Cumbria Deaf Association has promoted its general manager Caroline Howsley to chief executive amid plans to expand its organisation.

Howsley had been general manager of the charity for the last two years and has overseen a doubling of its staff from five to ten and “further appointments are expected”, according to the Association.

This includes employing two more sign language interpreters, a family and youth officer and a care coordinator.

“We’re delighted to have appointed Caroline as CEO,” said the charity’s chair Charlie Allgrove.

“Since joining us, not only has she guided us through the uncertainty of the pandemic, but also stabilised the business and has a clear strategic vision for increasing our services in 2023 and beyond.

“She’s also ensured that she’s participated in activities with the deaf community throughout Cumbria and has raised the profile and visibility of the organisation as a result.

“We are looking forward to engaging with more of the community under her leadership.”

In announcing her appointment as CEO the charity said that when she joined as general manager the charity was “suffering from a lack of consistent leadership, as well as from reduced donations and revenue due to the pandemic”.

Work by Howsley as general manager has included improving the charity’s governance and raising the charity’s profile locally.

“When I joined there were concerns around whether CDA really was a going concern or not,”
said Howsley.

“We analysed every single payment that came in and out and where it came from, what we were paying for, what contracts we had, and we cleared everything that was unnecessary.

“We stripped it right back down to the basics and from there it enabled us to really look at what we want and what we need.”

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