Mayday welcomes Alex Fox OBE as new CEO

Mayday is excited to announce the appointment of Alex Fox OBE as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), joining the team in early 2022.

Alex brings considerable experience and joins Mayday from Shared Lives Plus, a UK membership charity for more than 6,000 Shared Lives carers, 150 Shared Lives schemes and a growing network of over 25 local Homeshare organisations. Shared Lives is one of the few strengths-based, person-led adult social care approaches to have scaled up to be truly UK-wide, reaching 15,000 people.

During Alex’s career he has welcomed and embraced systems change and strength-based working. He has been proactive in learning from people who use services and in 2018 published a book, Escaping the Invisible Asylum, which calls for a radical change in the relationships between people and the services and institutions within the Social Care sector. Alex is also Vice Chair of Think Local, Act Personal, a national partnership supporting the personalisation of care and support and a senior visiting fellow at Birmingham University. Having led a government review of health and care charities, he recently featured Mayday’s work in Meeting as Equals, a Royal Society of Arts/ National Council of Voluntary Organisations report on building ‘asset-based’ charities.

Alex takes over Mayday’s systems change mission from Pat McArdle, who led the organisation from 2010, before stepping down in August of this year.

Alex said: “Over the years, I’ve admired Mayday’s work and heard my inspirational predecessor Pat McArdle speak about the radical path that Mayday has taken. Mayday is one of only a few charities that I’ve seen truly live its radical values and be willing to be led by what people really want. Mayday has developed an approach to supporting people going through tough times which works, and which has the potential to reach thousands and transform a system which is broken for too many people. I’m excited to be joining such a unique a creative team of activists.”

Julie McEver, Chair of Mayday said: “The Board is thrilled to have been able to appoint Alex as CEO. We look forward to welcoming Alex and supporting him to evolve the work of Mayday and drive the mission forward.”

For more from Alex about joining the Mayday team please read his latest blog, Talking the Talk and Walking the Walk