Our people

Amanda Naylor OBE

Chief Executive

Amanda Naylor brings with her a wealth of knowledge, experience, and expertise that will ensure the organisation can continue to bring people together to overcome some of society’s most complex issues through the power of volunteering.

Amanda was previously CEO of Manchester Youth Zone, an organisation with a similar commitment to platforming young voices and creating safe spaces for young people to be themselves and reach their full potential. Before becoming CEO at Manchester Youth Zone, Amanda held senior positions at Barnardo’s and Victim Support.

Emma Thomas-Hancock

Director of Volunteering Delivery

Emma joined Volunteering Matters in 2001 and began work with us delivering training in Volunteer Management to external organisations. Now, she is the Director of Delivery and is responsible for the operation of the charity’s volunteering and social action projects and programmes across the UK. This involves ensuring efficient and effective management, delivery against stakeholder requirements, and the development of delivery models which can be scaled and replicated and which demonstrate high social impact.

She is also a trustee of a charity based in Brighton that supports people in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction as well as being a Voluntary Sector Community Mentor and the Welfare Secretary for a community football club.

Fiona Yorke-Saville

Finance Manager

Fiona has over two decades experience in finance and operations, primarily in recruitment and construction. In 2023, Fiona embarked on a new chapter, bringing her wealth of knowledge to Volunteering Matters. Here, she assumed a pivotal role, leading and managing the finance team with precision and dedication. Fiona’s strategic vision and transformative approach have played a crucial role in enhancing the financial infrastructure of the organisation.

Fiona’s journey into the charity sector began when she took on a voluntary position as the trustee and treasurer for Read Easy Medway. This experience became a turning point, inspiring her to make a full-time commitment to the charity sector.

Samina Ansari

Head of Communities and Inclusion

Joining the team in Autumn 2021, Samina has roots in youth and community work in one of the most ethnically diverse areas in Scotland. She brings with her over 15 years’ experience of working in the third sector, advocating for gender equality with an intersectional and trauma informed approach, including leading an award winning national ethnic minority women’s organisation, Amina MWRC. Laterally, Samina was involved in improving outcomes for babies, children and young people going through Children’s Hearings, a care and justice system unique to Scotland, and was involved in shaping and developing the organisations first ever equality strategy for over 3000 volunteers and staff.

The golden thread throughout Samina’s career has been working alongside diverse volunteers and communities to instigate and enable change so everyone can thrive.

Currently, Samina is the Vice Chair of a grassroots women’s organisation which supports asylum seeking, refugee communities and sits on a number of advisory boards including Common Purpose and the Rank Foundation, as well as being a Mentor for young ethnic minority people with the John Smith Centre, University of Glasgow.

Sara Cook

Head of Operations – Get The Gen

Sara is Head of Operations at Get The Gen where she has a hand in all aspects of strategy, development, planning and delivery for the organisation. Sara also plays a role in collaborating with colleagues in the parent charity, Volunteering Matters, to ensure visibility and opportunity for Get The Gen on a broader platform.

Sara brings with her 8 years’ experience in third sector leadership, working specifically in the areas of business growth and talent recruitment, all underpinned by unlocking the potential of young people. Sara also sits as a Trustee for the Leith based charity WorkingRite, who support young people from challenging backgrounds into positive pathways, using a relationship based model of mentors and role models to ensure no young person is left behind.

Sara has spoken at international conferences on the topic of the future skills challenge facing employers, and also on national radio conveying the benefits of an engaged and empowered early years workforce. Alignment between business growth and fostering a supportive and purpose-driven workplace culture, where all people can thrive, is something she’s really passionate about.

In 2018, Sara took part in the prestigious Saltire Fellowship programme which saw her travel to Boston for three months to study at Babson College, the number 1 entrepreneurial university in the world. Whilst at Babson, Sara learnt from great business leaders on topics such as strategy, leadership, financing for growth, innovation, sales and marketing. Her learning at Babson will come into sharp focus as she looks at how all of these areas will enable Get The Gen to grow and create more positive impact across Scotland and globally.

