New CEO For Canterbury Oast Trust

Gill Gibb

will join COT in January 2012

CANTERBURY OAST TRUST APPOINTS NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Gill Gibb has been appointed chief executive of the Canterbury Oast Trust, the charity which supports people with learning and physical disabilities in Kent and East Sussex.

She will replace David Jackson, who has led the charity for 12 years, when he retires in

the New Year, taking up the post on January 3, 2012. The trust also incorporates the Rare Breeds Centre, one of the South East’s leading family attractions.

Gill Gibb said: “This is a rare opportunity to take the helm at one of the most inspiring and respected local charities for people with learning and physical disabilities. For more than 25 years, Canterbury Oast Trust has been dedicated to developing the potential of the people in its care. I am thrilled to have been selected for the role and have been deeply impressed by the sheer scale and quality of what the charity has to offer.”

Elizabeth Emson, chairman of the charity’s trustees, said: “In Gill Gibb the board of trustees has found an exceptionally experienced person who, we believe, has the qualities necessary to lead the charity. Challenges we face include major changes in social care policy and a volatile economic climate. We are convinced her appointment is the right one at the right time.

“This announcement allows me on behalf of the board to pay tribute to the tremendous contribution made by David Jackson, our current chief executive whose experience, dedication and knowledge has left us in a strong position to face the future.”

Gill Gibb was recently managing director of the Employees Benevolent Fund charity and director of the charity Leaders Exchange, a networking and knowledge sharing website for not-for-profit leaders. She holds the voluntary positions of treasurer for Centrepoint, the youth homelessness charity, and deputy chair of the charity Finance Directors Group.

Previously, Gill was market development director of the Social Investment Business, and director of business development for Kent-based Charities Aid Foundation where she led the team that won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the area of innovation – the first charity to achieve this.

Prior to this, Gill spent 18 years as a senior executive in retail financial services. Gill also fundraises for charity through her marathon running.