Meet the team
Meet the people behind Give Us Time that help to keep the charity doing its work.
Founder
Rt Hon Sir Liam Fox
Served as Secretary of State for International Trade from 2016 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Defence from 2010 to 2011. Fox has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Somerset, formerly Woodspring, from 1992 until 2024. Sir Liam, who was knighted in the 2023 New Year’s Honours list, founded Give Us Time in response to the return of serving personnel from areas of conflict across the world, needing to spend quality time with their families.
Trustees
Chair - Matt Rogers
Matt been a trustee of the charity since 2018. During his time as trustee, he has played a vital role in our fundraising efforts and has helped raise tens of thousands of pounds for the charity. He became Chairman in May 2023, overseeing their most successful year in 2024 with over 250 families supported.
Richard Coombes
Richard joined Give Us Time as a Trustee in September 2023. He has a varied career, across a range of organisations and businesses, but always with a focus on strategy and delivering performance.
Jacqueline Ulrich
Jacqueline became a Trustee in January 2024, and brought with her a huge range of experience from the travel industry.
Phil Watson
Phil has been a part of Give Us Time since the start, serving as a Trustee for nearly 10 years, and brings almost 30 years experience and knowledge of the travel industry.
Sean Taylor
Sean was Chair of Trustees from 2019 – 2023, overseeing the post-pandemic recovery of the charity. The charity also won the Family Values Award at the Soldiering On Awards 2021, and Sean was also awarded the Points of Light Award for his work within the charity sector.
Katherine Kennedy
Katherine Kennedy joined Give Us Time as a trustee in September 2024. Katherine is a commercial and payments lawyer, with significant experience representing institutional payment service providers and technology businesses with a particular interest in FinTechs and DLT.
Andy White
Andy joined Give Us Time as a trustee in 2024. A former British Army SNCO, he completed multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. As both a husband and father during his service, Andy experienced the unique challenges military families face. This firsthand understanding fuels his strong support for the charity’s mission
Ambassadors
Penny Mordaunt
Penny is the Leader of the Commons and Lord President of the Council. In this role, she oversaw both the Accession Council following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the coronation of King Charles III. The daughter of a former paratrooper, Penny was a Royal Naval Reservist, and is now an Honorary Commander in the Royal Navy. Penny has been an ambassador for Give Us Time since 2019.
She has been a Royal Navy Reservist since 2009, completed officer training in 2013, and gained Honorary commission in 2019. She now holds the Honorary Rank of Captain
David Richmond CBE
David has a long association with the armed forces, having joined the Army in 2007. He is the most senior soldier to have been injured in Afghanistan. A former director of Help for Heroes and cabinet advisor, he is now the Chief Executive of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. David has been an ambassador for Give Us Time since 2020.
Scotty Darroch
Scotty was our first ambassador, joining Give Us Time in 2017. A former corporal in the Royal Logistic Corps, Scotty struggled with the transition to civilian life, resulting in a long battle against substance abuse. However, recovery was a respite break from Give Us Time.
Jess Sands
Jess is the founder of the MilSpo network, which supports over 1000 military spouses, partners and other halves to run their own businesses, as well as her own design business and running the podcast series The InDependent Spouse®. Jess is a current military spouse, as her husband serves in the RAF, and is passionate about helping others in our Armed Forces community.
Damien Cahill
Damien currently works as a senior payments executive. He previously worked in law enforcement for many years, and told us, “I deployed on protracted and hazardous operations which took me away from my family and have many friends who have deployed on OP Telic (Iraq) and OP Herrick (Afghanistan). I have seen, first hand, the impact that these deployments had on their families
James Pearson
James served as a Trustee for Give Us Time for 9 years, until 2023, and helped to steer the charity through the early years of its development and the challenges of Covid-19.
He is an Army Reservist, serving as the Officer Commanding 33 Signals Squadron, as well as a Councillor for East Cheshire Council, and a busy dad to four children.
Major Zabina Zmitrowicz
Zabina is graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in May 2010 and was then commissioned into the Royal Logistic Corps in April 2011. After a posting Germany and deployments to Northern Ireland, Afghanistan and Cyprus, Zabina is now a Major and assign is as the Executive Officer of the University of London Officer Training Corps. Zabina was also a beneficiary of a Give Us Time break in 2019 and has gone on to fundraise for us by completing the London Marathon.
Andrew Howe
Andrew is currently Executive Chair of Largo Leisure, and was previously Founder and CEO of Bridge Leisure. Andrew has been an ambassador for Give Us Time since 2021.
Team
Rupert Forrest
Alex Youngs
Alex is our Operations Director, who has been with Give Us Time since 2018. He steered the charity through the challenges of Covid-19 and continues to push the charity to evolve and adapt for the future. He has overseen their most successful period, overseeing them sending record number of families away.
Jen Parsons
Joined Give Us Time in June 2023. With a background in local government and the charitable sector, Jen has brought more than 25 years of admin and organisational skills, and a creative approach to problem solving. She grew up in Lincolnshire, surrounded by RAF bases, and as an RAF spouse for nearly 20 years, and a mum of an 9-year-old, she understands the issues our Forces families face.
Patron – Lady Kitty Spencer
Lady Kitty has been a supporter of Give Us Time since 2015, and Patron since 2018. She is the eldest daughter of Earl Spencer and Victoria Lockwood. She was born in England and raised in South Africa. Having studied Psychology and English Literature in South Africa, Kitty then studied Art History and Italian in Florence. On returning to the UK, she completed her Masters in Luxury Brand Management, at Regents University, undertaking a Consultancy at The Financial Times as part of her Masters degree. Lady Kitty is an Ambassador and Trustee for the Military charity Give us Time and also for Centrepoint.
