We are delighted to announce that Chris Poole has joined Active Prospects as Chair of the Board. Chris takes over from Owen Vallis, who has been Chair since 2018 but recently relocated to Bahrain. Owen has agreed to remain on the Board until his term ends in 2023.
Chris is Director of Business Development for national care provider Sanctuary Care, with responsibility for sales, marketing, contracts, business transformation, strategy, development, and the commissioning of new care homes. Chris joined Sanctuary in 2017 with previous experience in adult social care with both for-profit and not-for-profit providers. With Sanctuary Care’s continued expansion Chris is focused on developing scalable processes and platforms that will support growth without compromising quality.
Having previously worked in a number of other sectors including international development, marketing, sales and engineering management he brings a breadth of experience to the sector.
In his spare time Chris was chief executive of a small community charity, Karis Neighbour Scheme in Ladywood, Birmingham for several years where a dynamic model of community support and health integration, including social prescribing, was developed. By working closely with the local GPs and other agencies a bespoke range of services provided targeted support to the local community.
Chris said: “I could see the tremendous benefit Active Prospects brings to everyone it supports and how central the people they support are to all the staff do. The vision of enabling people to live aspiring lives is inspiring and something I wanted to support, and so it’s a privilege to be able to do what I can to help achieve this goal.”
Maria Mills, Chief Executive, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Chris to Active Prospects as Chair of the Board. Chris brings a depth of knowledge and experience of the care sector, which will help to shape and deliver our mission of enabling people to lead Aspiring Lives. It was clear from the interview process that Chris shares the Active Prospects values, and I and the rest of the executive team are looking forward to working with him over the coming months and years.
I’d also like to thank Owen Vallis for the immense contribution he has made to the growth and development of Active Prospects over the last four years, and I’m grateful that he will continue to be part of the team for a while longer.”
