Richard Kramer, chief executive of the disability charity Sense, will retire next year.
He joined the charity as deputy chief executive in 2013 before being promoted to the top job in 2018.
Sense said Kramer, who has also worked for organisations including Mencap and Turning Point, had “led the charity through a period of growth to support thousands more children and adults with complex disabilities and their families”.
He plans to retire at the end of January and relocate to Cornwall, where he has been appointed a non-executive director of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust.
Justin Molloy, chair of Sense, said Kramer had been an “outstanding chief executive” who had built a “strong and value-based culture with the wellbeing of employees, volunteers and the individuals we support at its core”.
Molloy said of Kramer: “He has driven the charity forward on many fronts and has steered us through Covid-19 and the cost-of-living crisis. He leaves the charity in a very strong position.”
Kramer said he had thought long and hard about his decision but felt it was the right time to step down.
“I’ve had a wonderful and stimulating career at Sense,” he said. “I have absolutely loved everything about it, working with the individuals we support, and our staff and volunteers.
“I love our cause, our ambition and our successes. I would never have dreamed of being the chief executive of Sense and it’s been a complete joy and privilege. I have learned so much about myself through the children, adults and families we support.”
He said that retiring would give him more time to spend with his partner and it would be “our time to really dance with life”.