The Clock Tower Sanctuary (CTS), a charity that supports young people experiencing homelessness in Brighton & Hove, has welcomed new CEO Fabia Bates.
Fabia Bates, who replaces Frances Duncan who leaves CTS following six and a half years as CEO, brings over 20 years of experience in Brighton’s community and voluntary sector including at Survivors’ Network and Community Works. She also has experience as both trustee and chair at two local charities – the Trust for Developing Communities, which supports communities facing poverty and exclusion, and Hummingbird Project, which supports young refugees and asylum seekers.
Fabia Bates said: “I’m delighted to be joining the wonderful team at CTS. I’ve lived in Brighton for nearly 25 years and am acutely aware of the impact of their work, and how vital it has become in recent years. I’m looking forward to working with the staff, volunteers, partners and of course the young people, to continue to ensure a safe, supportive and positive space for the young homeless community in the city.”
Fabia’s appointment follows the publication of the charity’s 2023 Impact Report, which saw their demand for services increase year on year. More clients were sleeping rough in the final quarter of 2023 than ever before, up from 9% to 25%, with more than 2,500 individual visits made to the charity’s day centre by 133 individual young people last year.
Fundraising remains crucial to deliver these services as the charity receives no statutory funding. Despite it being one of the most challenging years for fundraising, CTS was able to generate over £48,000 from its 2023 Christmas Appeal, which will fund the drop-in service for two months.
Frances Duncan, who is leaving CTS as CEO to work on new projects, said: “We couldn’t help any of our homeless young clients without the incredible support of everyone who donates, supports, volunteers and helps us raise these crucial funds – so thank you to everyone who supported us in 2023.”
Frances added: “This has been the best job and I’m absolutely delighted that I can handover to Fabia Bates who is taking over as CEO. She’s incredible and brings many talents including a strategic outlook, strong partnership capabilities, relevant networks, and an ability to get things done. All are essential as the charity strives to make homelessness for young people a rare, brief and non-recurring event.”
Alex Rees, chair of trustees, added: “I’m so pleased that Fabia Bates is joining as the new CEO at CTS – she has incredible experience of dealing with issues that this city faces and she’s the perfect person to help us deal with the many challenges that we face to ensure we continue delivering the support that our young people need.”
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