Announcement from the Chair of the Board of Trustees at MVA

The Chair, Peter Stokes, has reluctantly announced the retirement of Jane Howard who has been the charity’s highly successful CEO for the past 12 years.

In his announcement, Peter added: “Jane has been an exceptional leader who has done much to raise the profile of MVA and the local Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise and Faith (VCSEF) sector in Medway and beyond.

He went on to say “Thanks to Jane’s stewardship, MVA has done some amazing work over recent years supporting the VCSEF and, at the same time, delivering projects providing direct support to communities in Medway and Kent.

Our marvellous team of staff and volunteers work tirelessly to give of their best and have a deep sense of commitment to Medway’s voluntary sector and its communities.”

Jane added “It is with mixed feelings that I am announcing that after 12 very happy years of being the CEO at MVA, I have decided to retire to spend more time with my family – three grandchildren can be a time-consuming business! I have worked with some wonderful people and great organisations.”

MVA is a great organisation, doing some amazing work supporting the VCSEF sector, and delivering projects in direct support of communities in Medway. It has been a real privilege to lead MVA during this time. I am confident that the new CEO will take MVA from strength to strength, and continue to work with integrity maintaining MVA's values at the heart of delivery".

Peter stressed that: “Central to the success of our work is the partnerships we have built with organisations in the VCSEF and, equally as important, the statutory sector. At MVA we firmly believe that the local VCSEF is stronger due to the successful working partnerships it has with Medway Council, Swale Borough Council, Medway and Swale Health and Care Partnership and Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board. Working together with these organisations Jane and her team have helped resolve various issues experienced by some of the most disadvantaged in our communities."

He went on to say: “We will be seeking a highly driven individual with a passion for empowering communities, strategic and innovative thinking, and a commitment to strengthening the Voluntary, Community, Social Enterprise and Faith (VCSEFF) sector. We hope to appoint someone to the post who has experience of sourcing funding. This is essential if we are to continue to deliver high-quality services direct to local people and communities in support of the VCSEF sector.

We need to develop and enhance services to ensure the continued success of MVA’s innovative approach to direct service delivery. We are particularly looking for someone with experience of developing commercial services that will augment and complement grants and contracts from the public sector. We need to fully exploit the brilliant range of knowledge, skills and experience that our staff and volunteers have built up over recent years.”

Peter added: “We would like to recruit to the post as soon after the end of May 2025 as possible but recognise that we may not be able to do so within such a limited timetable, hence this announcement. Rather than embark on a protracted recruitment process we are firstly inviting interest from individuals who think they have the required experience".

Further information and a job description can be obtained by emailing me at peter@mva.org.uk. We intend to keep this informal recruitment process open just to the end of April so anyone interested should act quickly; even if you may not be able to start until after the end of May.