When she’s not working, Sara enjoys spending time with her family and recently became a mother for the first time in 2020. She also enjoys cooking, baking and travel literature.

Stephen Skeet

Director of Business Development and Impact

Stephen has been at Volunteering Matters since 2016. He has a background in supporting young people who have experience of the care system, and young offenders. Outside of work Stephen has a range of volunteer roles in his local community in Ipswich and Suffolk.

Committed to youth voice and participation, Stephen was Vice-Chair of Trustees at The Mix between 2014 and 2020. Since 2018, Stephen has been a Governor at Highfield Maintained Nursery School in Ipswich, and a Trustee of Raedwald Trust SEND and Alternative Provision provider across Suffolk. In 2022, Stephen became Safeguarding Governor at Chantry Academy in Ipswich. Stephen loves football and volunteers as a coach for a mix gender U13 team in Suffolk.

In 2022 Stephen became a Judge for the Diana Award, supporting the amplification of the work young people undertake around the World through social action, as part of Lady Diana’s legacy.

Stephen is committed to the cause of social mobility and place based change. In 2022 he co founded the Ipswich Social Mobility Alliance, a coalition of organisations that have committed to working with young people in the town to lead a generational shift in social mobility outcomes.

Anne Heal

Chair

Anne Heal has been Chair of Volunteering Matters since 2015. In 2020, she was interim Chair of NCVO, where she is now Vice Chair. Anne is a trustee of Balletboyz and a director/governor of the London Design & Engineering UTC. She is also Chair of the Governance and Nominations Committee of Diabetes UK.

Anne currently holds non executive positions at the Office of Road and Rail, Elexon, the General Dental Council, and MOSL – where she is Chair. She previously chaired Thames Water’s Customer Challenge Group. Anne is a member of the Enforcement Decision Making Committee of the Bank of England and of the Regulatory Decisions Committee at the FCA.

Pru Whitwell

Vice-Chair

A senior, colleague-oriented leader who supports leadership teams to design and drive sustainable change that their people understand and can buy into culturally, commercially and personally.

Pru works in the colleague communications and experience team at Abdn and has worked in a range of roles across Edinburgh’s financial services sector since arriving from Sydney in 2008. Pru, her partner and two dogs came to Scotland for an 18 month stay but accidentally fell in love with it and have been there ever since. Pru is passionate about equity, fairness and setting people up to be the best they can be through experience, support and access to opportunity.

Julie-Anne Jamieson

Julie-Anne Jamieson is currently Chief Executive of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, a high profile independent public inquiry. She has worked in a variety of leadership roles within public inquiries, Skills Development Scotland and Scottish Government.

Julie-Anne’s non-executive roles include Immediate Past President of Changing the Chemistry, a charity promoting diversity on boards and she also leads its Strategic Communications Advisory Group. She was a Director of Career Development Institute (CDI), the UK wide professional body for career development professionals for six years and is a former Trustee of Project . Drawing on her professional background in career development, Julie-Anne is a long-standing Project Scotland volunteer mentor and also does executive mentoring.

When not working, Julie-Anne enjoys singing and getting outdoors as much as she can; whether it be running, walking, cycling or her most recent enthusiasm – sea swimming in Scotland’s chilly waters.

Julie Kirkbride

Julie Kirkbride is a board Member of Ofsted, a Trustee of the News Schools Network, and a volunteer for Westminster Connects and Beanstalk – the children’s reading charity. She is a former Conservative MP, Daily Telegraph Political Correspondent and BBC TV and ITN News Producer.

Raised in Halifax, Yorkshire, Julie attended a local state grammar school. From there she went on to study Economics and History at Girton College Cambridge and attended UC Berkeley on a Rotary Foundation Scholarship.

Katie Farrington

Katie joined Volunteering Matters as a Trustee in January 2023.  She is a Director-General in the Department for Work and Pensions, responsible for Disability Health and Pensions.  Katie has previously worked in the Department for Health and Social Care, the Cabinet Office, and the Department for Education.  She has previously been a trustee for Refuge, a domestic abuse charity.

