Our mission is to create brighter futures for children and young people. We do this by providing fostering, residential and support services where children and young people can feel safe and cared for. We support them to make positive relationships which give them the confidence to succeed.
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St Christopher’s is a charity creating brighter futures for children and young people in care. Our vision is for every child and young person to be safe, loved and happy, to achieve their potential and have a bright future.
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All our services have the same goal: to support children and young people to fulfil their potential, grow into independent adults and have happy, successful futures.
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There are many ways you can support St Christopher's work with children and young people. Find out how you can help young people reach their goals.
Our team
Our Senior Leadership Team are all experts in their fields, whether that’s finance, HR or working with children and young people. By combining their experience and dedication, they can make sure St Christopher’s creates brighter futures every single day.
Meet the team
Jonathan Whalley
Chief Executive
Jonathan has led St Christopher’s Fellowship for over five years. Beginning his career within residential care, he has worked at every level within the sector, with a particular emphasis on looked after children and care leavers. Jonathan is a qualified social worker and a former senior strategic leader for both Luton Borough Council and a national children's charity. Since becoming Chief Executive for St Christopher’s in 2018 Jonathan has continued to build upon his extensive track record as a change manager and effective strategic leader to enable brighter futures for children and young people.
Phil Townsend BA (Hons) PGDip FCIH
Director of Operations UK
Phil started his career at St Christopher's in 2001. Since then he has done a range of different roles and is currently responsible for all operational services in the UK, as well as development and placements. He believes that St Christopher's does fantastic work with children and young people and really does create brighter futures.
Anne Seed
Director of Operations Isle of Man
Anne has had a 40 year career in social care with experience in local authority social work, residential care, special needs housing, homelessness, and care leavers accommodation and support. She has an established practice base and qualified as a social worker in 1979. Anne holds a Diploma in Management from the Chartered Management Institute and has been significant in developing services in partnership with the Isle of Man Government.
Geneva Ellis BA (Hons) MSc
Director of Income and Development
Geneva is St Christopher’s Director of Income and Development
Geneva worked in education and careers and with homeless people before joining St Christopher’s in 2005. She has held a number of roles at St Christopher’s including setting up and managing two of our semi-independent homes.
In recent years she has led on the design and implementation of new services. Geneva is a Churchill Fellow, focusing her fellowship on European children’s home models and has used this learning to shape our services and practice. In 2016 she was seconded to the Department for Education as an expert adviser to the Narey review of residential children’s homes. She holds a Masters in Voluntary Sector Management from City, University of London.
Doris Afreh PGDip HRM
Director of People
Before joining St Christopher's in 2016 Doris worked in the public and private sector in various HR and Line Management roles. Her leadership style is collaborative and she is committed to creating a working environment built on trust, whilst uniting people to achieve the best for the children and young people we care for.
Faye Puttock ACMA CGMA
Director of Finance
Faye is a qualified management accountant with over 15 years of post-qualification experience from a broad range of sectors including Insurance, IT and the Oil & Gas industry. She was an integral part of a project team that was tasked with reviewing the financial health of the organisation and is now responsible for all aspects of finance within St Christopher's.
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Our Team and Trustees
St Christopher’s Trustees work across our Councils in the UK and Isle of Man. They bring a variety of transferable skills and knowledge to the organisation, and spend time getting to know our young people and staff.
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Our history
We have a long history of working with vunerable young people & children, and helpign them to achieve their full potential.
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