I have worked in the Manufacturing Industry based around the West Midlands for 44 years and have now retired. Whilst working, I was involved in many school work place experience programmes, as well as being a Queen’s Scout and Scout Leader for a number of years.

I am a Chartered Engineer holding a BSc Honors Degree from the University of Aston, Birmingham. I have also supported the Mechanical Institutes Schools involvement programme. I am currently the District Secretary for District 1210 parts of the West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire, having served as Club President and Club Secretary.

“I believe in providing our young people with openings to develop and succeed in their chosen fields and supporting KidsOut is an ideal opportunity to offer that special chance to many deserving individuals.”

On a personal level I have been married to Carol for 12 years and together we hope we make a difference to those we meet.

Lisa has worked in the media throughout her career and has considerable experience across the industry in several senior management positions.

She joined the Daily Mail’s regional publishing company in the 90’s and developed their relationships with Local and Central Government, political parties, local authorities, and national and regional news publishers. She was promoted to Group Sales Director for The Mail’s/Associated Newspaper print operations in 2006.

Lisa is now a media and PR consultant to many organisations, celebrities, and well-known personalities. Her client base is diverse and has included amongst others, authors, sport stars, charities, music legends, fashionistas, and artists. She also provides media and marketing support for KidsOut.

She is a Trustee for the national children’s charity, Bear Force, who deliver wellbeing services to primary school aged children, and is currently working with Gold Medal Olympian, Fatima Whitbread MBE, to highlight the need for all children who have experienced domestic abuse, including emotional, violent, and sexual abuse, to have automatic and immediate access to mental health and wellbeing support. She initiated the joining together of KidsOut and Bear Force in order to develop the National Teddy Bears’ Picnic, encouraging people to help disadvantaged children who often don’t get the chance to enjoy fun days out, by donating to KidsOut’s fun day experiences.

Lisa lives in West Sussex along with her pack of several rescue and foster dogs and helps rehabilitate those that have been abused so that they can be rehomed. She supports The Dogs Trust Freedom Project who helps women fleeing domestic abuse by fostering their dogs until they can care for them again themselves in a safe environment.

Michael Doerr, Oeno Group’s founder and CEO, has been passionate about luxury assets from a very early age, starting his first business buying and selling high-performance sports horses at just 14 years of age. This experience gave Michael the best start in learning how to manage and make profits from high-end assets. Michael went on to found and manage three luxury asset investment companies, taking Oeno from a money-losing start-up to a multi- award-winning whisky and wine group based in 6 countries cross the globe.

I currently work as an IWG Regus Community Manager at Oxford House, Newbury. I’ve lived in nearby Hungerford for over 30 years with my wife Charlotte where we have been lucky enough to bring up our two children and are now grandparents.

Christmas 2021 saw Oxford House being one of 112 IWG centres in the UK that supported the giving tree campaign. My centre also acted as a collection point for our cluster of nearby centres and eventually I had a meeting room full of toys donated by our generous clients. The generosity and feedback from our clients were overwhelming but nothing compared with meeting Gordon Moulds in person and hearing the awesome work that KidsOut carry out throughout the year.

As a parent and grandparent, I cannot imagine the hardship these children and families go through and wholeheartedly support KidsOut in everything they do.

Penny’s long and happy career as a global HR and People leader spanned travel, retail, professional services and technology. Having spent time as a senior HR player for some famous household brands, including BA, Kingfisher, TK Maxx and P&O Cruises, and smaller entrepreneurial businesses she recognises how fortunate she has been with her career.

She now has her own consulting and executive coaching organisation, working with individuals, teams and organisations, keeping her enduring passion for the ways in which the human spirit and intent can bring about positive change.

“All that I have achieved and enjoyed in life has come from the people I grew up with and from making the most of the chances which have come my way. Through my association with Kidsout, I hope to ensure that children I haven’t yet met, and maybe never will, will have the opportunity to experience joy and light in what might otherwise be pretty grey.

Increasingly, I see the importance of a life with joy and hope which is available to all children, regardless of their start.

