Sally de la Bedoyere
Former managing director of the London Evening Standard succeeds Mick Aldridge, starting from today
The Public Fundraising Regulatory Association has appointed Sally de la Bedoyere, a former managing director of the London Evening Standard newspaper, as chief executive.
The self-regulator for face-to-face fundraising has been without a chief executive since Mick Aldridge stepped down last September.
De la Bedoyere, who started today, has joined the PFRA from the RSPCA, where she was director of income generation for two years. Before working at the animal welfare charity, she was chief executive of Rajar, which measures UK radio audiences.
De la Bedoyere was managing director at the Evening Standard for three years, and before that was advertising director at the Mail on Sunday newspaper.
She has joined the PFRA at a time when street fundraising is facing renewed scrutiny after an investigation by The Sunday Telegraph in June uncovered alleged breaches of face-to-face rules.
De la Bedoyere said: "I know from personal experience the value of face-to-face fundraising for many charities and their beneficiaries. It is vitally important that this is done with the support of the public and local authorities, support that we will achieve and maintain through stringent professional standards and effective and transparent regulation.
"I am fully aware that I join the PFRA at a crucial time for all charities using face-to-face fundraising."
Lord Hodgson’s review of the Charities Act 2006 recommended that face-to-face should be brought into the local authority licensing regime. He also said that local authorities should be encouraged to work with the existing self-regulation regime, drawing up agreements with the PFRA.
De la Bedoyere said: "By recommending that local authorities should work with the PFRA to voluntarily co-regulate street fundraising, Lord Hodgson has signalled that there is intensive and challenging work ahead for the PFRA."
The PFRA interviewed 14 people for the chief executive's job, with four candidates selected for the final interviews.
Paul Stallard, who became the PFRA’s first paid chair earlier this year, said: "Sally is a first-rate choice as our new chief executive. She has an appropriate mix of charity and commercial experience and I am sure the issues she dealt with throughout her successful career in media management will provide her with a lot of transferable skills."
