The AFF Trustees
The Trustees are the governing body of the Army Families Federation. Their role is to ensure that the Army Families Federation succeeds in its core business of being the voice of the Army family, and have the legal responsibility for the overall management, decision-making and performance of the Charity.
The role of the Trustee is voluntary and unpaid.
The Trustees bring a wide range of skills and experience to the Army Families Federation. The Board has a Chair of Trustees, Core Trustees, and a Branch Trustee each for Germany and Cyprus branches.
In addition, the AFF Trustees:
- Take legal responsibility for the organisation and ensure it is solvent, well-run and doing what it was set up to do
- Ensure that the charity operates within the rules and guidelines set out in the charity’s governing charter and relevant legislation including charity, company law and employment law
- Give an account of the activities of the charity to the Charity Commission, make sure that any change to the registered details are kept up to date, and submits its annual report and accounts to the Charity Commission.
Any vacancies on the Board of Trustees are advertised through the Volunteering for AFF page.
Who are the AFF Trustees?
Rich Stephens, Chair of the Board of Trustees
Maggie Pedder, Core Trustee
Gill Aldridge, Core Trustee
Caroline Buchanan, Core Trustee
Helen Kirkland, Core Trustee
Liz McKinney Bennett, Core Trustee
Liz Murray, Core Trustee
Charles Gray OBE, Germany Branch Trustee
Vacancy, Cyprus Branch Trustee
RICH STEPHENS, CHAIR OF THE BOARD Of TRUSTEES
Rich became a trustee of AFF in late 2009, shortly after he left the Military to become a house-husband to his Army wife. Finding himself with a little time on his hands, he was delighted to be accepted as a Trustee for Cyprus and then even more delighted to become Chair of the Board of Trustees in 2011.
In his 23 years’ service Rich witnessed a huge amount of change regarding the Army’s place in society and experienced, at first hand, the stringent demands that have been placed on it in the last ten years. He has shared the frustrations of occupying substandard quarters and of not being able to communicate with loved ones while deployed - and saw the impact that this had on operational effectiveness. And now, as a husband to a soldier, he has a different perspective and understands even more fully the crucial part that families play in making our Armed Forces so very good.
Both as someone with an on-going personal interest and as retired Military, Rich feels passionately that the views of Army families must be represented and taken into account.
Rich lives in Canada with his wife Anna and their two young children. The whole family enjoys sailing, camping and skiing and sharing food with friends.
MAGGIE PEDDER, CORE TRUSTEE
Maggie Pedder has been a Trustee of AFF for the past seven years, being Chair of the Board for five of those years. Maggie has been an Army wife since she was 21. Postings have included Germany and the Outer Hebrides (not her favourite place!). Whilst following the flag, Maggie has managed to juggle Army life and a career in Human Resources and for the last six years has run her own HR Consultancy business.
Maggie believes strongly that volunteers have a key role to play in a lot of organisations and has managed volunteer projects for SSAFA in Germany, which included setting up a Victim Support Scheme. Maggie has also been a Relate Counsellor.
Maggie uses her business knowledge and HR expertise to support the work of the Chief Executive and Council (AFF’s management board).
When not working, Maggie and her husband Andy enjoy sailing and skiing holidays.
GILL ALDRIDGE, CORE TRUSTEE
I am very lucky in having experienced normal life (!) before marrying Bill and putting on my backpack to accompany him around Europe. As a result I feel that I really do have some understanding of the realities of both civilian and Army life – and the good and bad in both.
Focusing on Personnel Management after university, I spent over ten years working both in blue chip and entrepreneurial environments. Later, work with one of the major Cancer charities for a year or two taught me how challenging and rewarding it is to manage a volunteer team - and after the mobile phone explosion, I joined a telecoms focused company, and became a General Manager, implementing a major change management programme.
Marrying Bill, I resigned from my job with mixed feelings, and with a small daughter in tow, travelling first to Northern Ireland, and then around Europe (where the German I studied at university finally came into its own), I have been able to experience the highs and lows of Army married life. I enjoy the company, the sense of humour, dogged perseverance and generosity of those I have met and lived with. I have, however, also suffered the inevitable housing, schooling, separation, career and financial worries. Fun and frustration probably characterise the last few years: part-time jobs, consultancy roles, taking a degree in psychology (O.U.) and training with Relate, who I continue to work for, have filled my time.
I feel very privileged to be given the opportunity to work with AFF, and am determined to offer my best efforts to improve the lot of Army families.
CAROLINE BUCHANAN, CORE TRUSTEE
Caroline Buchanan became a Trustee of the Army Families Federation in October 2008. She has been an army wife for fourteen years. Both of her parents served in the Royal Navy, which gave her some exposure to military life as a child.
Caroline has spent most of her working career in the events, design and music industry around the world. Currently she is working in the direct selling and retail market and freelances for an international communications agency.
Caroline shares the Army Families Federation’s aspirations and goals and is pleased to be associated with a great team who work hard to improve the quality of life for Army families worldwide.
