Ex-charity chief joins CCIN and board

We are excited to announce the appointment of an award-winning former charity chief executive to lead our customer involvement group that shapes services across Bromford.

Dame Sandra Horley, who spent 37 years as chief executive of Refuge, is the new chair of our Customer and Communities Influence Network (CCIN) which meets regularly to give customers a voice and the opportunity to shape and improve services across the organisation. She has also become the newest member of our board of directors, joining as a non-executive director from 1 May.

During her time at Refuge, Dame Sandra grew the charity from a single shelter for abused women into the UK’s pre-eminent provider of support services for survivors of gender-based violence. She used her position at Refuge as a platform to advocate for change, and worked closely with the police, legal profession, and government, both in the UK and overseas, to secure wide-ranging reform in both policy and legislation.

Prior to that, she had been a homelessness officer and a housing advice worker for local authorities in Shropshire and London.

Dame Sandra will now support our work around customer involvement and chair the monthly CCIN meetings where customer volunteers comment and influence issues around service delivery, recruitment, homelessness, equality, diversity, and inclusion, and more.

“Bromford through its unique neighbourhood coaching model and various initiatives around homelessness is thoroughly committed to investing in its communities and supporting people to thrive, and these are values which really resonate with my own and have driven my work at Refuge over almost four decades,” Dame Sandra said.

“Thanks to its strong governance and financial strength, Bromford is well placed to play a leading role in supporting customers to weather the current economic climate and cost of living crisis. I am delighted to join the Bromford board and CCIN as chair, where I look forward to working closely with customers of all backgrounds to hear their views, concerns, and ideas and use them to ensure positive change is delivered for all.”

Dame Sandra was awarded a Damehood in 2021 for her contribution to the protection of women and children and for promoting greater understanding and awareness of domestic abuse.

Kevin Bennett, Bromford’s director of localities and customer contact, added: “Dame Sandra’s track record speaks for itself, and she will provide huge expertise as we look to invest £10m into initiatives directly related to reducing homelessness, of which we sadly know domestic abuse is a big driver. We are really pleased to welcome her to the team, and I know that the customers she has already met echo these sentiments.”

Fancy becoming a customer volunteer?
Simply email our customer involvement officer, Delphine Guillemoteau on delphine.guillemoteau@bromford.co.uk to arrange an informal chat.