Cheryl was pivotal in setting up the charity’s wholly owned trading subsidiary Family Fund Business Services in 2013 of which she is a Director.

Prior to joining Family Fund, Cheryl worked within the private sector supporting charities in their grant-making fulfilment, and has held a range of senior roles within financial services and retail travel.

"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 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 Director of Grants Services in 2013. His role is to lead the operation and delivery of all grants programmes and services currently on offer to families, while striving to provide information support in the most effective ways. During the last few years, Ben has overseen Family Fund’s increasing support to families through grants and services, developing and implementing several new schemes and services across the UK.

"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!"

Tracy Evans, Group Director of HR and facilities

Tracy joined Family Fund in March 2019, bringing 20 years’ experience in Human Resources management, across public, not-for-profit and private sectors, including Yorkshire Housing, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Housing Trust and Aviva. She leads the HR and Facilities team across Family Fund and Family Fund Business Services.

“Our staff are the heartbeat of our organisation and make a real difference to our families every day. We want Family Fund to be a great place to work for great people, creating the environment where our staff are able to be their best. Our values are a huge part of this as we believe that how we do things and how we treat each other is as important as what we do”.

Andy Harper, Director of Partnerships, Public Affairs and Family Outcomes

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 Partnerships, Public Affairs and Family Outcomes team, working to develop links and projects with other organisations to support disabled or seriously ill children and their families, find out more about the families we support and the issues they face, and use that information to deliver and advocate for improvements in families' lives.

"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 is also a Family Fund Business Services Director. She has overall responsibility for finance, 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."

John Mawson, Director of Technology and Digital

John began working with Family Fund in 2019. John has a wide variety of experience from two decades of leading Information Technology teams in both the commercial and healthcare sectors. John oversees the ICT team supporting Family Fund and Family Fund Business Services.

“It’s an enormous privilege to be part of this amazing organisation that plays such an important role in the lives of so many families. In addition to delivering high quality IT support, the role of my team is to ensure Family Fund can maximise the benefits that technology can offer, to continue to improve the efficiency of its essential work”.

Louise Wood, Chief Operating Officer

Louise Wood joined Family Fund in October 2021 and has overall operational responsibility for the frontline grant delivery, ICT and change functions. She brings more than 25 years’ experience in both commercial consultancy and public service to the role, having held a number of Board-level positions spanning local government, health, policing and education sectors.

“Supporting families with disabled or severely ill children has never been more important. I’m committed to keeping the needs of families right at the heart of all our operations at Family Fund, so we stay focused on getting support to those who need it as effectively and efficiently as we can.”