FARA UKFARA Charity relies on the valuable guidance and support from the board of trustees with its critical spread of skills and expertise.
All the services she has created and developed match her initial idea that abandoned people shouldn’t live in institutions but in places that resemble families, with homes and access to therapy, education and special care.
She had previously been chair of Sue Ryder, serving on the Trustee board for many years, commissioning health care services for the sick and disabled both in the UK and the Balkan States.
As a trained nurse, and with extensive experience in the charity sector, Nicholson set up in FARA a variety of care services for vulnerable children and adults to tackle poverty and transform lives.
She has been a member of the European Parliament committee (Eurochild) representing FARA and other NGO’s in Romania on issues of child poverty and social justice. Until recently she also found time to operate as prison chaplain in the UK. Nicholson was awarded the MBE in 2013 for her humanitarian work in Romania.
An enthusiastic icon painter, Nicholson is also a member of the Carmelite Order in the Catholic Church and her inspiration and vision remain at the heart of FARA. She continues to travel to Romania frequently to guide and share her vision as Founder.
Siobhan is a solicitor and is a partner in a leading law firm. Her work involves strategic advice to clients and management of complex legal projects for clients in the real estate sector. She has also had an interest in the role of the built environment climate change mitigation and is an invited member of leading industry body committees on sustainability and climate change.
Libby Gordon started in September as FARA UK’s first CEO, taking up Jane Nicholson’s formidable mantle. She has been tasked with developing the charity in the UK and overseeing the raising of funds for our crucial operations in Romania.
Gordon’s career in the charity sector spans over 15 years, where she started out as a fundraiser, “shaking buckets with the best of them”. More recently, she has held several senior leadership positions, with Christian Aid in strategy, operational delivery, people development and change management.
Growing up in peaceful New Zealand, as distant as you can be from international geopolitics, she nevertheless developed a keen interest in the issues faced by those who live with poverty and inequality. This has grown into a powerful commitment to fighting social injustice and deprivation. We are delighted to have her dedication and enthusiasm on board.
Passionate about making the world a fairer place and enabling people to thrive, she is excited to be joining FARA to continue Jane Nicholson’s legacy:
“I am very excited to be joining as CEO of the FARA Foundation here in the UK, as it celebrates 30 years of making a difference in the lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children and families living in Romania.
The impact that FARA has had is impressive. Coming into this role I look forward to helping further develop the UK side of the charity so that we can continue this into the next 30 years and beyond.”
Libby will be working closely alongside FARA Foundation’s Board of Trustees and collaborating with FARA Romania to develop a strategy that will continue our mission to transform the lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children, youth and families living in Romania’s poorest communities.
Richard is a retired UK solicitor with over 35 years experience in handling complex commercial disputes, both in this country and around the world. He has spent significant periods based in the Far East (Hong Kong, Singapore and Brunei). His interest in Romania originally stems from his time working with the charity habitat for Humanity when he volunteered on a house building project in Cluj. He became involved in FARA through his acquaintance with Jane Nicholson who had worked with his mother-in law. He was keen to became involved with FARA as he was deeply touched by the work it had done in transforming the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged children and young people in Romania which he has witnessed first-hand. As a member of the Finance and Investment committee, Richard’s primary role in FARA is the management of FARA’s financial reserves for the future to ensure it can continue funding its programmes in Romania. Richard also provides legal input as appropriate in respect of FARA’s charitable objectives.
Lucinda brings valuable insight into the health, development and safeguarding needs of children and young adults with learning disabilities. She has spent more than 25 years as a paediatric nurse, with experience encompassing paediatric neurology, neurosurgery, trauma, school health and most recently as a senior paediatric research nurse setting up and running a portfolio of studies within the clinical research facility at Great Ormond Street Hospital. She holds a 1st class degree in paediatric neuroscience nursing and recently completed the Mary Seacole NHS leadership programme.
Lucinda has volunteered for various international aid organisations, including setting up school nurse provision for disadvantaged children in Chennai. Her determination and creative approach to problem-solving have helped deliver life-changing care even when resources are scarce. Her first experience with FARA was as a volunteer running summer camps for a state orphanage more than 30 years ago. She returned to Romania several times, getting to know many of the children who grew up in the FARA family and became a trustee so she could guide and support the amazing work FARA provides to disadvantaged families and those with special health and developmental needs.
Fashion business consultant based in London, with over 20 years experience working in fashion retail in the UK and with retailers in the Far East and across Europe. Hannah’s expertise working in fashion retail has given her the opportunity to collaborate with numerous international brands, designers and retailers. She has worked on the launch of three new fashion ranges and has extensive knowledge on the setting up, branding and marketing of new fashion brands. She also teaches on a part time basis at London College of Fashion for the Fashion Business School.
