Carer standing hugging older man with walking stick sitting down. Both are smiling at the camera warmly

Transforming lives through the power
of community since 1920

Isolation affects countless individuals in our society, from teenagers to older people. This often leads to a cycle of loneliness and hopelessness.

At Keychange, we work to break that cycle, through the transformative power of community. As a Christian charity, we are inspired by Christ’s example to love and serve others. 

Today, we have seven care homes for older people and two housing communities for young people and women facing homelessness.

Our mission is to create communities where each person is supported, valued and known.

Read the Keychange
Annual Report 2024-25

Find out how we impacted lives across our communities.
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Community is at the heart

of everything Keychange does

Opening doors
We help people access communities and live life to the full.
Providing the ‘key’
We help people access communities and live life to the full.
People, not profit
We do it because we care about people, not profit.
Dignity and worth
Everyone deserves to feel safe, secure and valued.
Love of Christ
We’re inspired by the example of Christ to love and serve others.
Community
We believe in the power
of community to transform lives.

Keychange. Building caring communities.

Introducing our trustees

Maddy Thompson

Chair of Trustees

Tim Cotterall

Interim Chair 

Ian Bird

Trustee

Stefan Cantore

Trustee

Nicholas Leggett

Trustee

Rebecca Stockman

Trustee

Sarah Powley

Honorary Treasurer

Brad Cook

Trustee

Glenda Roberts

Trustee

Annie Ho

Trustee

Our trustees

Maddy Thomson

Chair of Trustees

Tim Cotterall

Vice Chair

Sarah Powley

 Honorary Treasurer

Ian Bird

 Trustee

Stefan Cantore

 Trustee

Brad Cook

Trustee

Nick Leggett

Trustee

Glenda Roberts

Trustee

Rebecca Stockman

Trustee

Annie Ho

Trustee

More information and photographs coming soon.

We’re a Christian organisation,
so what does that mean?

Sometimes, the fact we’re a Christian charity can prompt questions – like whether we only accept staff or residents who are Christians.

So, we thought it’d be helpful to share what being a Christian organisation actually means. We welcome people of all faiths and none to join our communities or staff team.

All our staff are committed to the Christian values of unconditional love and support for all. And the Keychange leadership team pray together weekly.

We hold Christian worship services in all our care homes, which anyone is welcome to join.

We support our residents to practise their faith, which includes helping them (wherever possible) get to nearby places of worship like churches, mosques and synagogues.

All our staff are committed to the Christian values of unconditional love and support for all.

And the Keychange leadership team pray together weekly.

We hold Christian worship services in all our care homes, which anyone is welcome to join.

We support our residents to practise their faith, which includes helping them (wherever possible) get to nearby places of worship
like churches, mosques and synagogues. 

How you can get involved

From befriending to gardening, find out how you can be a vital part of our work.
Find out more
Find out how we’re impacting the lives of vulnerable people in our society.
Find out more
Help transform lives through the power of community.
Find out more

Why people love working at Keychange

“We really care about the individual and I can see that across all of Keychange’s homes”

That’s why I love working here.

Whilst it was really daunting becoming a manager, I’ve always felt supported by Keychange. There’s no such thing as a stupid question, and I don’t ever feel judged. It’s been a great place to develop my skills and knowledge – and it’s a wonderful, rewarding job. 

Join the team

Meet the leadership team
at the heart of Keychange

Benjamin Downing

CEO

Benjamin joined on 1 December 2022. His previous role was with Open Doors International and, prior to that, he worked for five years with Kids Alive International as their Vice President of International Programmes. 

Kids Alive works with vulnerable children around the world and, during his time there, he helped the whole organisation focus on trauma-informed care, to bring greater healing and impact to the children affected. Benjamin and his wife, Charmari, and four boys – Daniel, Jonah, Elijah and Nathan – returned to the UK in 2020 after living overseas in Guatemala and the USA for 10 years.

Meet the leadership team
at the heart of Keychange

Sarah Hurst

Executive Assistant
Sarah joined Keychange as Executive Assistant to the CEO & Trustees in January 2024.Sarah has a background of providing administrative and strategic support in charitable and non-profit organisations, including the care and education sectors, as well as building community through previous voluntary and part-time projects. She enjoys providing directorate and board support to enable vision to become deliverable change.

Meet the leadership team
at the heart of Keychange

Graeme Gentry

Director of Operations
Graeme joined Keychange as Director of Operations on the 1st September 2023. He previously worked for the NHS and the private sector in a variety of leadership positions including Operational, Commercial and Clinical appointments. Graeme is married to Caroline and with their daughter Lilly enjoys serving in a local evangelical church in Chessington. Graeme is a trustee of two other charities and has a heart to serve the vulnerable in our society.

Meet the leadership team
at the heart of Keychange

Emma Foxall

Director of Strategic Partnerships

Emma joined Keychange as Director of Strategic Partnerships in September 2025. She brings over 15 years of experience in partnerships, strategy, and senior leadership across the public, private, and voluntary sectors, with a strong focus on health and social care.