KidsOut brings such positivity to the world through their work with children and families nationwide; it is an organisation with which I am truly proud to be associated.”

William is Managing Director of Customer Experience at FedEx Express, responsible for the FedEx European Central Customer Care team Portugal and Post sales Continuous Improvement support for our Regional Enterprise customers.

William was promoted to Managing Director in 2007, having first joined the company in 1988, amassing an impressive 37 years managerial experience in the sector.

A keen supporter of charitable initiatives, William regularly makes time to work with a number of not-for-profit organisations. William firmly believes that a CSR strategy has to be actively pioneered and championed from the top, as well as by team members throughout all levels of an organisation in order to succeed.

Key achievements include winning the Five Star Award; one of the highest awards for individual accomplishment at FedEx Express and achieving a personal goal to walk the equivalent distance from London to Washington D.C. in less than 12 months.

I’m passionate about supporting KidsOut as an ambassador, having had the opportunity to support the Toy Box scheme. Initially spending time with the team to pack the boxes and then through helping coordinate the distribution to the children. I was very fortunate to meet one of the mothers whose child received one of these boxes and it really touched my emotions. Please take a moment to explore the website and see what a difference KidsOut can make to the lives of children.

I feel very honoured to be asked to be an Ambassador for KidsOut Charity.

My name is Christine and I am currently a Team Leader and Community Manager for IWG PLC which is the leading global flexible workspace provider. In my role I currently support several of our business centres within Gloucester, Wiltshire and Reading.

Up till 2018, in my spare time I ran a voluntary children’s group for 18 years – a marching show band which, I might add, became the bronze European champion – all self-funded. When I started the group, I wanted all children to have the opportunity to take part in learning new skills from learning to play a musical instrument to drill, or simply being part of a team. This time opened up my eyes to the struggles that some children and families face in our world, from poverty to abuse. It was the most rewarding job I had ever done in my life. Due to family commitments, sadly I had to give up running the group.

Despite this, I still had a strong itch to help the children of our world, so in 2018, I got involved with the KidsOut Giving Tree project via IWG. I encouraged all of our clients in Swindon to take part in the giving tree and this touched many of our clients’ and staff’s hearts. In 2021, I thought I would take it a little step further and get more of my colleagues involved with the support of my senior managers. The southern region consists of 123 business centres with thousands of businesses as customers. IWG have supported me all the way through this and it has been a great success.

We’re going even bigger this year and have the whole IWG UK team (encompassing over 330 centres across brands including Regus, Spaces, Signature and Basepoint to name a few) and our clients taking part. A big thank you to IWG and our clients for supporting us on this journey and helping us to make a difference to children’s lives.

Gordon and Stewart’s dedication to the Charity is amazing. As a parent and grandparent, I cannot imagine the hardship these children and families go through and wholeheartedly support KidsOut in everything they do.

Mimi Novic is an inspirational author, motivational speaker and self-awareness teacher whose life affirming quotations have been used around the world including by the Former First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama.

Mimi’s positive thinking and effervescent style has captured a wide audience from all backgrounds, and her self-awareness techniques inspire people across the world. Her writings and quotes are considered some of the most popular in modern times. Mimi has also helped inspire children with positivity workshops.

Her guided meditations and music came to life through the many requests of clients, patients and other therapists, who expressed a need to have guided audio meditations and also music only works, that they could use for their clients and also individually for themselves. Her mesmerising music is used worldwide in retreats, spas, by health practitioners, therapists, as well as being licensed for background music for various projects.

Mimi, who has supported The Prince’s Trust for many years, donating funds from many of her projects to the Trust, is now also supporting KidsOut and is utilising her skills to help disadvantaged children.

Caroline is a transformational non-executive Director, with a previous 17 year career as a litigation lawyer at top UK law firms. She has been a board member of CILEX (Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) for a number of years, and proudly lead the organisation as President during 2021/2022. Caroline has been at the heart of a number of strategic objectives during her time at CILEX, representing the needs of the 20,000 CILEX members.

