Our Team

Rachel Whittington has been appointed by the trustees of Church Urban Fund as Executive Director, to lead the organisation from 1st June. She will be responsible for the co-creation and implementation of CUF’s refreshed strategy as we seek, together with partners and communities across the country, to develop a shared vision for faith in society today.

Rachel was CUF's Director of Partnerships for three years and re-joins the organisation following a period at Allchurches Trust. The trustees and staff are delighted that Rachel is returning to CUF at this pivotal moment, as the sector seeks to respond to the vast social and cohesion challenges that have been magnified by the Covid-19 pandemic. Rachel has hit the ground running given her deep knowledge of CUF, her network of relationships and desire to build on the vision developed by stakeholders across the CUF family: to tackle poverty and transform lives by helping every church to actively use its strengths within its community.

Rachel has extensive senior leadership experience following 15 years in the private and non-profit sector in the UK and across the world which has led to a deep passion for travel, connecting with new people and building meaningful collaborations. Rachel has a Master’s degree in Management and wrote her research thesis on the power of stakeholder-led organisations. She lives in Gloucestershire with her husband and in her spare time practises yoga and runs an Airbnb.

Michelle is CIMA qualified with over 16 years’ experience in the not-for-profit and private sectors. She is responsible for the Finance and Resources function at CUF and remains one of the longest standing member of staff.

Michelle exercises her passion for music in her local church at Kensington Temple and enjoys supporting other women. She likes reading and does whatever it takes to remain healthy.

Liz is the Programme Director of Near Neighbours. She works from home in Retford, Nottinghamshire, is mum to two boys, and is often travelling the country visiting Near Neighbours activities. She grew up in South Yorkshire and likes jazz, films and walking her dog Ben.

Sarah has been working in the charity sector for 15 years, most recently as the Operations Director for The Honeypot Children’s Charity, an organisation that provides respite breaks and outreach support to young carers.

Prior to this, she was the Head of Specialist Services at The Royal British Legion, leading a broad portfolio of national services for the armed forces community including Benefits, Money and Debt Advice services, Independent Living Advice, a Handy Van service for older veterans and the Moneyforce website aimed at promoting financial capability to younger service personnel. Previous roles included managing domiciliary respite care services for children and adults and running projects helping people with disabilities and other disadvantages return to work.

Sarah lives in London with her partner and 3 cats and provides supported lodgings through The Albert Kennedy Trust for young people aged 16-21 who are at risk of homelessness.

Jessamin joined CUF in March 2018. Jessamin is a PhD Candidate in Sociology and Social Policy at Princeton University, specialising in inequality, race and ethnicity, and religion.

She has conducted quantitative and qualitative research on social capital formation, interfaith relations, immigrant identity, and social and political attitudes of evangelical Christians. Prior to her studies at Princeton, Jessamin spent several years working in international development programme design and institutional fundraising, based in Delhi and London. She is an active member of her church in East London and has great love for travel, music, low-maintenance houseplants, and strong coffee.

Mark is a well known figure in the voluntary and community sector, having previously headed up a street children’s charity Action for Brazil's Children (ABC) Trust; managed Lloyds Foundation's regional grants programme and worked as a manager for community development specialists, Community Action Suffolk.

Mark has worked with voluntary and community sector leaders for over more than three decades, helping them to build more effective organisations - and achieving their social mission, income and charity ambitions. He has considerable local government experience as well, having served as a councillor for 22 years and as a member of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board. Mark has also worked as a senior Home Office Civil Servant focused on community safety and regeneration in south-east London. He also continues to undertake a wide range of voluntary roles in his community and in support of the most fragile voluntary groups in deprived and diverse community settings; and he is director of Civil Society Consulting CIC.

Having delivered a business planning and fundraising support programme to members of the Together Network (Sustainability Project), Mark’s focus at CUF remains on supporting the Together Network joint ventures in their social action work, and Near Neighbours hubs to increase their reach and impact through priority programmes such as Places of Welcome and Catalyst Young Leaders.

Chris joined CUF in 2018. Bringing over 30 years experience of brand/creative strategy and project management working on major national and international projects for both commercial and Not-for-Profit sectors. His breath of experience gives a unique insight into organisations and allows cross-pollination of ideas from different sectors to the advantage of all our projects.