Emma is married with three children and is an active member of St Paul’s Church in Brentford.

Meet the leadership team
at the heart of Keychange

Peter Clark

Facilities Business Manager
Peter joined Keychange as Business Support Manager in September 2011. He commenced his current Facilities Business Manager role in April 2018 and is responsible for Health and Safety, buildings maintenance and improvements, IT, central contracts and other facilities functions.Peter is married, lives in North London and attends a local church in Edmonton.

Meet the leadership team
at the heart of Keychange

Jeremy Simpson

Director of Finance
Jeremy Simpson has over 20 years of experience in finance and management roles across various sectors. As the Director of Finance for Keychange, he oversees financial performance, strategic planning, and systems development. His core competencies include financial management, system integration, and digital strategic leadership. Jeremy is committed to leading organisations through evolving environments, fostering team development, and contributing to successful mission outcomes.

Meet the leadership team
at the heart of Keychange

Maddy Thompson

Chair of Trustees
Maddy is the Chair of Keychange’s board of trustees. Like all the trustees, she applies her Christian faith to the oversight of the charity’s activities and resources in support of its aim to provide Christian care to vulnerable people.With over 40 years’ experience in the Social Care and Voluntary Sector, Maddy’s previous roles include 14 years at Skills for Care, first as Regional Manager for London and then National Programme Head for Standards, Learning and Qualifications. She is currently a consultant and coach in the Social Care and Voluntary Sector. Maddy also has extensive governance experience to chair level.As a Christian, she welcomes the opportunity to serve a charity that has a strong Christian ethos and history and to lead its team of highly skilled and committed trustees. She sees the trustee role as ensuring the charity continues to fulfil its mission, delivers high quality services and uses its resources well to both maintain, grow and develop its services. Maddy believes passionately in establishing caring and inclusive communities where everyone can be supported to live life how they wish and be involved in contributing to their home environment as well as to the surrounding neighbourhood. Whatever our stage in life, or circumstances, everyone has a part to play.

Meet the leadership team
at the heart of Keychange

Tim Cotterall

Interim Chair

Tim worked in commerce for over 30 years in the SME sector and has a particular interest in making sure that Keychange is able to “balance the books” at the end of each year so that it can continue to thrive and invest for the future. 

As a trustee, Tim is committed to using his skills to support Keychange for the future.  He finds it encouraging that, for over 100 years, Keychange has continued its mission – evolving from its original work with vulnerable women to now supporting both the elderly and the vulnerable.

He is particularly inspired by the Christian ethos at Keychange, with the organisation keeping to its Christian values and looking to God for guidance and wisdom. This ethos leads to an inclusive organisation for both staff and residents.

Tim spends a lot of time in the Lake District, plays the guitar (badly) and bass guitar (even more badly).  He is married to Liz and has two married daughters and four grandsons.

Meet the leadership team
at the heart of Keychange

Ian Bird

Trustee
Ian became a trustee in the middle of 2021 and is director of an architectural practice that specialises in social and private housing in London and the Midlands.He has been involved in several charities as a Trustee including a housing trust and a Christian charity offering help to the homeless and marginalised. This also provided opportunities to volunteer which gave an understanding of the huge problems faced by so many people, especially the homeless and asylum seekers.Ian lives in West London and as a committed Christian is involved with St Paul’s Ealing and he keeps active by joining with the church cycling group.

Meet the leadership team
at the heart of Keychange

Stefan Cantore

Trustee

Stefan has had the privilege of serving as a board member within the NHS as well as working with a wide range of public sector organisations to improve ways of working. Alongside this he has, until recently, lectured at university level specialising in organisational change.

As a trustee of several Christian charities, Stefan values the opportunity to share learning across organisations that seek to honour Jesus in their work and service. Stefan is inspired by the way Keychange places love for people at the heart of its work. Meeting community and staff members always lifts his spirits and reminds him of God’s love for people.  He finds being involved with Keychange inspiring as it seeks to show that love and care in practical ways and believes that it is a privilege to share in the work of Keychange in a small way.

As a trustee, Stefan brings insights from a wide-ranging career that has focussed on enhancing quality of care and supporting staff.  He seeks to encourage the board as they shape strategic direction and enable Keychange to be the best it can be.  His trustee role allows him to take a step back from day-to-day operational demands and offer support that keeps the bigger picture in mind.

Meet the leadership team
at the heart of Keychange

Nicholas Leggett

Trustee
Nick has a wealth of experience as a board member across health, housing and student unions and has served on boards since 2005. His full-time role is as a Church of England rector in Northamptonshire, where he has six small village churches.His board work began when he was elected onto the Benenden Health care board and become chairman of both the Friends and the Hospital trust. He helped with the hospital redevelopment project which was a £45 million investment and supported development of new services across the hospital including a new fertility centre. He also serves on a day care centre board in Cheam pushing forward the centre pension policy. In the housing sector he is a board member for Co-op homes which has around 1400 properties mostly under management and he also serves as Vice-chairman of the student union of The University of East London as an external trustee.Nick has undertaken a full range of training for this role e.g. with the Institute of Directors including gaining a Diploma in Management from Bridgwater and Taunton College and has attended conferences in both health and housing sectors.He also supports community work – when he was working in Coventry he helped to set up a local foodbank, job club, and the city-wide winter night shelter for the homeless. He also works with young people where he is a chaplain with both the Air Cadets and Army Cadets.His interests include rugby and steam railways.

