Our Team

Rachel co-founded Children on the Edge in 1990 and now strategically directs our global operations. With local partners, she identifies overlooked children living on the margins of society and pioneers new initiatives to help them thrive.

Rachel has an MSc in Development Management and a Masters of Advanced Studies (MCR) in Children's Rights and has done occasional consultancy work for other organisations including UN agencies in the area of children's rights. In 2022 she was awarded an OBE for services to the protection and education of marginalised children worldwide.

She is joined by a mischievous chocolate spaniel called Zuma, who loves to enthusiastically greet staff and visitors to the office.

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Ben leads the team in the UK that supports and resources the work of our international partners.

Whilst he now spends a lot of his time in front of a computer screen, he has lived and worked on the projects we support overseas and continues to have regular input internationally.

He has worked for Children on the Edge since 2000 and comes to work with his dog Lola, who loves a cuddle and likes to steal our seats on the meeting room sofa.

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Responsible for the backbone of the organisation, Emily keeps it legal by ensuring the right HR, policies and procedures are in place and oversees the smooth running of the UK office.

Emily also provides all the logistical support and management for our fundraising events and volunteers. Emily has impressively ensured that every 'i' is dotted and 't' crossed for Children on the Edge since May 2003.

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Esther leads our communications team and liaises with project partners to obtain the latest information about our work, so she can communicate it to anyone who will listen. Part of this is ensuring that the children and communities we work with have their voices heard and are able to tell their own stories.

She works with Amy and Jemma to ensure that our audiences and growing team are resourced with communications that effectively reflect our brand, values and international programme activities.

Esther has an MSc in International Political Communication, Advocacy and Campaigning.

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Sarah has applied her talents to a number of roles at Children on the Edge and is currently responsible for the development of our education programmes. She works with our partner organisations to plan the curriculum and ensure effective teaching and learning for the children we support around the world.

She's no stranger to our programmes and over the years she has supported the development of our Monitoring and Evaluation in Africa and the Middle East, including living and working in Uganda.

She is a qualified teacher and holds an MA in Education and International Development.

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Eloise leads our fundraising team and helps build new partnerships with companies and brands who want to support Children on the Edge.

Eloise has an MA in Social and Political Sciences and has worked in the charity sector for over 20 years. She loves living by the sea, and trying her hand at growing veg in the garden.

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Amy is an experienced rights campaigner who has worked in the charity sector for 15 years. She currently uses her skills to amplify the latest information from the international programmes we support. She creates bespoke communications materials to resource our team, refresh our online platforms and inform our amazing supporters.

Amy has an MSc in Development Studies, and when she's not sprinting after her two children, can usually be found running, cycling or swimming in the sea.

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Sophie is responsible for writing our grant applications and reporting back to all of our wonderful funders. She also researches new funding opportunities; ensuring we can continue to run our projects successfully.

She has worked in similar Trusts and Statutory funding roles for a number of different UK and overseas charities since 2003.

Sophie has an MA in Arabic.

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Jemma keeps our Children on the Edge community up to date with all things digital. This includes campaigning and communicating the latest news about our programmes and fundraising activities via video, e-news and social media. Jemma has over eight years experience in fundraising support, charity events and communications.

She has a BA in Journalism and a CIM certificate in Professional Digital Marketing.

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Lisa looks after all things finance, keeping an eye on all our amazing fundraising income and working with our international partners to keep things on track and compliant.

When her head isn't buried in a spreadsheet or in our database, she loves to take a dip in the sea or run with her black labrador Pip.

Lisa has a BSc in Social Policy & Administration.

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Gemma works alongside our international partners to develop effective monitoring and evaluation systems for our programmes. She helps us learn from the communities we support on how we can improve outcomes, alerts us to issues and enables us to evidence positive impacts of our work.

Gemma is a dedicated foodie, passionate about plant-based fare and growing her own veg.

Gemma has an MA in Gender and International Development.

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Ben works with Lisa to help keep our financial procedures and data in check and is a dab hand with anything IT or tech related.

He relocated with his young family to West Sussex from Cornwall where he worked for a children's mental health charity.

Ben has a degree in teaching and worked as a primary school teacher before moving to the charity sector. He loves to run and dreams of running the London marathon, when his luck finally prevails in the ballot!

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Pattie works with Sophie to build and maintain relationships with our amazing funders. She has over 10 years experience in the charity sector, including living and working in Haiti.

Pattie loves to be by the sea and enjoys swimming, paddleboarding and running. When she's not playing taxi driver for her two children, you might find her gardening, where she's joined by Nibbles and Bob the bunnies.

She has an MA in Development and Emergency Practice.

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Retired as Head of Children's Services for both West and East Sussex County Councils, Stuart's long term experience and knowledge is perfectly suited to guiding our Board of Trustees.

Paul was Finance Director of Harwoods Ltd for over 20 years and is able to bring essential financial skills to the organisation.

Sarah brings support and business expertise as the Director of Chichester based business, Store Property. She has been a vital supporter of our work since 2012.

Walter has an extensive background in education, being headmaster of two schools for 18 years. He has also kindly given his time as a volunteer with Children on the Edge since 2012.

Helen is the Co-founder of Montezuma's Chocolates. She brings a wealth of entrepreneurial experience in growing a bespoke brand into a global business.