Huw John, chief executive of the Canmphill Village TrustCAMPHILL VILLAGE TRUST APPOINTS FIRST
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
The Camphill Village Trust (CVT), a £27 million turnover social care charity supporting adults with learning disabilities, mental health problems and other special needs, has appointed the first chief executive in its 55-year history.
Huw John brings 30 years of experience in the public and not-for-profit social care sectors to his new role and will be responsible for leading the continuing development of the charity's services to meet current and future needs.
Huw was selected for the post in an extensive and open recruitment process which involved residents, co-workers and employees from the CVT's 11 communities in England and Scotland. Trust chairman Chris Cook said: "Huw shone in his communication skills and his understanding of the role he will play in giving us the extra capacity we need to move our organisation forward."
Within a wide career he held social work, development and management posts with Manchester City Council before leading the transformation of Manchester Care from a traditional public sector outsourced organisation to a successful independent not-for-profit company. He was Manchester Care's chief executive and a board member of the National Care Forum from 1998 to the end of 2006 and for the past four years has worked as an independent social care consultant with public, third and commercial sector organisations.
"I'm very excited about being part of CVT and helping the charity to develop a strong future that respects, reflects and builds on its established reputation and experience," he said. "The fact that the CVT has not had a chief executive before makes it a unique position and I'm delighted to be part of this new era for Camphill.
"Current social care policy is based on person-centred support, citizenship and social enterprise. The CVT has all of that and more. With the growing role of the third sector, the organisation's future development will ensure it continues to lead in terms of quality, support and good practice."
In its 55-year history, the Trust's communities have had a large degree of
autonomy in the management of their affairs with the overall management of
the Trust overseen by a number of specialist groups made up of vocational
co-workers from the communities under the Board of Trustees.
Recently, with the increasing regulation of the social care sector and its
rapid change, the Trustees felt there was a gap at the executive level
which could not be filled by relying solely on co-workers. As a result, the
Trust sought to recruit someone with suitable skills and experience.
This is a significant step for the Trust designed to ensure the continuing
high quality of support it offers and best practice in a rapidly changing sector.
Huw takes up his new post from February.