Katrina Lambert

Katrina has been a volunteer and activist since the age of 15, advocating for gender equality, human rights, and young peoples’ participation in society. She has led campaigns on topics including period poverty, violence against women, youth sector funding and the incorporation of children’s rights into domestic law.

She has worked closely with UK civil society and charities, the Scottish and UK Governments, as well as international institutions including the Council of Europe and the United Nations.

Katrina is also a graduate of the London School of Economics where she studied Politics and International Relations, specialising in public policy and human rights.

Lanai Collis-Phillips

Lanai is in her final year of a paediatric Nursing degree and has volunteered for Volunteering Matters for seven years, predominantly on their youth social actions programmes such as WASSUP (women against sexual exploitation and violence speak up) supporting to build and deliver their toolkits to professionals and young people. This has allowed Lanai to take part in activism on a wider scale particularly focusing on equity and accessibility.

Moawia Bin-Sufyan

Moawia has extensive senior board experience in education, investments, housing, social care, and criminal justice. He is an Investment Director, Coordinator for a military charity, Magistrate, and Governor at the largest FE College in the UK.

He holds several Advisory, Non-Executive Director, and Public Appointment roles with various organisations, including the Judiciary, Ministry of Justice, and the United Nations Association. Moawia is also the founder of a charity that provides health and educational services in South Asia.

Moawia is passionate about mentoring future leaders and has personally mentored over 500 mentees. Moawia is a City of London Liveryman and received the Freedom of the City of London in 2021.

Sacha Hamed

Sacha joined Volunteering Matters in January 2023. In his previous role as Head of Volunteering for a children’s literacy charity, Sacha was responsible for the strategy to recruit, support and coordinate thousands of volunteers across the country. Prior to joining the charity sector, Sacha’s roles were in leadership and L&D roles within the retail sector. 

Simon Judge

Simon joined the board in 2020, following a career in the civil service, where he worked in a number of Government departments, specialising in policy and finance. He is also a Trustee of the Kemnal multi-academy Trust, the City Literary Institute (an adult education college), and the London Diocesan Board for Schools. In his spare time he is an enthusiastic canal boater.

Sue Maskrey

Sue is Chief Executive for national charity Working Options. She has dedicated the last 20 years to the charity sector, working with thousands of volunteers to support young people achieve their potential. Spending over a decade establishing education charity Brightside as a national authority on mentoring, Sue then headed up Hackney-based charity Inspire, celebrating and furthering the diversity and talent of local young people in East London.

Zara Todd

Zara Todd has a background in the social sector around youth work and disability. She is currently a freelance researcher, trainer and facilitator.

Zara has advised the UK Government, the Scottish Government, the British Council, the Council of Europe and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights around accessibility and inclusion.

As well as Volunteering Matters, she is a trustee of Disability Equality Scotland. She is based in Edinburgh with her husband and two cats.

Lord Freud

President

David Freud was the Minister for Welfare Reform from 2010 till the end of 2016. Beforehand, in 2008/09, he acted as adviser on welfare reform to the UK Government. This followed publication of his independent report in March 2007: “Reducing Dependency, Increasing Opportunity” on the Welfare to Work system.

He was the CEO of The Portland Trust in 2005-2008, whose mission is to encourage peace and stability between Israelis and Palestinians through economic means.

He spent 20 years at UBS, where he was Vice Chairman of Investment Banking and Global Head of Transport/Leisure/Business Services, retiring in 2003.

His book “Freud in the City” was published in May 2006 as an insider’s account of what really happened in the City of London through the financial revolution of the late twentieth century.

Prior to his banking career, David worked at the Financial Times for eight years, four of which were spent on the Lex column. He was educated at Whitgift School and Merton College, Oxford.

He has spent the last decade working with Volunteering Matters to develop the ground-breaking intergenerational mentoring project, Grandmentors.