Appointments update 04 November

• The Children's Society has appointed Joe Jenkins to its executive team as director of fundraising and supporter engagement.

Jenkins is currently responsible for fundraising, communications and activism at Friends of the Earth and was acting CEO for six months earlier this year. Prior to that Jenkins was head of fundraising strategy and donor development manager at the RNIB. He is a trustee of Refugee Action.

He takes up his new post at The Children's Society from 4 January.

• Karen Walker has been announced as the Multiple System Atrophy Trust’s first full-time chief executive officer.

Walker’s previous roles include being a founder and director of a company providing day care for young children, and as a national policy director for an early years charity. She has also been a director of children’s services at a day care charity based in London, supporting vulnerable children and their families.

She became involved in the charity after her close friend and MSAT founder Sarah Matheson died of the condition. Walker set up her first support group in Yorkshire in 2007 and joined the trust’s board in 2009. She became services committee chair in 2011 and in June 2014 was appointed chair of resources audit and governance – a role she stood down from in June 2015 to act as interim CEO.

• National disability charity Walsingham Support has appointed Brian Head as director of finance.

Head has more than 22 years’ of finance experience, working at Ernst & Young, NatWest, GlaxoSmithKline, and founding a number of businesses. He was recently elected a fellow at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

His appointment took effect from 2 November.

• Jessica Taplin is to be the new CEO of vInspired.

Taplin is currently chief executive of Get Connected, which is merging with fellow youth support charity YouthNet.

• National crime reduction charity Nacro has announced the appointment of Nigel Chapman as chair and trustee of the council.

Chapman’s was most recent role was as CEO at Plan International, a charity that works with children and their families to combat poverty in Europe, the Americas and Asia. He also chaired the Plan UK Board for six years from 2002 to 2008.

Prior to joining Plan International, Chapman spent most of his career at the BBC. His roles included director, BBC World Service and director BBC Online. He also worked as a producer and editor on a number of leading news and current affairs programmes.

He has been appointed for a three year term.

• Meningitis Research Foundation has announced Vinny Smith is to take over as chief executive from 9 November.

• Westway Trust has appointed former Schroders chief investment officer Alan Brown as its new chair.

Brown is a governor of the Wellcome Trust, and has extensive experience across a range of organisations relevant to the work of Westway Trust. He is also chair of the Carbon Disclosure Project.

• The Foyer Federation has appointed Andrew Croft to chair its board.

Croft has worked in social investment for 14 years and is currently the chief executive of CAN. He brings over 20 years’ management experience to the charity, including roles at the John Lewis Partnership and easyGroup.

Current chair James Kelly is to step down after five years in post, and Croft takes up the role from December.

• I CAN has announced Bob Reitemeier as its next chief executive officer.