Founder and CEO of Action Foundation Julian Prior has announced he will be stepping down from his role at the helm of the charity he created 16 years ago to support refugees and asylum seekers in Tyne and Wear.

Julian plans to transition into a role of advocacy and policy change, as well as working as a consultant to give smaller charities the benefit of his experience in the sector. He will remain working at Action Foundation until August to allow plenty of time for a replacement to be recruited.

‘Fantastic team and inspiring beneficiaries’

The award-winning charity leader said: “The charity is in a stable place financially and has strong senior management and board leadership that makes me confident that now is a good time to make this change.”

“I am immensely proud of all that we have been able to achieve together through Action Foundation over the years. Leading this charity has been one of the greatest privileges of my life working with such a fantastic team of staff, volunteers and trustees on behalf of so many inspiring beneficiaries.”

‘Exciting possibilities’

He went on to explain: “I want to have more capacity and flexibility to see if I can use my experience to influence and challenge some of the concerning reforms to the asylum system that the Home Office are considering over the next few years. I believe that there will be a number of opportunities to bring some fresh, pragmatic, grass-roots thinking to these issues, both at a local as well as national level and so I am exploring some exciting possibilities to work as a freelance consultant in this space. I am also keen to support other smaller charities in the areas of fundraising, strategic, business and leadership development.”

David Lyall, Chair of the Board of Trustees expressed his profound thanks to Julian for his leadership over the years and wished him every success for the future. He added: “I’m also delighted that Julian will remain at the helm in the coming months whilst we go through a thorough recruitment process for a new Chief Executive, and to ensure a smooth handover takes place.”

‘Business as usual’

“The message to all of our funders, partners and stakeholders is that for Action Foundation it’s business as usual. Which of course means continuing to adapt and change in our fast-moving world. I’ve been so impressed by the way the Action Foundation Team, in partnership with you our funders and supporters, have adapted to the many challenges of Covid. I’m thrilled that our housing, language and community services are going from strength to strength and continuing to provide a range of vital services to our beneficiaries, many of whom are facing huge challenges with tremendous courage and resilience.”

If you would like to contact Julian please email him at [email protected]

If you are interested in the role of CEO please get in touch at [email protected]

A full transcript of Julian’s video message

I want to let you know that I have taken the very difficult decision to step down from my role as CEO of Action Foundation after 16 years of leading the charity. There are a number of factors that have influenced this decision that I would like to share with you.

Firstly, I want to have more capacity and flexibility to see if I can use my experience to influence and challenge some of the concerning reforms to the asylum system that Home Office are considering over the next few years. I believe that there will be a number of opportunities to bring some fresh, pragmatic, grass-roots thinking to these issues, both at a local as well as national level and so I am exploring some exciting possibilities to work as a freelance consultant in this space. I am also keen to support other smaller charities in the area’s of fundraising, strategic, business and leadership development.

Secondly, I think that Action Foundation would benefit from a new CEO with a different skills mix for this next phase, to ensure that the growth we have experienced is sustainable for the long-term and that we fully embed the excellent work that is underway to strengthen our infrastructure and support systems.

It is also very important to me that the timing of any transition of leadership minimises the risk to Action Foundation’s future stability and success. The charity is in a stable place financially and has strong senior management and board leadership that makes me confident that now is a good time to make this change. I have been discussing this with the Board of Trustees for several months and I am enormously grateful to them and particularly our Chair of Trustees, David Lyall for the way they have so pro-actively and positively supported me in thinking through this difficult decision and its implications for the charity.

To ensure a smooth transition we have agreed that I will not be leaving until the end of August which should give enough time for a new CEO to be recruited and in post to have a thorough hand-over.

I am immensely proud of all that we have been able to achieve together through Action Foundation over the years. Leading this charity has been one of the greatest privileges of my life working with such a fantastic team of staff, volunteers and trustees on behalf of so many inspiring beneficiaries. This is a decision that I have given much thought and prayer to and feels like another leap of faith into the unknown, very similar to the one I took 16 years ago when starting the charity. However, like then, I am convinced that God has been leading me in this decision and I believe that he has spoken to me (through my experience as a parent) about the need to let go, in order for the charity (much like my children) to reach greater maturity. Therefore, I am confident that we will find the right person to succeed me to take Action Foundation on to even greater things in the future.

Please do get in touch if you would like to know any more information about any of this as I realise it may raise questions that you might want to chat about which I am very happy to do.

Finally thank you so much for your interest and support over the years and I hope you will continue to support this vital work as it continues under new leadership.