EPISODE 52:

Kathy Evans and

Rosie Ferguson

Former CEOs of Children England and House of St Barnabas:

A conversation on charity closure and lasting impact

“We’ve kind of created this ... very ‘business swagger’ idea that sustainability is out there for the organisation that you run - you just need to be smart enough, dogged enough and clever enough to go and create it. And I don’t think that’s healthy and I don't think it’s true.”

- Kathy Evans

"In that moment it was those (of the team) who had experienced homelessness who stepped up and really, really set a tone of love and gratefulness and compassion and renewal, which was incredible.” - Rosie Ferguson

Kathy Evans was the CEO of Children England for over a decade. Founded in 1942 by a group of the major children’s charities, Children England was the membership body for children’s charities, voluntary and community sector organisations in England that closed at the end of 2023. Prior to joining Children England, Kathy was Policy Director at The Children’s Society. Kathy currently works with the UK’s National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS) as Director of Policy and Influencing.

Kathy has been a regular columnist and media commentator on children’s and charity sector issues for many years. She is one of the co-authors of “Kittens Are Evil: Little Heresies in Public Policy” in which she which challenges the underlying economics of competitive markets for charitable and public services. During her career Kathy has been the Chair of the Standing Committee for Youth Justice, a Trustee of the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, a member of the ACMD Hidden Harm implementation group and DCSF Care Matters advisory group. She was also consultant to the Police Foundation and Justice, devising potential alternatives to Youth Courts, to support the Independent Commission on Youth Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour.

Kathy grew up in Swansea and graduated from Trinity College Cambridge with a degree in Social and Political Sciences. She was named “Children and Young People’s Champion 2018” in the CYPNow annual awards.

Rosie Ferguson has held CEO roles at London Youth, Gingerbread (the national charity for single parent families) and House of St Barnabas and has been the Chair of Trustees for three charities including, most recently, ACEVO. She is currently in an interim role as Chief Programmes Officer at IntoUniversity and is excited and open-minded about where she lands next.

Rosie started out working with young people on youth leadership and volunteering projects. When not working, Rosie is one quarter of the improvised comedy group, Swipe Right.

Rosie holds an MSc in Voluntary Sector Management from Bayes Business School and a BA in Media and Communications from Goldsmiths, University of London.