New leadership and headquarters for Shropshire Supports Refugees
Two new chief executive officers have been appointed at a Shropshire charity that seeks to bring relief and support to refugees living locally.
The appointments at Shropshire Supports Refugees coincide with its new offices in Shrewsbury being officially opened by the town’s MP Julia Buckley.
“It was an honour for me to be invited to the official opening of the new offices and to meet the new chief executives,” said Mrs Buckley.
“This is a truly brilliant organisation with compassion and empathy at the heart of all its decisions, and offering a wide range of services from English language classes to employment guidance, from immigration advice to awareness raising, from providing volunteering opportunities to outreach sessions in other towns across Shropshire – and much more.”
The new co-CEOs are Emma Hughes, the organisation’s former Operations Manager, and Stanislave Kudym, former Project Manager.
Since the organisation’s founder and former CEO Amanda Jayne Jones stepped down from her role last April, Dr Heather Thomas had been at the helm as interim CEO and Chair of Trustees. Martin Hamilton will now Chair the organisation.
Stanislav Kudym said: “We’ve recently moved to our new offices in St Julian’s Friars, a move which, along with the new model of working, is designed to reduce our overheads. Part of our strategy now is to diversify the whole organisation, starting with the Trustees Board.
“Meanwhile, our new model of working includes outreach visits to community centres in Wellington on Tuesdays and Brookside (Telford) on Thursdays. Also, our charity is on call with Oswestry, Church Stretton, Market Drayton and Ludlow. These are to support people who may find it difficult to get into Shrewsbury.
“We have drop-in services here in Shrewsbury from 9.30 am to 1 pm, Mondays to Thursdays, and appointments between 2 pm and 5 pm on those days.
“We were delighted that Julia was able to take part in the opening of the new offices. She has supported us throughout, and we very much appreciate her backing."
