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Published: Friday, 09 July 2021 15:44

We are pleased to announce that we have expanded our National Office team by recruiting Michelle Cook a Director of Operations! 

Michelle joined FNF in July 2021 and is responsible for the charity's operations.  Michelle has spent the last two decades working in the charity sector, designing, managing and delivering services that offer frontline support and information.  Having begun as a counsellor and frontline advisor Michelle remains in touch with the direct needs of the groups and service users she has supported and this is fundamental to her approach in her charitable work.  Michelle has worked in the addiction, social care, youth and bereavement sectors managing services, staff and volunteers, delivering peer support and counselling intervention, more recently assisting peer support platforms on behalf of the charity Gingerbread.  

Michelle is passionate about using her skills to improve the lives of others. Michelle says:

“It may be cliché, but, knowing I’ll use my day to make a difference gets me out of bed in the morning. I’m inspired by the drive my colleagues in the sector have to improve the circumstances of the individuals we come into contact with and often because we have experienced similar circumstances to those we are supporting. I feel genuinely privileged to be able to guide my own passion and experiences towards helping people to gain the support they need and deserve. I feel that the issues and areas that FNF are impacting cannot be underestimated. They are crucial to the way that we collectively shape our future society. We are presented with great opportunity at this time to move towards better circumstances for people in society that have in many ways, been disregarded. The ideal circumstances for our children should always be paramount, so it gives me great hope that we are not only able to convey the needs of our beneficiaries and those affected by the circumstances we seek to address, but that this is also leading to solutions that bring about real and positive change in a significant and vital area. I feel immensely proud to be a part of these aims, and I look forward to contributing to more of this in the future.”

FNF currently relies on a small staff and many volunteers. There is a need for the Charity to become ‘match fit’ to grow again with better governance and updates to internal policies - to be in a position to both secure and make good use of new funding sources by 2022.

Michelle's addition to the team will help us develop and bring up-to-date procedures and policies, facilitate branch support and online support strategy and co-ordinate any operational elements of ensuring that FNF focuses delivery of our updated Purpose Statement.

Welcome Michelle!  :)

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