Much of Caroline’s career has also been spent working for and championing the needs of vulnerable adults and children following life-changing injuries and she has a strong desire to support disadvantaged children and their families. Her association with KidsOut began after learning of the charity and its objectives through contacts and immediately feeling drawn to support the charity further.

She also has deep-rooted enthusiasm for health, fitness and sport and is a share-holder and Director in a chain of gyms in Sheffield. She is a qualified personal trainer herself and actively participates in a variety of sport and gym based exercise.

Caroline lives in Sheffield with her husband and their daughter.

“Since becoming a father I reflected on my own childhood and what I want for my children. I soon realised that I wanted to put something back into the community and help families and children less fortunate. It didn’t take me long to find KidsOut. I am totally in tune with their values and beliefs, and feel honoured to be part of the charity.

“We have set up a successful committee in Southampton, but would be keen to hear from people that would like to set up in Hampshire and surrounding area.”

Susie Robbins is a play advocate and founder of Resolve to Play. Susie believes in the power of play to help children communicate, learn and to make sense of the world around them.

With a background in education and inclusion Susie is passionate about making play accessible to all families and lives by the ethos that ‘play is enough’.

I have to admit, whilst I am a fairly regular fundraiser, my relationship with KidsOut is a pretty new one. I only became aware of the charity through a speech provided by Gordon Moulds (CEO) on my weekly Covid-19 colleague call at work. I work for Direct Line Group, and have done for 20+ years.

Gordon came on to thank us for donations we’d provided to help the families in each of the 319 UK refuges. Some of the stories he shared, and the emotional way in which he did it, really struck a chord for me. I’m not ashamed to admit that I was moved to tears. As a father myself, hearing these stories really reminds me how lucky we are, and that there is always hope.

As a result of this, I started to research the charity. I was blown away with the values, work, achievements and overall fantastic support they provide. So much so, I wrote to them asking if I could help. After some careful thought, and a chat with Kathy Capper, I decided to start by running 26.2 Marathons to raise money for the team. Although I’m a keen runner, this represents easily my biggest challenge yet, but I know deep down I can do it.

As an ambassador for the charity, I hope to become a lifelong member of this wonderful team. And do my bit to help the unbelievable work they do in putting a smile on the faces of families and children at their most vulnerable. It is a great honour to be asked, and yes, I cried at that too.

Mark Hardy is a Solicitor who has worked in the pharmaceutical sector for over 30 years. Since stepping down from full time employment to become a consultant Mark has devoted a large amount of his time to work in the voluntary sector.

This includes being Vice Chairman and a Trustee of the British Safety Council, a Liveryman and Past Master of the Worshipful Company of World Traders, a Governor of a number of Schools, President of Leighton Buzzard Rugby Club as well as supporting Kids Out.

First and foremost a devoted dad, partner and family man.

KidsOut is a charity particularly close to Derren’s heart and he’s a keen advocate of spreading the KidsOut ethos and mantra – “fun and happiness”. Derren is particularly passionate of providing fair and equal opportunities particularly in the young, given their early experiences are formative and form the backbone of their futures – “we can all make a difference to society”.

Having worked in financial services for over 20 years, since 2016 Derren has shifted his focus to the financial technologies vertical.

Michelle Emmerson is the Managing Director of Blue Monday a People Consultancy based in London, providing strategic HR support to CEO’s, Chairman and business leaders. As a former CEO of Walpole British Luxury and Global HR Director at ASOS, BBC Worldwide and EMI Music, Michelle has supported KidsOut for many years and is passionate about ensuring children have fun and happiness as they grow and develop.

Jo is a member of the Board at Green Park Interim & Executive Ltd (a global talent advisory firm with a focus on building diverse senior leadership teams and more equitable workplace cultures) and leads Green Park’s Executive Search Business.

With 25 years of experience in resourcing and executive search, Jo has lived and worked in both the UK and Australia. Outside of work, I am married with two daughters and when I have a moment to spare, I enjoy travelling, horse riding and taking my 2 dogs on long walks in the country.

