Cycling UK
Cycling UK has welcomed Jo Woolley as its new Director of Finance and Operations. Beginning on 15 December 2025, Wooley trained as a professional accountant (ACCA).
She spent her early career in retail and financial services, before making the decision to move to the charity sector in 2008.

She joined the Woodland Trust, overseeing its Finance, Legacy Administration and Procurement Team for 13 years. She was then appointed Director of Finance and Operations at Earthwatch in 2022.

Hanover Scotland
Professor Margaret Whoriskey MBE has taken up the role of Chair at Hanover Scotland, following the departure of long-standing Chair, Margaret MacKay.

Professor Whoriskey brings with her experience in health and social care, and a long-standing commitment to supporting older people across Scotland. Her background includes work in public service, clinical psychology, and senior roles in national programmes.

She previously led the Scottish Government’s Technology Enabled Care programme. She was also awarded an MBE in 2005 for services to people with mental health problems and learning disabilities.

Talk About Trust
The Talk About Trust has appointed Jackie Sonner to chair, after its current chair, Vicky McDonaugh, stepped down.

Sonner first came to know the work of The Talk About Trust through volunteering for the charity’s holiday clubs, after school art club and via Damers First school, agreeing to become a trustee in 2023. She brings experience from her work as a primary school teacher, leadership and management skills from her work as a deputy head teacher for a large Primary Federation in Weymouth as well as experience in staff recruitment, training and safeguarding. She also has expertise in PSHE and Early Years education, curriculum design and is a school Governor.

Texel Foundation
The Texel Foundation, the philanthropic arm of independent insurance broker The Texel Group has announced that Emily Bild has joined as Foundation Manager, reporting into Andy Lennard, CEO and Chairman of the Texel Group and the Foundation’s board of trustees.

Emily’s career spans over 20 years in the non-profit sector working in the UK, Geneva and New Delhi on issues including child protection, human rights and disaster risk reduction.

Prior to joining the Foundation she spent over eight years with GoPhilanthropic Foundation latterly as Director of Programs. She has held roles with UNICEF, and also worked for Plan International and TARA Child Protection & Empowerment India.

The Charity Commission for England and Wales
The government has confirmed the appointment of Dame Julia Unwin as Charity Commission chair.

She takes up her three-year term in January until December 2028.

Unwin, who chaired the Civil Society Futures Inquiry seven years ago, is also a former Charity Commissioner, serving for five years in the late 1990s.

Her decade long stint as CEO of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation ended in 2016 and her other roles include being a board member of the Financial Reporting Council and chair of the Codes and Standards Committee.

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