Volunteering in 2025 and Beyond - Speakers

Emily Hughes has worked in the voluntary sector since 2005, with a particular focus on empowering volunteers to contribute to the sector.

She held strategic volunteer management roles at the National Autistic Society and Parkinson’s UK.

She is passionate about what organisations of all sizes contribute to the sector and spent 2010 volunteering in Zambia with VSO, supporting a community organisation to work effectively with volunteers.

She is also a trustee of AVERT, a small international HIV/AIDS charity based in Brighton. Since 2016 Emily has been Head of Volunteer Experience at Girlguiding, leading a department that takes a partnership approach to supporting 75,000 volunteers to deliver great experiences to girls across the UK. She has a Masters in Voluntary Sector Management from Cass Business School (now Bayes).

Rob Jackson is Director of Rob Jackson Consulting Ltd, a consultancy and training company that helps engage and inspire people to bring about change.

Rob has almost 30 years experience working in the voluntary and community sector, holding a variety of strategic development and senior management roles that have
focused on leading and engaging volunteers.

Rob has run his company since 2011 working with a wide range of clients in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the USA and Canada.

Rob is co-author of The Complete Volunteer Management Handbook (DSC, 2012 and 2019) and From The Top Down - UK Edition (Energize Inc., 2015)

Martin O'Neill is Head of Marketing for Rosterfy, a leading provider of volunteer management solutions. He leverages his extensive experience in digital marketing, brand strategy, and customer engagement to enhance Rosterfy's position in the industry.

Martin is passionate about building communities and connecting people to causes. He regularly hosts webinars and podcasts on the subject of volunteer management and empowerment through technology.

Laura Elson is a Strategic Volunteering Consultant, supporting volunteer-involving organisations with bespoke research and strategy development.

With 20 years’ experience in volunteer management, Laura has held volunteer leadership roles at England Netball and Parkinson’s UK. She has worked in volunteer involvement roles across a range of settings, including a busy Volunteer Centre, several prisons, a Students’ Union, a regional sport association and several grassroots community organisations.

She has Master’s in Strategic Charity Marketing and Fundraising from the Centre for Charity Effectiveness and has led AVM’s volunteer strategy masterclass for the past four years.

Helen works as a Consultant, Researcher and Coach across people and organisational development. Much of her work involves supporting organisations to develop successful strategies for volunteer and employee engagement, and to work through change. Past clients including Guide Dogs, Stroke Association, Girlguiding, Royal Voluntary Service, Scouts and SSAFA. Helen previously held the roles of Director of People and Organisational Development at Samaritans and Versus Arthritis. Prior to this she was Director of Volunteering and Participation at the National Trust, where she appointed the organisation’s first Head of Diversity and Inclusion.

Helen’s PhD explored geographical variations in volunteering. She has an MBA, is a chartered member of the CIPD and holds an MSc in Coaching and Behavioural Change.

As a volunteer Helen has been a parkrun Event Director, a member of the HR Advisory Committee for Amnesty International UK and a Director of the Association of Volunteer Managers. She is currently Co-Chair of Dogs for Good, a Trustee for Abortion Talk, and volunteers for The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) and in her local National Trust shop.

My name is Eddie (he/him) and I am the National Volunteer Manager for Healthcare & Fundraising at Sue Ryder.

I have been with Sue Ryder for almost 8 years, starting as a volunteer in retail and working my way up to the Volunteer Manager throughout my GCSEs, A-Levels and university studies.

My passion is in EDI and ensuring we are offering the best and most accessible volunteering opportunities to marginalised communities in the areas we operate. I love being able to see the national work we produce being implemented on a local level, and the difference it makes to volunteers in our centres and communities.