Our Team

Rachel Whittington is the Executive Director of Church Urban Fund. In addition to the day-to-day management of CUF, she is responsible for the co-creation and implementation of a refreshed strategy as the organisations seeks, 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-joined the organisation in 2020 following a period at Allchurches Trust.

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 connecting with new people and building meaningful collaborations to drive social change. 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 enjoys yoga and painting.

Adam is CUF’s Deputy CEO, joining the team in April 2022.

Prior to this Adam was Chief Officer of Transforming Communities Together, which is a Core Member of CUF’s Together Network. Adam has lots of experience of the non-profit sector having held senior roles in communications, fundraising and grant-making. He has a deep passion for church involvement with social action projects and is a Self-Supporting Priest in the Diocese of Lichfield. Adam has a Master’s Degree in Theology and his dissertation focused on the links between the Eucharist and social action.

Adam Lives in Wolverhampton and in his spare time enjoys walking (especially with his dog), reading and exploring historical places.

Liz is the Director of Partnerships. She works from home in Retford, Nottinghamshire, is mum to two boys, and is often travelling the country visiting Near Neighbours projects and and Together Network 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.

Laura joined CUF in 2020, as our Head of Finance. CIMA qualified, Laura is an experienced, engaging, people-centred and strategic leader; passionate about building, and working with others to build, excellent organisations and has worked for many years across the public and not for profit sectors in finance, operations and strategy roles.

When not working, you'll most likely find Laura outdoors somewhere - ideally, walking up a mountain, or, whenever possible, skiing down one.

Jay joined the Grants Team in Near Neighbours in 2020. They have a language background with 4 years of TESOL experience, as well as 8 years of administration work in various sectors, cemented with an MSc in Information & Records Management. In their spare time, Jay studies herbology and is interested in foraging and vegan cooking.

Amy joined CUF in Spring of 2016 and supports the Together Network, Near Neighbours and other CUF partnerships 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.

Mia has recently joiners the Church Urban Fund, she brings a broad fundraising experience, from the Not-for-profit sector.

Bridget has been working in senior roles in the fundraising sector for over twenty years, most recently for the Royal Academy of Dance, The Just Finance Foundation, and the Church of England Foundation for Educational Leadership. She has also been a trustee for a women’s refuge which helps women and children find a place to call home, leading a Strategic Planning Committee to create a vision and mission for the next five years.

She prides herself in being innovative, highly motivated, and passionate about the causes she represents, and believes strongly in a donor-centric approach to fundraising.

Bridget, a mum of four lovely children, has lived and worked in the USA for over 30 years but has now settled back into her home in Cambridgeshire with her husband and four-legged doggy partner-in-crime, Rose. She spends her free time walking the aforementioned across the fields and through the woods, and supporting the best football team in the world – Liverpool FC!

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!).

Gillian is Acting Governance Officer & Office Manager for Church Urban Fund, although she joined originally as Grants Officer for Near Neighbours in March 2019. She has worked in the charitable sector since 1999. She is passionate about community, environmental matters, and social justice, and was a volunteer with her church’s weekly community breakfast for 14 years. In her spare time, she looks after her 2 chickens and cat, and gardens (her own garden & allotment plus a friend’s garden, and also indulges in guerrilla gardening along her street too). Gillian has a daughter in her mid-20s.

Lindsey Donoghue joined CUF in 2021 as Head of Listening and Learning, overseeing research, monitoring, evaluation and policy at CUF. Lindsey was previously Head of Programme and Impact at the Good Faith Partnership, where she helped coordinate YourNeighbour, a UK wide Church response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

With experience of service design, delivery and evaluation both in the UK and overseas, Lindsey loves working with and learning from people from different backgrounds. So far this has included senior politicians, public sector leaders, NGOs, rough sleepers, unemployed women, children and young people.

When not working, Lindsey can be found running (slowly!) or exploring London with her husband and children.

Ben joined CUF in 2021. He has experience in both the private and not for profit sectors and prior to joining CUF spent fourteen years working with Christian Aid at its London Head Office. Ben took part in auditing and training programmes in offices globally, such as the Ethiopia office in Addis Ababa.

As a chess enthusiast, he takes no prisoners and shows an uncharacteristic ruthlessness towards his opponents whether they are family members or strangers! Ben also enjoys being walked by his lively dachshund throughout the Kent countryside and the vineyards of Burgundy where he spends his holidays.

Miguel started working for CUF in June 2021 as a Marketing Coordinator. He has marketing experience in different industries such as education and renewable energy. In his spare time, he studies for a master's degree in political communication and campaigning and enjoys long walks with his rescued dog, Catalina.

Kathy has over 20 years experience of working in the not-for-profit sector. She has focussed on human resources, governance, office management, conferences and events. Kathy has worked for three cancer charities including Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now Cancer Research UK) and two faith-based organisations, The United Society and Council for World Mission. She has led worship at church for many years and her passion is singing.

Jessica Walker joined CUF as the Programme Manager for the Relational Homelessness Project in July 2022. Jessica brings over 8 years of experience working in the not-for-profit sector, most recently for St Mungo's, a large national homelessness charity. In this role, Jessica managed a service providing access to education, training and employment for those with experience of homelessness.

Jessica holds an MRes in Crime Science and a BA in Geography. She lives in Leicester, and spends most of her free time with her two dogs.