Announcing our new President, Chair and Trustees

We would like to offer our sincere thanks to David Lammy MP and Peter Miller, who both stood down as our President and Chair at the 2023 AGM after a decade of service each. They have supported BFSS through periods of turmoil and change, helping us to expand our activities to support more of the children and young people who need us most.

After Member elections, we are pleased to announce our new President, Chair and Trustees.

Our President and Chair

Estelle Morris (pictured above, left) has been elected President. She is a former Secretary of State for Education and teacher, and is now a member of the House of Lords as well as Chair of the Birmingham Education Partnership. Estelle said: “My interest has always been in trying to bring greater opportunities into the education system, particularly for those children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Education can bring about change for improvement.”

Jane Creasy (pictured above, right) has been elected Chair after six years as a Trustee on the BFSS Council. Jane is a former Headteacher, university Vice-Chair, Centrepoint Trustee and magistrate. “Peter Miller leaves a huge gap as he steps down from the Chair, but I would hope to carry on his work with integrity, and in the knowledge that all BFSS work is made possible by the great team.”

Our new Trustees

We had seven strong candidates for our five Trustee vacancies and are delighted to announce that the following people have been elected:

Charlotte Cashman has been re-elected after having been a BFSS Trustee for four years. She is an experienced early years teacher, school governor and pioneering international teacher trainer in early literacy.

Janice Miller has also been re-elected for a further term. She is Chief Executive of Kidasha and has wide experience in governance and overseas development, as well as finance and consulting in the corporate sector.

David Crowther is a former Acting Director of BFSS. He has worked in publishing and international educational assessments, as well as developing education programmes for government.

Nick Tesseyman has worked within international development for most of his career and more recently at Christ’s Hospital School. He has numerous voluntary roles including as an Independent Visitor for a care experienced young person.

Suela Aksoy is a philanthropy professional who has successfully implemented corporate social responsibility initiatives, and has a wealth of experience in grant-giving for young people including for foundations and Comic Relief.