Governance & Trustees

The Share Foundation was registered as a Charity on 14th February 2005 with the objects: 

  1. To relieve poverty amongst children and young people in need in accordance with Christian principles and without reference to race, creed or nationality, with a view to improving the condition of life of those for whom funding is provided.

  2. To advance the education of such children and young people in handling their financial situation in order to encourage self-sufficiency as they grow into adulthood, through improved ability to handle their own economic circumstances and to help them lift themselves and others in the communities in which they live out of poverty.

We seek to reduce the inter-generational cycle of deprivation affecting the poorest children and young people by encouraging highly targeted wealth distribution. We operate alongside Government to help children most in need by enabling additional voluntary contributions to supplement Government payments. This applies particularly to those who have little prospect of financial resources as they grow, and our focus for support is therefore children and young people in care (also known as 'Looked After').

The Share Foundation also aims to provide guidance to young people. Its help with handling money aims to foster an increasing capacity for self-sufficiency, and draws on resources developed for building financial capability.

The trustees of The Share Foundation meet regularly to assess progress, and work closely with the Department for Education in relation to the charity's central co-ordinating role in overseeing Junior ISAs for Looked After children and young people. Day-to-day administration is delegated to Gavin Oldham, Chairman of The Share Foundation.

Trustees:

Gavin Oldham OBE - Chairman (and founder) of The Share Foundation: also founder and former Chairman of The Share Centre and Share plc. He is also founder and Managing Director of Share Radio, an online broadcaster, and the charity Share Alliance, which sponsors research into finding a more egalitarian for of capitalism. Gavin was formerly a lay member of the Church of England's General Synod and a Church Commissioner.

Christopher Daws – Trustee, and member of The Share Foundation's Audit and Risk Committee: also trustee of Action for Children and chairman of its pension scheme. He is the independent member of the audit committee of the Charity Commission, and a member of the Board for Actuarial Standards. Until 2007 he was the financial and deputy secretary of the Church Commissioners.

Ruth Kelly – Trustee: formerly MP for Bolton during which she was Secretary of State for Education and for Transport, and before that Financial Secretary to the Treasury during the formative years of the Child Trust Fund. Ruth is now Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Enterprise at St. Mary's University, Twickenham, after being Global Head of Client Strategy at HSBC from 2010 to 2015..

John Reeve – Trustee, and member of The Share Foundation's Audit and Risk Committe: also former Chief Executive of Family Investments, a major provider of Child Trust Funds and supporter of The Share Foundation.

Henrietta Royle – Trustee: former Chief Operating Officer of the British Bankers' Association, formerly Chief Operating Officer of City University

Karen Gillie — Trustee: former executive Director of Product Management at Coutts. Karen provides Board oversight for safeguarding arrangements and for our Child Trust Fund Ambassador programme

Simon Larter Evans — Trustee, and Principal of Tring Park School. Simon has played a central role in the development of the Stepping Forward programme.

Fiona Ross — Trustee, and Education Consultant. Fiona has worked closely with The Share Foundation as a leading Child Trust Fund Ambassador.

Chris Kenna — Trustee, and Creative AI entrepreneur and Chief Executive,MediaStreamAI.com and keynote speaker.