Hannah spent three years in Hong Kong sourcing for UK fashion retailers and since returning to the UK has worked with House of Fraser, Jigsaw, Dorothy Perkins, River Island, John Lewis, Matalan, TK Maxx, Phase Eight and JD Sports.
Currently Hannah consults for small to medium sized businesses on their range planning, sourcing, stock mix, retailing strategies, sustainability strategies, data analytics and is credited with the successful launch and growth of a number of brands that trade globally.
I admire the work that FARA does as a charity and the support they have offered to so many in Romania.
Robert is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and currently the Finance Director of Deanfield Homes, a residential developer based in Buckinghamshire. Having worked in both the public and private sectors, Robert has a broad range of experience spanning central government, NHS regulation, governance and corporate finance. Robert became a FARA trustee in 2021 and chairs the Finance and Risk Committee.
Hannah has a unique insight and understanding of FARA UK working alongside FARA’s senior management team and Shops on business and operational strategies as part of a 6-months charity secondment with John Lewis Partnership whom she currently works for. Hannah’s expertise is operations optimisation and has led transformation projects for Waitrose Online and John Lewis omnichannel fulfilment. Hannah’s career started in management consultancy in KPMG, looking at operations valuation, due diligence, cost optimisation and performance transformation for FTSE 100s and private equities clients in retail, FMCG, oil and gas and financial services. Hannah is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and has a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Birmingham.
Karen brings extensive commercial and charity sector leadership experience to her trustee role. Currently Head of Corporate and Marketing at Create, the UK’s leading arts charity, she oversees corporate partnerships and marketing strategy. Her commercial background spans luxury retail, brand management and turnaround leadership, including roles as Interim CEO at New & Lingwood and Head of Brand’s at Prominent Europe. Karen previously served as Vice Chair and Trustee at Westway Trust, where she navigated complex governance matters including the Grenfell Tower response. She also advises FARA on strategic planning and sustainability on their Trading Sub Committee. Karen holds a qualification in Business Sustainability Management from Cambridge University and is passionate about applying commercial expertise to strengthen charitable organisations.
Paul is a senior development professional with 25+ years of experience leading programme/project delivery, income generation/funding, strategic planning and change management in the international development and humanitarian sectors.
He’s currently the Strategic Evaluation and Impact Lead for LifeArc, a biomedical charity based in London. Previously he led the Evidence and Insights team with Fairtrade Foundation focused on social and environmental justice for small-scale farmers and producers. He headed the Quality Management team for Save the Children International driving continuous improvement across the SCI movement. As the Head of Programme Quality with War Child UK (WCUK) he led technical design, advocacy and programme implementation for WCUK International Programmes directorate. As Head of Strategy, Planning and Impact for the Humanitarian Leadership Academy he drove the convergence of strategy, planning and impact measurement.
Over his career he has helped directly secure funding and manage programming of up to 30 million USD for energy, community development, humanitarian relief, livelihoods, protection, education, and upskilling initiatives. Hes also worked on projects in Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, China PDR, Ghana, India, Iraq, Kenya Lao PDR, Philippines, Mexico, Sri Lanka and Yemen on behalf of the World Bank Group, Asian Development Bank, IFRC, UNICEF, UNHCR and USAID.
Michelle brings a wealth of Senior HR Generalist & Employee Relations experience having worked in various industries in senior HR and Employee Relations Roles. Currently working in Employee Relations with Virgin Media O2, she works in an environment that demands diligence, coupled with the capacity and drive to generate effective solutions on a day-to-day basis. An important level of influencing and negotiating skills through discussions with senior leaders, and various Trade Unions, coupled with a commercially focussed approach is used on a daily basis
Articulate, confident, and capable of conveying complex HR concepts in an easily understood way, is essential as is the knack of building great working relations at every level. Michelle has previously worked in senior HR roles at Network Rail, Royal Mail, BT and British Energy and she guides FARA on Human Resources, People related matters as required. Michelle hold a Fellow of the Chartered institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD) and has a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) .
Michelle has an admiration for the work FARA continues to do in the UK and the work being done by the sister charity in Romania.
Jane Nicholson first visited Romania in 1991 after watching appalling television images which exposed the cruelty inflicted within state run orphanages during the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu. She co-founded the charity FARA that same year.
We are very grateful for the continued support of our Royal Patron, His Majesty King Charles III.
Our partner Fundaţia FARA transforms the lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children, young people, and families in Romania, giving them a sense of “family”.
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