Brighton & Hove Homeless Charity appoints social visionary as new CEO

Highly respected national charity, social entrepreneur and faith leader is appointed new CEO of Brighton & Hove's Off The Fence Trust

The Board of Trustees at Off The Fence are delighted to introduce our new CEO, Reverend Julio Abraham, most recently the CEO of Derby City Mission.

Julio is a leader and entrepreneur with an extensive experience in charity leadership, social enterprise and business. He has global leadership experience, a Masters in Theology and a strong commercial background.

Most importantly for the City’s disadvantaged, he has a flair for business planning in the Third Sector, working with wealthy individuals, venture capitalists, grant making trusts, government, banks and business. For the past 6 years he has worked as CEO of the homeless charity Derby City Mission, taking it from a turnover of £250k to £1.3M, extending the staff roll from 3 to over 30. Julio is eager to move to Brighton & Hove, “The City has a national reputation for care, compassion and creating futures for some of the most vulnerable people in the community. This work has inspired me over the years and I am eager to collaborate with other groups in the City to contribute my experience and passion to this task.”

Julio will join Off The Fence on 7^th August and work alongside founders Paul and Wendy during a transition period which will ensure a managed handover for the benefit of clients, partners and funders.

Starting with an annual budget in 1997 of just £3k, Reverend Paul Young and his wife Wendy have directed Off The Fence through community leadership, visionary development and structured growth. Paul Young commented, “For 26 years Off The Fence has tackled both the root causes and the effects of emotional and physical poverty; walked alongside those most impacted; providing practical support, directing our efforts to where they are most needed. Its mission hasn’t changed in that time. If anything, it has become more urgent than ever. At its core is ‘Resisting poverty. Empowering people. Restoring hope.’ Julio shares this sense of mission. The charity is in good hands.”

During Paul’s tenure, there have been significant achievements. At the height of the pandemic, the Charity raised over £500,000 to purchase and extend the Gateway Women’s Centre in Portslade. Since 1997 It has raised and spent £9 million to support local projects. Over 700 rough sleepers, 120 vulnerable women and 13,000 schoolchildren via in-school support come into contact with the charity each year.