Kinship welcomes new Trustees to its Board

We are delighted to announce the appointment of four new Trustees, joining the Kinship Board at a pivotal time, as Kinship implements its new three-year strategy and we await the Government’s response to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care which included key recommendations on better supporting kinship families.

Dr. Nicola Sharp-Jeffs OBE, Janet Kaye, Fran Boughton and Joe Corry-Roake join the Kinship Board of Trustees, chaired by leading family barrister, Jayne Harrill. Between them, they bring experience of charity sector governance, academia, local government and political strategy, as well as lived experience of being a kinship carer.

Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs OBE is CEO and founder of national charity Surviving Economic Abuse and is also an Emeritus Research Fellow in the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit (CWASU), London Metropolitan University and a Visiting Senior Fellow in Social Policy at the School of Law and Social Sciences, University of Suffolk. In October 2020 she was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to victims of domestic and economic abuse.

Janet Kaye is a kinship carer to her oldest grandson who is 9 and who has lived with her since he was 18 months old. She worked as a social worker and then as a lecturer in further and higher education until she retired early to care for her grandson.  She served on the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care’s Experts by Experience Board, advocating for kinship carers at national level, volunteers as an independent visitor for a care leaver and her baby and is setting up a peer support group for kinship carers in Sheffield.

Fran Boughton is an experienced marketeer who has held Director level roles in charities and social enterprises including Turning Point and at social housing provider Places For People. Fran currently works with the National Collaborative Outreach Programme which supports the government’s social mobility goals in increasing the number of young people from underrepresented groups going into higher education. With kinship care experience working with her family to support the upbringing of her nephew and niece, Fran was motivated to join the Board of Kinship to help make life easier for other kinship carers, and to help as many children as possible stay within their families.

Joe Corry-Roake is a Senior Policy Adviser and International Secretary at the Labour Party. He has previously worked for a number of Members of Parliament which developed his policy and strategy expertise on a number of different areas including in housing, social security, social care and criminal justice. As a Councillor in Lambeth, Joe sat on the Corporate Parenting Board and the Children’s Services Scrutiny Sub-Committee. In particular, he focused on ensuring young people’s voices were heard and that they were able to evaluate and mould services and delivery.

Jayne Harrill, Chair of Trustees welcomed the appointments:

“I am thrilled to welcome Nicola, Janet, Fran and Joe to Kinship’s Board of Trustees.

“They bring a wealth of experience and expertise which will be invaluable to us – especially as the charity continues to grow and support more kinship carers through our innovative programmes and services, and as we seek to continue influencing at the highest levels to secure transformational changes for kinship families.”

More information on Kinship’s board, including biographies of all Trustees is available here.