Care Workers Charity chief resigns to create loneliness start-up
LONDON: Alex Ramamurthy, the chief executive of the Care Workers Charity (CWC) is stepping down from his job on 30 November to work on a booking platform enabling care homes to rent their communal space to host adult day clubs.
The charity’s chief, who started his CWC role in November 2016, is to be replaced by Richard Muncaster. This will allow Mr Ramamurthy to embark on a new business venture designed to bring older people from the community into care homes to reduce their loneliness, while also generating new revenue streams for care homes.
’I feel very paternal towards the charity’
Mr Ramamurthy said: “Earlier in the year, I felt I had taken CWC where I said I would and it was time to find a long-term replacement. I feel very paternal towards the charity, so will be joining the board as Trustee and have been asked to stay on in a part-time role as Head of Partnerships.
“I took on the role of CEO in November 2016 under the premise that Ben Allen and I had six months to either breathe new life into the charity and make it sustainable for the long-term, or to close it – a challenge that really grabbed my attention.
“I’d like to thank all of our supporters who believed in our renewed vision and joined us on a two-year journey that has seen CWC resurrected and completely transformed.”
There are over 1.5 million care workers in the UK but illness or other circumstances can push them to the financial brink. The CWC is there to help current, former and retired care workers through their ‘rainy day’ times, to stop them facing financial hardship.
Under Mr Ramamurthy’s leadership, the charity won the ‘Change Project of the Year’ award. The charity was also shortlisted for ‘Charity of the Year’ at the 2018 Charity Times Awards.
He added: “I’m stepping down to make way for an exceptional person to lead the team through its next growth phase. We have found that person in Richard Muncaster.”
Mr Muncaster brings to the charity 20 years’ experience in the voluntary sector, leading teams in areas such as marketing, volunteering, communications, policy and campaigning.
Richard Muncaster said: “I’m joining an organisation in a strong financial position with a growing reputation across the sector. But more importantly, it’s a charity with a real sense of purpose.
“Every minute of every day, care workers across the UK are working tirelessly to provide a lifeline to the members of our society who need it most; but all too often those same care workers are facing life-changing challenges of their own; including poverty, domestic violence, workplace stress and deteriorating mental and physical health.
“We believe that care workers have a right to lead rewarding personal and professional lives, and we are a charity on a mission to build a society that values and supports them to do so.”
‘Driven to solve big problems’
Mr Ramamurthy will join the Board as Trustee to support the charity through a six-month transition period in a part-time consultancy role.
Prior to joining CWC, Mr Ramamurthy tackled social isolation and loneliness in old age using technology that went on to be used by the Queen – following an invitation to Buckingham Palace for a demonstration – and across the NHS as a telemedicine tool. He says he is “driven to solve big problems” and spent 10 years visiting his grandmother at a care home and seeing the efforts of care workers.
Martin Green, CWC vice president and CEO of Care England, said the charity “is now well established and recognised throughout the care sector as the place to go when care workers need help and support. The foundations are now laid…but this is only the beginning.”
