Meet our Staff & Board
Staff
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Susan HunterChief Executive
View ProfileSusan Hunter
Susan joined our team in March 2023, she is a passionate advocate within the third sector, having worked in senior leadership roles since 2014. She has a professional background in Community Education, with more than 20 years of experience working in the youth work sector with a particular focus on community-based youth work, youth participation and children’s rights.
Susan believes in the transformative impact of befriending in strengthening communities and creating connections. She is committed to models of practice which promote and foster collaboration and partnership. She has worked in several membership organisations and brings a breadth of relevant experiences to Befriending Networks.
Beyond work, Susan enjoys an active lifestyle which involves hill-walking, running, and CrossFit. Susan is the Vice-Chairperson of Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) and an External Trustee at Girlguiding Scotland.
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Victoria GallowayLearning and Development Manager
View ProfileVictoria Galloway
Victoria joined Befriending Networks in 2018 with responsibility for developing, designing and facilitating training events and resources.
Experienced in both the education and third-sector, Victoria is a graduate of media and uses this design and creative awareness to construct clear, accessible and interactive resources and materials for education and training purposes. She went on to complete her Social Innovation Masters in 2021.
Victoria is a mentor for the Clinton Foundation and the Chair of the Impacts and Insights Committee at Hymans Robertson Foundation.
Having previously worked in a classroom environment, Victoria loves interacting with students and developing new learning opportunities. Having done numerous voluntary roles herself, she enjoys supporting volunteers through our training programme.
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Lynne DaviesFinance and Administration Officer
View ProfileLynne Davies
Lynne joined Befriending Networks in September 2021 as Finance and Administration Officer. She has over 30 years of experience working in finance and over 11 years of experience in the third-sector in Edinburgh. Lynne has been a volunteer at the Risk Factory since it opened in 2006.
Lynne also has a background working with autistic children and has run projects supporting families and children with social and outdoor access. Lynne has a BSc (Hons) in Psychology and is a respite foster carer.
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Sandra MarsdenMembership Services Officer
View ProfileSandra Marsden
Sandra joined Befriending Networks in April 2019 as Membership Services Officer, answering enquiries and supporting current members, as well as actively making connections with new befriending organisations.
She has worked in the charity sector for over 15 years in a variety of roles, including Volunteer Coordinator, Training Coordinator, Development Worker and Timebank Coordinator.
She loves working within this environment and getting to meet a wide range of people who are doing amazing things within their community.
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Nicola Zielinski-GrayMembership Services Officer
View ProfileNicola Zielinski-Gray
Nicola joined Befriending Networks in 2022 as a Membership Services Officer.
She has 20 years of experience across the education, disability, recruitment and charitable sectors in both the UK and New Zealand and is very much a people person. She has a real passion for helping others and spreading positivity using her motivation and can-do attitude.
Outside of her role at Befriending Networks, Nicola runs a small holistic therapies business and spends her free time singing as well as creating music and podcasts.
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Matt YoudeMembership Development Worker (Wales)
View ProfileMatt Youde
Matt joined the Befriending Networks team in 2023 to focus on supporting and growing our membership in Wales.
Based in Cardiff, Matt worked for more than 15 years in youth leadership, informal education, and intercultural and interreligious dialogue. He also supported an international network of organisations and activists in the peacebuilding sector.
Having volunteered as a youth mentor and writing letters to people in prison, Matt is passionate about supporting work that brings people out of isolation.
In his spare time, Matt is finishing a part-time degree in Celtic Studies and enjoys anything to do with the ocean – especially sharks – as well as cooking and creative writing.
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Becky NewtonMembership Services Assistant
View ProfileBecky Newton
Becky joined Befriending Networks in 2023 as Membership Services Assistant.
She has 20 years of experience working in the social care sector, predominantly supporting adults with learning disabilities. She has also worked with young people experiencing homelessness and assessed for the provision of equipment and support services in adult care.
Becky came to Befriending Networks from a local charity where she helped manage a transport project, enabling people to access their place of employment or education.
Becky’s career has given her a good understanding of the importance of connection and meaningful relationships in daily life. She is passionate about supporting our members in the work that they do.
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Cat MajorCommunications Officer
View ProfileCat Major
Cat joined the Befriending Networks team as Communications Officer in July 2024.
She has been working with creative and third sector organisations for over a decade. With a background in community arts, she loves creating safe spaces for people to connect, collaborate and make a difference. Cat is also a designer and illustrator and her work supports small organisations to share their stories and reach audiences in the digital space and beyond.
Outside of Befriending Networks, Cat co-runs a community hub in rural South Scotland that empowers people to make change through creativity and connection.
In her spare time, Cat enjoys cooking, dancing and learning Korean and Polish.
Board
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Emily KenwardChairperson of the Board
View ProfileEmily Kenward
Emily is the Founder and CEO of Time to Talk Befriending, a Sussex-based charity motivated to ensure that older people feel visible, valued, and connected in their community rather than invisible, forgotten and alone.
