The AFF Trustees

01   The AFF Trustees

The Trustees are the governing body of the Army Families Federation. Their role is to ensure that the Army Families Federation succeeds in its core business of being the voice of the Army family. The Board of Trustees has the legal responsibility for the overall management, decision-making and performance of the Charity.

The role of the Trustee is voluntary and unpaid.

The Trustees bring a wide range of skills and experience to the Army Families Federation. The Board consists of a Chair of Trustees and Trustees.

In addition, the AFF Trustees:

• Ensure that AFF:
  • Has a clear vision, strategic objectives and plans to achieve them
  • Performs according to its strategic objectives
  • Complies with all legal and statutory requirements
  • Governance complies with best practice
  • Policies and procedures reflect best practice

• Provide an account of the activities of the charity to the Charity Commission, making sure that any change to the registered details are kept up to date, and submit its annual report and accounts to the Charity Commission

Abigail Boyle, Chair of the Board of Trustees

Abbie is a charity CEO, leading the team at Waterloo Uncovered, a ground-breaking charity that supports the care and recovery of veterans and serving military personnel through archaeology. She has a keen interest in wellbeing and inclusion, working specifically on social change programmes.

Prior to this Abbie was a career diplomat, at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. With 20 years’ experience in international relations, specialising in conflict, this included overseas postings to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and Iraq amongst others. Throughout her diplomatic career, Abbie worked regularly alongside the Armed Forces in operational theatres. She is also a former Royal Naval Reservist.

Abbie is an Army spouse and mother, amateur triathlete and proficient linguist, who enjoys travelling with her family.

Mark (Ru) Watkins, Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees

Ru has been involved in major transformation programmes across Defence, health and the third sector. While in the Army, he saw service overseas with the MOD and was Chief of Staff at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM).

On leaving the Army, he moved into director roles at both BT and AO as well as running his own consultancy.

Since then, he has been Chief Executive at Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice where he led a £13 million campaign to create a new hospice building – The Ark – to serve north and central London. He also led St Elizabeth Hospice in Suffolk through COVID-19 and he is now Chief Executive at Hamelin Trust.

He is a strategic advisor to the Care Quality Commission and a Board member at the University Hospitals Birmingham Charity.

He is a keen open water swimmer and spends as much time as possible with his family and two Labradors walking and enjoying the coast of the UK.

James Banks, Trustee

James is the Head of External Communications for Rolls-Royce, Civil Aerospace.

James served as an officer in the Royal Artillery, deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan, where on his last tour he was a Fire Support Team commander attached to 3 SCOTS, The Black Watch.

After leaving the Army in 2010, James embarked on a career in journalism, working for BFBS, Sky News and ITV News as a TV reporter, before moving into corporate communications in 2015.

Since then, he has brought his extensive media relations and journalist experience to his work for Network Rail, Barclays, HSBC, AECOM and Rolls-Royce.

His support and interest in the Armed Forces have continued throughout his civilian career. Although he covered a wider variety of stories as a journalist, many had a defence focus, including reporting from Afghanistan, Kenya and Sierra Leone. He regularly raises funds for military charities through sporting endeavours such as running the London Marathon and London to Paris cycle rides.

James is married to an Army Reservist, has one son and lives in Oxfordshire. He can often be spotted at the weekends either trying to persuade his son to play rugby or cycling over the Chilterns looking for a nice coffee shop.

Paul Collard, Trustee

Paul is a partner at Deloitte and leads Deloitte’s Defence Consulting business. He is a Chartered Management Accountant and, after a career in the Army, was the Head of Finance at the National Asylum Support Service before joining Deloitte in 2006.

He has worked has extensively across Defence on some of its biggest programmes. During his Army career he served around the world including in Germany, Canada, Hong Kong and Northern Ireland, moving 16 times in 20 years.

He is a passionate supporter of the Armed Forces and keen to help deliver better outcomes for all serving personnel.

Paul is married with two children and lives in Redhill in Surrey. He enjoys running, football, sailing and rugby, and needs to do more reading!

Julia Rogers, Trustee

Julia is now a happy retiree but her career began in the Army where she was in the first platoon of women to live in and pass out of Sandhurst.

After her nine years of military service, she worked in the retail, construction and service sectors. Latterly she was the Managing Director of Justice and Immigration at Serco and then Chief Operating Officer for the UK Division.

Julia now does pro bono work helping small companies with their strategy and growth ambitions. Passionate about inclusion and diversity, she also led the Women’s Network at Serco.

Julia lives in the Lancashire hills with her husband Phil and their two bearded collies and enjoys walking, travel, rugby, good food and wine and all things equestrian.

Nicola Scarr, Trustee

Nikki is a Global HR Leader for medical devices company BVI. She’s a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and brings a diverse background in international HR, leadership and development.
Nikki has almost two decades of experience of Army life, serving in the Adjutant General’s Corps (Staff and Personnel Support). She is also an Army spouse and mother.

Having faced the unique challenges and sacrifices of Army life from both a service persons and a spouse’s perspective, Nikki is passionate about improving the lives of Army families, wherever they are located.

In her spare time Nikki enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, and exploring the UK in her campervan Teddy.

02   Annual Reports

AFF Annual Report 2022-23
AFF Impact Report 2021-22
AFF Annual Report 2021-22
AFF Annual Report 2020-21
AFF Annual Report 2019-20
AFF Annual Report 2018-19