Trustees

George Culmer

George was appointed as a Trustee in August 2024. George has over 20 years of experience of FTSE 100 boards and is currently Chair of Aviva and Senior Independent Director at Rolls-Royce. These appointments followed an executive career in Financial Services, which included serving as Chief Financial Officer at Lloyds Banking Group and at the insurance company RSA, as well as working and living in Switzerland and New Zealand. George is a Chartered Accountant and lives in Winchester.

Rowena Fell

A Trustee of the Army Benevolent Fund since July 2020, Rowena is a Senior Director at Boston Consulting Group in the Risk and Compliance practice, having previously led compliance for Technology and Operations in a major global financial institution and having held roles as a Global Operations Officer for Technology Risk (EY) and Intellectual Property Protection (Merck). In addition to serving on the board of the Army Benevolent Fund, Rowena is also a veteran ambassador for the Open University’s Disabled Veterans Scholarship Fund. Rowena served in the British Army between 1995 – 2007 and has extensive operational experience.

Caitlin Hayden

Caitlin Hayden joined the Board of Trustees in August 2024. She is currently the Group Communications Director for BAE Systems, where she oversees communications, engagement, and community investment for the global aerospace, defence, and security company.

Before BAE Systems, Caitlin held executive roles at the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and Edelman. She also served for 15 years in the US federal government, including as a Special Assistant to President Barack Obama, and Senior Director and Spokesperson for the National Security Council. Throughout her government career, she held various communications and policy assignments at the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Defense, including deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan.

She also sits on the Steering Committee for the U.S.-based Leadership Council for Women in National Security. Outside of work, she lives in London with her husband and daughter.

Major General (Ret’d) Chris Hughes CBE

Chris joined the Board in April 2022. He left the Army as a Major General in 2009, having served extensively on operations, both in command and on the staff. Subsequently he joined BAE Systems Inc and served in senior strategy positions before running a large business unit in the US. Most recently, Chris served as the Executive Chair of Veterans Scotland and is Vice Chair of Erskine, Scotland’s largest veterans’ charity.

David London

David became a Trustee of the Army Benevolent Fund in July 2020 and is also a member of the charity’s Grants Committee. He was called to the Bar in 1989 and subsequently served for five years with The Life Guards and for 11 years with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. He is a partner at Hakluyt & Company, a strategic advisory firm, where he has worked since 2008.

Amanda Metcalfe

Amanda has been a Trustee of the Army Benevolent Fund since November 2017. Amanda is the Marketing & Customer Experience Director for a commercial property management firm, having previously been Digital Marketing Director for Wm Morrison’s Supermarkets Plc. An experienced senior retail professional Amanda’s previous roles include UK Marketing Director for eBay, Head of Online Marketing at Sainsbury’s and Head of Customer Experience at Debenhams.

James Rous

A Trustee of the Army Benevolent Fund since November 2016, James was already familiar with the Charity having served for three years on the Finance & Investment Committee. James has also run the London Marathon for the Charity several times.  He served in the Coldstream Guards for twelve years and has been working in the investment management industry since 2004.  He provides Finance and Investment advice to the Board of Trustees.

Anthony Scott

Anthony joined the Board of Trustees in July 2019 following two years on the Fundraising and Marketing Committee. He is a Chartered FCSI and the Head of Business Development for Raymond James Investment Services. Anthony is responsible for the business development strategy as well as managing the business development team.

Prior to joining Raymond James Anthony spent 17 years at Charles Stanley, initially as a Private Client Investment Manager where the team managed and advised on, at its peak, over £500 million of clients’ investments. Latterly, Anthony was a main board director of Charles Stanley Group, with specific responsibility for the Private Client Investment Management division. Before working in the City, Anthony had been in the British Army which he left as a Captain and had then worked for seven years in the Far East for the Swire Group, as a Commercial and Marketing Manager in the Group’s Industries and Automotive divisions.

Anna Sedgley

Anna became a Trustee of the Army Benevolent Fund in August 2024 and is also a member of the charity’s Finance and Investment and Fundraising and Marketing Committees. She spent the majority of her executive career working in finance and operational positions in diverse media organisations, with experience in portfolio strategy, customer insight and analytics, M&A and corporate governance. Most recently she served as the CFO of Bauer Media Group based in Hamburg and previously as CFO & COO of Dow Jones, part of News Corporation, based in New York.  Anna also currently serves as a Board Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of Fiscalnote Inc, a company listed on the NY Stock Exchange, and as a fractional CFO for an animal charity, Happy Doggo. She is a qualified Chartered Accountant and lives in London.

Julie White

Julie has been ‘Vision 2025’ Campaign Director at the National Railway Museum and Locomotion, since 2019. She has over 25 years of business, communications, fundraising and marketing experience. She has held senior roles at The Leeds Hospitals Charitable Foundation, Bradford Grammar School  and Marie Curie, where she led on major donor fundraising, managing patrons and building development boards.  An enthusiastic charity and philanthropy networker, she is on the board of the North Yorkshire Business and Education Partnership, a not for profit social enterprise that promotes employment opportunities for young people. Julie comes from a military family with a father, brother and husband who have all served across the services. She lives in North Yorkshire and joined the Army Benevolent Fund Board of Trustees in July 2023.