We are delighted to announce a new Chair of Trustees – Chris Goodson – who is starting immediately and who we know will not waste any time helping us to do more, for more people, in more places!
Chris has been part of the Refugee Support family since 2016, volunteering and coordinating across various camps on five occasions. Most recently he supported Paul and a small team setting up The Dignity Centre in Moldova, aiding Ukrainian refugees. We talked about that difficult and rewarding experience here.
Every time he has volunteered, he has completely immersed himself into the role, raised large sums of money and helped us strive for improvement.
He brings brilliant leadership skills and critical experience as founder and MD of a successful recruitment business with offices based in the UK, specialising in catering & hospitality.
Outside of work, he is married to Charlotte, who has also volunteered on several times, and has a daughter Betsie: an incredible little girl who, at two is already keeping him on his toes. After this he’s all about being outdoors: hiking, running, climbing, camping, any type of sport going. He’s also a mad Crossfitter.
Chris says:
“It is a privilege to be asked to take on the role of chair of trustees and I am incredibly excited to accept this position and play my small part in the success of this incredible organisation. I understand that the principal role of a trustee is to provide governance, ensuring donors are assured their money is in safe hands. However, beyond this, the trustees of Refugee Support are dynamic individuals with impressive track records: one of my key duties will be to harness this talent and provide a framework from which they can add far more value than simple governance. Those that know me will testify that I’m not great at sitting back and observing – we have important work to get done!
“Unfortunately, the need for Refugee Support to be on our A-game is bigger than ever. I look forward to working with trustees, ambassadors, volunteers and like-minded people as we build on the incredible work of the last 6 years and develop plans which will allow us to evolve our aid with dignity to, what is sadly, an ever-increasing number of people.”
Chief Executive Paul Hutchings says:
“I am delighted that Chris has agreed to take on this vital role. Right from when we first met over 5 years ago, I was impressed with his leadership skills, focus and energy. He completely buys into our Aid with Dignity approach, not afraid of taking tough decisions and brilliant with people. He was the obvious choice as Chair to help us grow and build on our track record of hugely impactful and effective humanitarian support.”