In his spare time Chris restores vintage motorcycles, enjoys the great outdoors and is also a National Park Ranger.

Florence is the Administrator for the Near Neighbours Catalyst programme. She has had a career as an Administrator spanning two decades in the corporate and private world. Florence has also volunteered as an advisor with Ealing Equality Council and also helps as a leader at Kensington Temple Children’s Ministry.

She runs a monthly CV and Job Search workshop at Northolt Library through her organisation called Dream Possibilities - her way of giving back to her community. Florence has two teenagers who keep her on her toes and in her spare time she likes to do a bit of writing including poetry.

Amy joined CUF in Spring of 2016 and supports the growing Together Network through communications, sharing learning, reporting, events and resources.

Before CUF she enjoyed reading Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, and spent eighteen months working within digital media. Amy spends free time at her local Vineyard Church, baking or dancing, and lives near Sutton with her husband (and two cats).

Paul joined CUF in 2004 as part of the Grants team. He transferred to the Finance team in 2010. Paul is responsible for ensuring the accuracy and consistency of financial data in CUF’s databases.

He has a degree in mathematics and is in the final stages of completing an accountancy qualification.

Lazzaro joined CUF at the end of 2018 as Communications and PR Manager for the Near Neighbours programme.

Graduated in Ancient History and with a Msc in European Politics from Birkbeck College London, Lazzaro worked as journalist, press officer, and media advisor in the UK and abroad.

He has a personal interest in interfaith dialogue and in his spare time he enjoys cooking (and eating!) food from different cultures.

Trudy has with the Church Urban Fund since 2013, and has worked in fundraising for over 10 years, across a range of disciplines. She has a Certificate in Fundraising Management and is a member of the Institute of Fundraising.

Sam joined CUF in late 2015 from Macmillan Cancer Support where he worked in their Corporate Partnerships Department. He is responsible for managing and formulating the strategic organisational processes for CUF and the Joint Ventures across England, as well as managing the database and high-value project support. He enjoys the outdoors, fishing and kayaking, and holds a BA (Hons) from The University of Southampton.

Elieshia has worked for Church Urban Fund since 2014 and is fairly new to fundraising. She has worked in various retail companies and a mega UK church. Elieshia is a wife, mother of 3 and has over 10 years experience in the sector.

Kelly joined the Church Urban Fund in 2020. Having previously worked in the veterinary sector and other roles, she decided to apply her knowledge to Fundraising. In her spare time, she enjoys baking, Ballroom dancing and walking, with the odd charity walk thrown in on occasion (and looking after her cat!).

Hannah is a Researcher working on the GR:ACE project, which is delivered in partnership between Church Urban Fund and Theos. Based at Theos, she is exploring the relationship between social action, discipleship and church growth, and is always keen to hear stories of what churches are getting up to in their communities.

Before that, she worked as a research assistant and completed a MSc in Inequalities and Social Science at LSE. Hannah has also worked as a support worker for young adults with learning disabilities and managed a social enterprise sweet shop. She studied French and Spanish at university and spent a year abroad working with local churches in Paris and Madrid. In her spare time, Hannah enjoys going running, reading crime novels and taking her fantasy football team far too seriously.

Ana joined CUF and Near Neighbours in October 2018 as a postgraduate researcher. She is a PhD candidate in Social Policy and Theology at the University of Birmingham where she will be specialising in integration amongst ethnic and religious diversity.

Prior to her studies, Ana worked with different research centres conducting quantitative and qualitative research on different aspects of ethnic minorities in the UK.

She also has over 7 years experience working directly with local organisations and community groups where she worked as a regional coordinator for Near Neighbours and as a community organiser for Citizens UK. As a practising Catholic, she attends a Church in east London and has great love for black coffee, Latin American music and dance, travelling and boxing.

Gillian is the Grants & Administration Officer for Near Neighbours and joined the team in March 2019 – she has worked in the charitable sector since 1999. She is passionate about environmental matters, social justice and community, and has been a volunteer with her church’s weekly community breakfast for 14 years. In her spare time, she keeps chickens and gardens (her own garden, but also indulges in guerrilla gardening too), and she has recently started a WhatsApp group for 20 plus houses in her street – hoping to encourage community activities and support for each other. Gillian has a daughter in her early 20s at university.