The Cares Family appoints new CEO

Last year we announced that our Founder, Alex Smith, was stepping down as CEO of The Cares Family after 12 years. Now, after a rigorous recruitment process, we are delighted to share the news that our board of trustees has successfully appointed a new CEO.

Nicola Upton will join us as CEO from early August. Nicola will bring two decades of experience in leading and nurturing people and organisations. Having started her career as a community support worker, Nicola has latterly been Deputy Director for Families at the National Deaf Children’s Society, Director of Major Partnerships at Stonewall, and for the last six years CEO of Age UK Sutton.

Along with her wealth of relevant knowledge, experience and expertise, Nicola also brings a real passion for our work. She shares our vision of more socially connected communities in which people feel less lonely, more united and that they belong. We know that she can’t wait to get started and build on the strong foundations that Alex has built.

Nicola will join us at an important moment. Our society is experiencing a crisis of social disconnection which is leading to rising loneliness and isolation, dislocation and division. She will play a pivotal role in helping us deliver our updated strategy which is shaped by a belief in the transformative power of human relationships.

The Cares Family began with a single friendship. Over the past twelve years that friendship– has grown into a national movement of some 30,000 older and younger people sharing time, laughter and new experiences. We would like to express our huge gratitude to Alex for his leadership over the past twelve years and for all his work to help build the community we are privileged to be a part of. Alex will always be a part of The Cares Family and we wish him all the very best in his new position as Senior Advisor at the Obama Foundation.