Emily is an active member of Befriending Networks. She joined the Board because she is keen to utilise her skills and experience for the good of the sector and raise the profile of befriending nationally.
Emily joined the Board as Member Director in September 2021, was promoted to Vice-Chair in November 2022, and appointed as Chairperson in November 2023.
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Mike NilesVice-Chair of the Board
View ProfileMike Niles
Mike is the former CEO and Founder of a befriending organisation. He is passionate about the health and societal benefits brought about through befriending. After leaving the charity he founded, he wants to volunteer time with Befriending Networks to offer experience to help other organisations achieve maximum impact.
In addition to his experience in befriending, Mike offers expertise in communications and marketing which was an identified need in a 2023 skills audit of our Board. Mike was made an Appointed Director in September 2023 and promoted to Vice-Chair of the Board in November 2023.
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Stuart GrayTreasurer
View ProfileStuart Gray
In 2017, Stuart founded Strathmore Community Rugby Trust with a vision to use rugby to help develop people and the communities that we live in.
He is committed to opportunities that bring people together to improve their mental and physical wellbeing within an inclusive and supportive environment.
Stuart brings excellence as a Chartered Management Accountant and a Chartered Manager. He is a Fellow with both organisations and has extensive local authority experience, most recently in the education service providing a broad range of non-teaching support to schools.
Stuart joined the Board in November 2023 and holds the position of Treasurer.
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Bonnie BowhayBoard Member
View ProfileBonnie Bowhay
Bonnie has worked for Marie Curie since January 2018 in several different roles. She was involved in setting up Marie Curie’s Check-In and Chat Befriending Service and later went on to coordinate the service and manage a large team of volunteers. Bonnie’s current role is Online Community Manager.
Her passion has always been to support people, which is one of the reasons she wanted to work for Marie Curie. She is also a volunteer befriender for Community Connections.
A Member Director for Befriending Networks since June 2023, Bonnie combines her professional experience in volunteer management with an interest in supporting people, improving wellbeing, and easing loneliness and isolation.
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Jayne BurnettBoard Member
View ProfileJayne Burnett
Jayne has been the Manager of the befriending charity Visiting Friends in Helensburgh since 2015 and is passionate about the benefits of befriending, volunteering and the difference simple kindnesses can make to a community.
As a former nurse, she is also interested in how we best deal with the complexity of physical and mental health issues often seen in referrals and the challenges these can create for befriending services.
Jayne takes an active and involved role in the Board, with a particular interest in research. She has been a Member Director since November 2022.
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Nikki PattinsonBoard Member
View ProfileNikki Pattinson
Over the past 15 years, Nikki has worked in various roles within the charity sector supporting unpaid carers. She joined Carers Leeds in 2020 as a member of their leadership team. Nikki is responsible for managing a team of staff working hard to reduce the social isolation and loneliness many carers feel. Her role includes the management of two befriending projects.
Nikki brings a keen eye for detail to our Board and can see the big picture. She has experience in writing and reviewing policy, operational leadership on GDPR, and is passionate about high-quality consistent services. Alongside this, she is an experienced fundraiser.
Nikki has been a Member Trustee since June 2023 and serves on the Befriending Networks Board Executive.
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Rita ChadhaBoard Member
View ProfileRita Chadha
Rita works for two befriending schemes specialising in supporting older people, Voluntary Action in Surrey and Tower Hamlets Friends and Neighbours in East London, who have been providing befriending support for nearly 80 years. Prior to her current role, Rita worked for a broad range of small local organisations and national charities. Between 2006 and 2017 she served as Chief Executive of the Refugee and Migrant Forum of Essex and London, and during the pandemic she was CEO of the Small Charities Coalition.
Rita specialises in supporting charities with governance, equity issues, fundraising and working with the public sector. She is a trustee of six other charities and also a serving local councillor. Rita joined the Board of Befriending Networks as a Member Trustee in April 2024.
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Julia WeirBoard Member
View ProfileJulia Weir
Julia has spent around 20 years working and volunteering in the social and healthcare sector within various settings including community centres, a home care service and helplines, having also experienced this area from administrative and quality assurance perspectives.
As a volunteer befriender supporting young families, she witnessed first-hand the significant positive impact befriending can have on the lives of families and individuals, enabling them to feel supported and connected to communities. She was delighted to be able to join the Befriending Service at Jewish Care in a paid capacity in 2019 where she is now the Befriending Coordinator and manages several members of staff. She enjoys the insights and learning gained from the life experiences of the service’s primarily older client group.
One of Julia’s strengths is collaborative working, appreciating that, through the creation of networks and partnerships, we can support each other to further relieve the loneliness and social isolation currently so prevalent. Through tackling this together, more individuals’ wellbeing can be enhanced in an even more impactful manner. Julia joined the Board of Befriending Networks as a Member Director in April 2024.