Since becoming an Army wife, Caroline has lived on various military patches and sees first-hand the challenges that face families with children and hopes that these experiences will ensure that AFF continues to be forward thinking and up to date with current issues.
Outside of work, Caroline enjoys spending time with her family and friends, cooking, travelling and music and theatre. She is married to Ian and they have two children and are currently based in Middlesex.
HELEN KIRKLAND, CORE TRUSTEE
This is Helen Kirkland’s 25th year as an Army wife. During this time she has travelled, packed, scrubbed, cried, laughed and borne two children. Helen has had to reinvent herself as moving dictated changes in lifestyle and opportunities, and re-training has often been a necessity. After seventeen or so moves, across three continents, she had hopefully settled in her own home in Wiltshire and undertaken a huge gardening project. She now lives in Aldershot!
Helen was militarily influenced by her father and his TA commitment whilst growing up. She later joined Bristol OTC and met her husband while on attachment to the Royal Engineers. Helen worked in hotels, racing yards, building sites and classrooms but mostly in kitchens as a freelance cook. This led to becoming a trainer after completing a teacher training course in Yorkshire and then running her own cooking courses for other Army wives and civilians. When a posting to Belgium came up, Helen saw a chance to retrain as a TEFL teacher and worked in and around Brussels. On later postings she was a volunteer teacher of English to overseas students and their wives.
More recently Helen has found herself combining old and new skills acquired over the years. This has involved her in fund-raising, ski guiding, teaching at a local cookery school and computing. She has not discounted returning to education herself in the future. Presently she is involved with SSAFA, AFF and helps with RDA between skiing trips.
As an Army wife there are so many opportunities to retrain and find new skills. Helen feels that we should never let new opportunities pass by. Moving constantly can be frustrating but it encourages us to be adaptable and employable, offering experience and skills that we have learnt along the way.
LIZ MCKINNEY-BENNETT, CORE TRUSTEE
Liz McKinney-Bennett is a Royal Marine wife and has suffered the same issues with separation, quarters and living away from the deployed partner's base to name but a few!
Liz served as a Regular Army Officer from 1989 to 2006 when she retired after having her son Elliott (now six) and became a TA Officer. She now also has Harrison (aged three) and has been married to the long-suffering Mark for seventeen years.
With a broad experience of her own military service, that of being a military spouse, the challenges faced by Reserves and their families and general family life, Liz hopes that she can contribute to the well-being of our varied, disparate and wonderful Army family.
Liz now works part-time as a Strategic Media Analyst for a Dubai research and consultancy company and is also a Staff Officer at the Army Personnel Centre in Glasgow, as a Lieutenant Colonel in the TA.
LIZ MURRAY , CORE TRUSTEE
Liz became a Core Trustee in 2010. After graduating from York University in 1999, Liz spent eight years as a management consultant in London. Whilst working as a Senior Consultant for Accenture, Liz also had her first taste of the voluntary sector with ABF, The Soldiers’ Charity.
After meeting her husband six years ago, Liz changed her career to better suit Army life. Having worked as a project manager within a local authority Liz has recently changed jobs to be a professional fundraising consultant for a Charity. She has contributed to large scale change projects for learning disability services, mental health and the authority's personalisation strategy.
Liz is currently raising funds to redevelop local play facilities. She has a particular interest in helping Army families understand how to access funding for community projects.
CHARLES GRAY OBE , GERMANY BRANCH TRUSTEE
Born into an Army family, Charles Gray is an only child with five of his own. Educated in Dumfriesshire and Cumberland, he was commissioned from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst into The King’s Own Royal Border Regiment in 1975 and served at every level of Infantry command from Platoon to Battalion with occasional sorties into Support Weapons, Intelligence and Communications. During his 34 year career he also served on the General Staff at Brigade and Division in the G1, G2 and J3 staff divisions. Worthy of note are his periods of service on operations in UK and the Gulf, in command of the Operational Training Unit for Northern Ireland and Loan Service in Kuwait.
His final tour of duty as Chief G1 United Kingdom Support Command (Germany) was marked with his investiture as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on Her Majesty’s Birthday Honours List 2008. None were more surprised than Charles himself! He retired from active duty in January 2009. Now he is the Principal Welfare Support Officer for the Army Welfare Service in Germany – an Occupational Welfare Service for the British Army at home and abroad. He is a Governor of the Duke of York’s Royal Military School in Dover and a Trustee of the Army Families Federation.
A failed academic historian at school, his innate love of military history is characterised by his pursuit of his Regiment’s history in World War 2 and he co-operated with fellow authors in writing “When Dragons Flew” – the history of 1st Battalion, The Border Regiment who fought at Arnhem in 1944 as a glider-borne battalion. He has guided many battlefield tours, with military and civilian audiences, young, adult and veteran, to diverse and disparate sites in North West Europe, North Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
Widowed in 2010, he solo parents three daughters and two sons and whilst living in Germany they have a listed home in a remote border hamlet in Dumfriesshire which has been renovated to accept the family with two ageing dogs, a brace of Persians, a rabbit, guinea pig, terrapin and pony! When he has time Charles enjoys table-top wargaming in either 15 or 28mm scales.