“My first interaction with KidsOut was when Helen Pitcher invited me to the annual ball a year ago where I was so moved by the stories of bravery and the incredible work KidsOut do to bring a smile and happiness to disadvantaged children. When I was asked to be an Ambassador for KidsOut I jumped at the chance. Through the work we do at Green Park in building a fairer and more equitable world of work for children of the future, I felt KidsOut stood out as a charity focused on providing similar positive experiences for children now and in their lives ahead.”

“I’m the Founder/Director of Claremont Consulting (a global talent solutions business) which I set up in 2002 and I also run a consulting advisory firm for SMEs and Tech Start-ups

I have worked as a volunteer on a number of initiatives including being a Pioneer/Founder of Opera which was a charity set up by the global Staffing industry movement in partnership with the Princes Trust to empower young people to find, gain and keep a job.

I have also worked as an Enterprise Adviser as part of Team London which was part of the Mayor of London’s volunteering programme responsible for delivering the Enterprise Adviser programme on behalf of the Careers and Enterprise Company.

Since it’s official launch in 2013, Team London has mobilised 120,000 volunteers, supported 1,600 charities and worked with 1,500 schools to encourage young people across the capital to build their skills. The Enterprise Adviser programme enables Team London to build on their youth employment work by offering a process that connects education and business.

As a volunteer, I have worked as an adviser a school’s nominated Careers Adviser to develop a comprehensive strategy and plan for a careers education which enables all students to engage in opportunities that will develop their understanding of the skills required for the world of work.

I am married with 3 grown up children and 5 grandchildren who I love to spend time with, and outside of work I love travelling abroad, walking in the countryside and I’m passionate about football, still playing albeit it’s walking football now and I volunteer at my local non-league club on their commercial team as they look to progress the club forward.

I feel incredibly privileged to work as an Ambassador with KidsOut and support them in the amazing work they do to help disadvantaged children and bring some happiness into their lives and give them opportunities and positive experiences that they might not have been able to do without the work done by the KidsOut team.”

Richard is a retired Marketeer who worked in various well known Food production companies for the last 25 years. He is President Elect 23/24 for Luton North Rotary Club .

Richard Volunteers in the Luton Warehouse at least 3 days week to help make the toy boxes and also helps out at the various Question of Sport events across the country

Richard is married to Julie and has two daughters.

Adam Burden, is a successful DJ, sports coach, author, and disability campaigner.

Whilst born with cerebral palsy which has meant he has spent his life confined to a wheelchair, Adam has been determined to see his disability as “an annoyance rather than a hurdle,” echoed in his autobiography, Thirty Years of Me.

At the age of 20, he was the first ever participant in a wheelchair to take part in the 26-mile Brighton Marathon. He was then later picked to play in the Paralympics after winning several medals in the GB boccia championships, a sport similar to bowls and pétanque, as well as winning a number of medals in national wheelchair athletics competitions. Adam is also a qualified sports coach, spending time coaching at Brighton & Hove Albion. In his spare time he takes part in wheelchair football and hockey.

In March 2020, during lockdown, Adam, whose passion is music and DJing, started applying to radio station in hope of finding a job as a DJ. He was successful and managed to get a weekly 2-hour slot every Monday on GrooveLondon Radio which saw him secure a loyal fan base. Since leaving GrooveLondon his career has gone from strength to strength, regular DJing on radio stations, plus in several clubs across the UK. After being signed by the legendary label owner, and DJ Paul van Dyk, which secured him a place in the Beatport Top 100 charts, he was invited to DJ in Ibiza.

Determined to raise awareness that disabilities need not stand in your way, he started to increase his profile further, choosing to DJ in unusual places. Most recently performing in the grounds of Castle Goring, built for the great romantic poet, Percy Shelley, and Mary Shelley, and home of Lady Colin Campbell of “I’m a Celebrity” fame, plus the cliffs of the 162 metres high Beachy Head, and Brighton Beach.