Our People

Our staff come from various backgrounds and disciplines and have a range of skills and abilities. Our UK-wide practitioner team is made up of those with professional backgrounds in working with child sexual abuse in statutory agencies and include psychologists, psychotherapists, former probation officers, social workers and police officers. Our Stop It Now helpline is staffed by a team of sessional first line operators from backgrounds which include teaching, working with children with disabilities and working on other helplines. All staff are supported by a dedicated and hardworking team of the administrative team.

Our chief executive and executive directors are responsible for influencing, reviewing and implementing the strategic direction and policy of the organisation.

This team is also responsible for the individual supervision of staff and for the development of their skills and working practices. In addition to supervision, staff receive support related to their differing personal needs and those arising out of the nature of the tasks and advice provided by the charity.

The Foundation recognises its primary assets are its committed and hardworking staff and volunteers.O

Deborah Denis - Chief executive officer

As CEO, Deborah is focused on advancing the Foundation’s vision of a world free from sexual abuse and exploitation. Deborah plays a key role in advocating for a greater focus on preventing abuse before it occurs, and sits on a variety of boards and groups.

Deborah joined he Lucy Faithfull Foundation in 2009 after a career in local radio and police communications. After leading the Foundation’s communications and fundraising functions for a number of years, she took over as CEO in February 2020.

Deborah has 20 years’ experience in media, communications and fundraising – and has secured and grown support for many for the Foundation’s projects and services. In 2020 she led the development of the Foundations’ five-year strategy which focusses on the three pillars of Reach, Research and Advocacy.

Deborah began her career as a journalist working in local radio before taking on a media and communications role with Hampshire Constabulary. Following this, she worked for four years for the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, where she handled all media relations including for serious crimes and hurricane threat situations.

Deborah first came to The Lucy Faithfull Foundation in 2009 when she joined as the media and communications manager. After 18 months away, she re-joined the Foundation in 2016 as head of fundraising and external relations. In 2018, Deborah became the Foundation’s first director of fundraising and external relations, leading a larger communications and fundraising team, and became the foundation’s CEO in 2020.

Stuart Allardyce - Director of Lucy Faithfull Foundation Scotland

Stuart Allardyce qualified as a social worker in 1998. As a director at The Lucy Faithfull Foundation, he has responsibilities for Stop It Now! services in Scotland as well as research across the whole organisation.

He has worked with young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour for over 20 years. He is currently chair of the National Organisation for the Treatment of Abuse (NOTA) in the UK and Ireland and was formerly chair of NOTA Scotland.

He is a visiting researcher at Strathclyde University, an associate at the Centre for Youth and Criminal Justice and a trustee at White Ribbon Scotland. He is co-author of ‘Working with Children and Young People Who Have Displayed Harmful Sexual Behaviour’ (Dunedin Press, 2018) as well as several peer-reviewed papers and book chapters on child sexual abuse and sexual offending.

He was a member of the Scottish government’s expert working group on preventing sexual offending amongst children and young people.

Annabel Kroeger - Director of finance

Annabel Kroeger B.Acc CA (SA) trained and qualified as a chartered accountant with Deloittes in South Africa.

With a business degree from Natal University, she left Deloittes after qualifying and spent the next seven years in marketing, training with Unilever as a product manager at Elida Gibbs, South Africa. On her return to the UK, she worked first for Nielsen Market Research in Oxford and then for Jenks Brokerage in High Wycombe, handling a wide range of well-known brands.

Balancing family demands, Annabel took up accountancy work again on a part-time basis four years later and gained experience in a variety of sectors including the computer industry, education, tourism and most recently for charities. Annabel worked as the accountant for Warwickshire Association for the Blind for 6 years, until joining LFF in April 2008 as Director of Finance.

Adrian McNulty - Director of operations

Adrian has over 30 years’ experience in the criminal justice sector. A qualified probation officer and social worker, Adrian has operated as both a practitioner and manager in a variety of settings.

He has worked in youth justice, case management and accredited programmes as well as being the senior lead on substance misuse and evidence informed practice. He has a history of leading projects and operations that drive community outcomes and is looking forward to working with LFF colleagues across all its prevention work.

Adrian is from Birmingham and is married with two grown up sons.

Frances Frost – Director of policy and advocacy

Frances joined the Lucy Faithfull Foundation in July 2022, in the new role of Director of Policy and Advocacy. Frances began her career in policy and research, working on legal reform at the Law Commission. After qualifying as a solicitor, Frances spent 20 years in private practice specialising in human rights. Over her legal career, Frances built up a long track record of successful cases upholding the rights of victims. Frances has represented victims and survivors of child sexual abuse in both civil litigation and criminal injuries compensation claims. Frances understands the devastating life-long impact that child sexual abuse has. She is committed to driving forward the Foundation’s advocacy work so that everyone understands that child sexual abuse is preventable not inevitable, that we all have a part to play and by working together we can prevent it.

Alison Dexter – Director of people services

Alison joined the Lucy Faithfull Foundation in February 2024, in the new role of Director of People Services. Alison began her career in Catering and Retail after gaining an HND in Hotel and Catering. She worked for 20 plus years for Compass Group in various roles before taking the opportunity to move into their HR and Development team and qualified with the CIPD.

Alison worked for Pearson as Head of People for 8 years and led the merger of two organisations together in their retail arm of work-based learning (BTEC). Before joining the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, Alison worked for 8 years at a large complex charity based in Northamptonshire as Deputy Director of HR.

Alison has had a rewarding career where she has been impactful in the workplace, having the ability to engage with employees to help them with any situations that may arise. As a qualified Coach and Mentor, she uses these skills to help build a solid foundation, allowing people to make their own decisions that are in line with their value structure and help to bring clarity and direction to short-term or long-term goals. The profession is ever-changing and constantly growing so there is always something new to learn, including changes in laws and regulations, which Alison has the knowledge and skills to translate them into everyday practice.

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