Senior Team and Ministry Leads
Aike Kennett-Brown
Messy Church ministry leadJay Elliott
Head of finance and operationsJulia Burton-Jones
Church lead, Anna Chaplaincy for Older PeopleJulia Burton-Jones joined BRF in May 2020. Since 2015 she has pioneered Anna Chaplaincy in Kent and south-east London, and now she works with church organisations across the UK in developing Anna Chaplaincy teams in a variety of contexts, drawing from her experience of working with Rochester and Canterbury dioceses.
Julie MacNaughton
Head of fundraisingKaren Laister
Head of marketing, communications and strategic relationshipsKaren has been at BRF since 1991 and oversees the whole of marketing and communications for the organisation. This involves developing a communications strategy to reach both existing and new audiences through digital and print marketing. Karen is also responsible for developing relationships and initiatives with other organisations and is the lead for BRF’s Holy Habits discipleship initiative.
Olivia Warburton
Head of content creation and Living Faith leadTrustees
Alistair Booth
Member of Finance CommitteeAndrew Barton
Strategy and Fundraising ConsultantAndrew is a strategy and fundraising consultant, having worked for many years in senior fundraising positions in a variety of international development charities. Prior to that Andrew had a career in strategic planning and marketing in retail banking, holding senior positions at Abbey National. Andrew became a BRF trustee in March 2020.
Andrew Howard
Andrew is a full-time parent to 3 teenage kids, one of whom has additional needs, as well as being a School Governor and Chair of the forum for parents with young people with additional needs in his local area. Previously Andrew worked for the Church of England and served in 4 Dioceses including being Diocesan Secretary in Leicester and in Winchester.
Canon Dr Christina Baxter
Vice-Chair of TrusteesChristina is a reader in several village churches and, alongside serving as a trustee of BRF (offering occasional theological reflection), works voluntarily for a number of other causes. Formerly, Christina was the principal of St John’s College, Nottingham, lay chair of General Synod and a member of Archbishops’ Council.
Jane Whittington
Trustee with responsibility for SafeguardingJane is schools officer with the diocese of Guildford education team, advising schools on their RE teaching and collective worship and supporting clergy and lay people with their work in schools. This follows over 20 years as a teacher and headteacher in primary schools in Surrey. Jane has been a BRF trustee since 2015.
Julian Hills
TreasurerCanon Julian Hills is a lay canon of Canterbury Cathedral. Most notably he was a senior finance manager for Pfizer Ltd for nearly 20 years, the financial director for Canterbury Diocese for 5 years and the Diocesan Secretary of that diocese for the last 13 years. He is recently retired and has been a trustee of numerous Christian trusts over the years and a member of Canterbury Cathedral Council.
Mike Wilkinson
Member of Finance CommitteeMike is a chemical engineer, recently retired after working 40 years in a major oil company. In retirement he divides his time between assisting in the national leadership of Who Let The Dads Out? (a ministry formerly attached to BRF and now sponsored by Care for the Family), coordinating the men’s ministry at the Baptist Church where he is a member, learning to play golf and serving as a BRF trustee. Mike joined the board of trustees in 2019 and helps with finance and advising on general management.
Paul Cox
Chair of People CommitteePrior to embracing an early semi-retirement, Paul held senior HR roles mostly in large global companies. More recently he has worked with and supported a number of non-profit-making organisations on people and remuneration issues, and is a trustee director of a large UK pension fund. He has been a trustee of BRF since 2017.
Revd Sarah Hayes
Member of Finance CommitteeSarah was for many years a partner in a city law firm specialising in finance and corporate governance for the social housing and charitable sector. She was ordained in 2010 and after a curacy in the Cotswolds, spent seven years as vicar in Horsell, Woking. An enthusiastic boater, she is now lead waterways chaplain for the south of England, working with the volunteer chaplains supporting the communities on our inland waterways. Sarah has been a BRF trustee and finance committee member since 2010.