Rita Chadha will step down as the chief executive of the Small Charities Coalition at the end of September, she announced today.
Chadha has been chief executive of the SCC for two years, having stepped into the role initially part-time in July 2019 before stepping up to full-time the following September.
In an email to members of the umbrella body, she said her “thinking and views” had changed during her time in the role and that she wanted to return to a frontline campaigning role.
Chadha previously spent 11 years as chief executive of the Refugee and Migrant Forum of Essex and London and for most of her career has worked for small community organisations.
She is expected to announce her next move shortly.
In her message to members, Chadha said: “My decision has not been an easy one, but after two extraordinary and wonderful years, my own thinking and views have changed tremendously and I am eager to return to a more frontline campaigning role addressing some of the very real and urgent challenges of our time.”
She said there would be no slowing down in her final months at the SCC, and she and the “fantastic team” of trustees and staff would be working earnestly over the summer to ensure the organisation’s work remained responsive to small charities’ needs.
“As I prepare to return to the front line I am really proud to say that all the new organisations I will be working for and with are proud to be small,” she said.
She went on to thank SCC members for their energy, enthusiasm, commitment and said she would “always be in awe of the work of small charities and the generosity and passion of SCC members”.
She said: “The kindness of members during the last year will remain with me for the rest of my life.”
Chadha also announced that in her final month she would be undertaking the 100km Thames Pathway Challenge walk in aid of the SCC and urged anyone interested in joining her to get in touch.