Livability appoints new Chair and new Chief Executive

Comms Team

13/08/13

Livability has appointed Caroline Armitage as its new Chair and Dave Webber as its new Chief Executive.

Caroline takes over from Interim Chair Chris Carr and Dave has been the charity’s Interim Chief Executive since the summer of 2012 and was previously Livability’s Director of Operations.

More about Caroline

Caroline brings to Livability significant third sector experience as Chief Executive and Trustee. Her background also includes a very successful legal career, as a corporate lawyer and partner in major law firms.

Caroline is passionate about creating opportunities for those who have a disadvantage in life, whether social or physical. Her strong and active Christian faith informs and motivates her commitment to support the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our society.

She describes herself as an “enabler” who sites problem solving and the ability to analyse situations clearly and quickly as some of her key strengths. She also advocates that charities should not be afraid of change and reshaping their activities to remain effective and relevant.

Caroline Armitage, Livability Chair, said: “I am delighted to take on the opportunity of leading Livability. What drew me to the organisation is the real passion and unrelenting dedication that everyone at Livability, at all levels, has for looking after the less able. This is a very rare quality and I am really excited by the idea of helping the charity go from strength to strength.
I am passionate about supporting disabled and vulnerable people in the UK in achieving higher levels of choice, and independence. In a difficult social and economic environment, we need to be ever more vigilant to ensure that disabled people are not forgotten and left behind. I am also really keen to show what a modern, 21st century Christian charity like Livability can achieve and how our ethos can help us make a real, practical difference to vulnerable people’s welfare.”

Click here to read a more detailed interview with Caroline

More about Dave

Dave has worked in the Social Care Sector for over 30 years in a variety of roles and has extensive experience of both commissioning and providing services and support for disabled people in a range of settings. Dave’s very first job was an Assistant Group Worker post for a psychiatric hospital. His career then developed into a variety of senior manager posts in Local authority and NHS settings before he joined The Shaftesbury Society in 2002 as Director of Care Services. He was Director of Operations throughout the merger of The Shaftesbury Society and John Grooms in 2007 and the launch of the new entity as Livability in 2008.

Dave has also served on a number of National Advisory Groups to local and central Government as well as the Charity Commission. He has also been a keynote speaker at a range of national events including several political and social care conferences.

Dave’s Christian faith is the drive behind his passion for helping disabled and vulnerable people. Dave believes that one of the attributes that makes Livability such a unique organisation is its Christian ethos and its ability to successfully bring together people from various faiths, or none, and from diverse backgrounds to achieve a common goal of supporting the less fortunate.

Dave Webber, Livability Chief Executive, said: ‘’I am delighted to have been appointed as Livability’s Chief Executive. The charity does incredible work supporting disabled people and their families and it will be an honour to continue this crucial work at a time when many of our beneficiaries are struggling to maintain their standards of living and risk facing social isolation. Livability’s staff, volunteers and supporters always inspire me with their true dedication to the people we serve. Also, when I see our service users, those in our care homes and services, those in our school and colleges developing their independence and thriving, that to me is the most rewarding part of working for Livability. I look forward to leading the organisation towards even greater achievements in the years to come.”

Click here to read a more detailed interview with Dave