Meet the leadership team
at the heart of Keychange

Rebecca Stockman

Trustee
Rebecca has a background in supported housing and now operates a consultancy that brings capacity to charities, churches and local authorities who are looking to create more homes for those in need.  She is passionate about the work of Keychange, since the mix of providing care and homelessness services, with faith at the heart, is such a powerful combination.

As a trustee for Keychange, Rebecca hopes to bring a perspective from a housing and development angle, and to work as a team alongside other trustees in both supporting the executive leadership and being a critical friend. Rebecca enjoys roller skating and baking bread – but not at the same time!

Meet the leadership team
at the heart of Keychange

Sarah Powley

Honorary Treasurer

Sarah is a qualified Chartered Accountant with over 13 years of experience at KPMG, where she worked across both the Audit and Mergers & Acquisition teams. She later moved into the charity sector to be the Finance and Risk Director at World Vision UK, followed by Finance Director for the Fostering Network. 

Over the years she has sought to combine her finance, leadership and strategic skills across paid and volunteer roles. She currently supports charity boards in a variety of capacities including Chair, Treasurer and Special Advisor. Her past and present board involvement includes organisations such as Rainbow Farm, Viva, Spurgeons Children’s Charity and the Evangelical Alliance. 

A finance professional, committed Christian, and a foster carer since 2015, Sarah is passionate about ensuring vulnerable young people, women, and the elderly feel supported and valued. She shares in the hope that Keychange can continue to broaden its reach and impact – delivering high-quality care and fostering thriving communities.

As Treasurer, Sarah plays a key role in ensuring that resources are stewarded wisely, supporting each Keychange community and helping the charity invest effectively for a sustainable future. During this exciting time of growth and development, she is committed to helping the leadership team and staff reach their full potential. 

Sarah currently fosters three brothers and as a result has developed a newfound knowledge of football, becoming a member of Brentford Football Club.

Meet the leadership team
at the heart of Keychange

Brad Cook

Trustee

Meet the leadership team
at the heart of Keychange

Glenda Roberts

Trustee

Glenda is a qualified and registered adult nurse with over 23 years of experience supporting young adults with complex needs and older adults in both third sector and private sector health and social care settings. She has dedicated her career to improving the lives of vulnerable people and currently serves as Director of Older People’s Services for The Salvation Army.

In her role at Keychange, Glenda brings in-depth knowledge and a working understanding of the challenges facing health and social care and is motivated to ensure Keychange is providing a high-quality service. Glenda is especially inspired by Keychange’s integration of faith-based principles into its care – creating a nurturing, supportive environment, dedicated to serving others selflessly – a core tenet of Christian values.

As a trustee, Glenda envisions her role as one of stewardship and advocacy, helping to ensure Keychange continues to thrive and make a positive difference in the lives of those it serves.  She enjoys being an active and engaged member of the board, contributing to the development and implementation of policies that enhance the quality of care provided, and aims to foster a culture of transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Glenda is a vegan and also a trustee of the charity “Vegetarian for Life” that supports older vegetarians and vegans to have their food and lifestyle choices respected throughout their lives. 

She cares for God’s creation through her love and care for animals, currently living with two horses, two dogs, two cats and two tortoises.  She “slow stitches” to support mindfulness, exhibiting and selling work to raise awareness and money for mental health charities.

Meet the leadership team
at the heart of Keychange

Annie Ho

Trustee

Annie brings to the Keychange board a strong foundation of Christian faith, and deep-rooted social work values, which shape and guide her contribution. With over 30 years of experience in local authority social care, she has developed expert knowledge of relevant legislation and social work skills in assessing and supporting adults and their families.

Her professional work includes safeguarding adults and court work, requiring close collaboration with statutory agencies in health and social care, as well as third sector organisations. Annie is passionate about using her skills and experience to support Keychange’s work with adults and families. She aims to help equip staff in their care and support roles, advising on systems and processes, and promoting an open learning culture whilst partnering effectively with stakeholders.

Annie is motivated by the core Christian values that underpin Keychange’s work. She is inspired by its long history and its ongoing evolution to not only meet individual care needs but also engage with the wider needs of local communities. She values the opportunity to bring faith-informed perspectives into discussions and decision-making, enriching the organisation’s purpose and vision.

As a trustee, Annie is committed to supporting the development of person-centred services that meet regulatory and legislative requirements. Her vision is to help drive Keychange’s continuing journey of co-producing services – working in partnership with individuals, families, staff, commissioners, other faith-based groups, and professional organisations.

Annie values curiosity and thinking about creative ways of doing things.  Walking and sketching help her to reflect and stay grounded.