Blue Cross announces new Chief Executive
Blue Cross is pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Burghes as Chief Executive, who will join to lead the organisation from 1 June 2020.
Chris was previously CEO of the Royal Free Charity, which is the charitable arm of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. He has a wealth of experience in the day-to-day management of charities, gained both at the Royal Free and the Fire Fighters Charity.
He said: “I am excited to be joining Blue Cross which has grown into one of the largest and best loved pet welfare charities in the country. It is a wonderful time to join the charity and lead the organisation on the next stage of its strategy, building on its renowned reputation for providing unique and holistic services to pets and their owners.
“I have been incredibly impressed with what I have seen so far, which is a credit to the Trustees, staff and volunteers at Blue Cross. The passion and dedication of everyone is second to none. I truly believe that pets change lives and I’ll be proud to lead the charity and help more pets and their owners in the future.”
Our charity’s current CEO, Sally de la Bedoyere, will be stepping down to retire at the end of June following five years in the role.
During her time at Blue Cross, Sally has lead the charity through significant growth including developing an ambitious strategy for the next three years and, in the last five years, more than doubling awareness of the charity, increasing income by nearly 20 per cent, as well as creating agile rehoming, veterinary and behaviour services to reach those most in need.
Sally said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my time leading Blue Cross in an ever-changing environment of pet welfare and developing a strategy to deliver the greatest impact to improve the lives of pets and people.
“By adapting the ways our services work and taking advantage of digital developments we have been able to reach more animals in need, help more pet owners in crisis and spread the message of best pet welfare. I would like to thank all my teams and look forward to following the journey of Blue Cross into the future.”