Youth charity appoints former civil servant as next CEO

Young people’s charity Youth Options has appointed Madeleine Durie as its next chief executive.

Durie is a former senior civil servant, with stints at the National Apprenticeship Service as director of policy and funding and as private secretary to David Blunkett, when he was the Labour government’s education and employment secretary.

Prior to joining Hampshire based Youth Options Durie was chief executive at Minstead Trust, a learning disability charity based in the New Forest.

Durie takes over from Mark Dixon who has retired.

“Following a competitive recruitment process, the Board of Trustees were very pleased to appoint Madeleine to this role,” said Youth Options chair Caroline Horrill.

“I’d like to congratulate her on her appointment and we are looking forward to working with her, and her team, to make a real difference to young people’s lives in the region.”



Durie added: “The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the impact of living through a pandemic for young people, and our work is needed now more than ever to help build young people’s emotional well-being and help them to re-engage in learning and society as a whole.

“I will be working with a great team to develop an exciting new strategy and hope to build and grow our supporters to help us achieve this goal.

“Our belief is that every young person can reach their potential and make a valuable contribution to society with the right support and engagement. Our youth workers are there to make that a reality.”

    Share Story:

Recent Stories


Charity Times video Q&A: In conversation with Hilda Hayo, CEO of Dementia UK
Charity Times editor, Lauren Weymouth, is joined by Dementia UK CEO, Hilda Hayo to discuss why the charity receives such high workplace satisfaction results, what a positive working culture looks like and the importance of lived experience among staff. The pair talk about challenges facing the charity, the impact felt by the pandemic and how it's striving to overcome obstacles and continue to be a highly impactful organisation for anybody affected by dementia.
Charity Times Awards 2023

Mitigating risk and reducing claims
The cost-of-living crisis is impacting charities in a number of ways, including the risks they take. Endsleigh Insurance’s* senior risk management consultant Scott Crichton joins Charity Times to discuss the ramifications of prioritising certain types of risk over others, the financial implications risk can have if not managed properly, and tips for charities to help manage those risks.

* Coming soon… Howden, the new name for Endsleigh.