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Our people

At the core of our service delivery are our people. Citizens Advice Hammersmith & Fulham believes only high quality people can deliver high quality services. To this end we are committed to the investment in and development of our staff and volunteer teams, to ensure they are equipped to deliver the best solutions for our clients.  We are governed by a Board of Trustees.

Executive Team

The senior management team are responsible for ensuring that they get the best out their teams in performance and quality through the provision of strong management, supervision and support. They are responsible for the ‘day to day’ management of the organisation. The team comprises:

  • Simi Ryatt

    Chief Executive
    Has responsibility for the overall leadership, strategic direction and management of the organisation.

  • Ivy Lewis

    Head of Resources
    Has responsibility for ensuring all office resources (HR, premises, etc.) are effectively deployed and available to support the delivery of services.

  • Fre Tekeleab

    Head of Finance 

    Has responsibility for supporting the financial operation and structures of the organisation, maintaining accurate financial records, policies and procedures.

  • Viki Phillips

    Head of Advice

    Responsible for overall management of advice services and quality assurance.

The supervision of all advice staff and volunteers is undertaken by Team Leaders and Quality Performance Supervisors. CAHF deliver triage assessment at the first point of contact and then generalist advice and casework across all subject areas via a team of volunteers and project staff.

All project staff are directly line managed by the appropriate manager responsible for the project

Trustees

“Committed and engaged board of trustees” – Citizens Advice Auditor, 2014

As an independent charity, Citizens Advice Hammersmith & Fulham is governed by a Board of Trustees that oversee:

  • The strategic direction of the service
  • Fundraising strategy and resource development
  • Business and financial planning
  • Quality and performance standards of all our services
  • Legal compliance within Charity and Company Law
  • Promotion of the Service

The Trustees are recruited to support the CEO with the leadership of the organisation. They are enlisted for their skills and experience to ensure that CAHF has the best people in place to oversee and ensure the future direction of the service and implementation of its strategic objectives.

The Trustees who work tirelessly, with passion and commitment are:

  • Claire Larnder

    Chair

    Chair of the Trustee board. Joined the CAHF board in 2016. Over 20 years’ experience as a solicitor specialising in litigation. Currently a partner at a law firm in Fulham.

  • Phil Brough

    Vice Chair

    Since 2016, Phil has led local implementation of person and community-centred care approaches within the NHS. He has history of delivering health projects at a senior management level within the health sector. This has included managing for several years Health & Wellbeing Stakeholder Alliance, the aim being to ensure the voice of wider stakeholders influences on the strategic priorities of the statutory health and wellbeing board. His volunteering work includes being a Trainee Mentor, Fresh Start New Beginnings, and HMP Shrewsbury for offenders.

  • Richard Jarvis

    Trustee
    Company Director/IT Specialist

    Trustee since 2011 and Treasurer until 2023. Previously Managing Director of several Vodafone Group Companies.  Retired in 2000 and started Mobile Enterprise Ltd – an IT Services company – which traded until 2015.

  • Cllr Wesley Harcourt

    Trustee
    Councillor / Business Development Consultant

    CAHF trustee for over 15 years. Local authority elected Councillor, has worked in the not-for-profit legal advice sector for over 25 years, was Senior Development Consultant at AdviceUK and is currently an Advice Quality Standard Assessor.

  • Cllr Lisa Homan

    Trustee
    Councillor

  • Ben Gallagher

    Trustee

    Ben has extensive Caseworker experience drawn from a variety of parliamentary supporting roles and in the Civil Service. His interests include Campaigning and Social Policy, working to identify and highlight common problems faced by local constituents.

  • Richard Holmes

    Trustee

    Joined CAHF as a Trustee in 2018. Area of Responsibility – Fundraising.
    Previously 40 years’ experience in banking, financial services and charity management.

  • Geoff Pope

    Trustee

    Has substantial experience of working in the charitable sector. Working for Citizens Advice as Network Development Manager, he played a key part in supporting local Citizens Advice through change Management/ People development and Business Planning processes. He has continued since his retirement to take an active role in the charity sector working as a Trustee with Citizens Advice Hammersmith and Fulham and with other not for profit organisations.

  • Dermot Walsh

    Treasurer

  • Vanessa Farnell

    Trustee
    Marketing/PR/Communications

    Joined CAHF as a Trustee in 2013. Over 18 years working in Investor Relations and Marketing.

  • Liz Kawonza

    Trustee
    HR Manager