NCT announces new President and Trustees and celebrates impact at 2025 Annual General Meeting

NCT, the National Childbirth Trust, is pleased to announce the election of its new President and Trustees following the charity’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday 19 November.

Elected by NCT members, the new and re-elected Trustees bring a wealth of experience, passion, and commitment to improving the experiences of new and expectant parents across the UK.

NCT Members elected Elizabeth Duff to become NCT President, as well as three Trustees, Sherry Bevan (who was re-elected), Colin Cassidy, and Keshia Firth.

There are now 11 Trustees on the Board to govern and lead the charity and ensure it delivers its five-year strategy to be there for every parent in pregnancy, birth and early parenthood.

Newly elected NCT President, Elizabeth Duff, said:

“I am honoured to have been chosen by NCT Members to represent the charity.

“NCT plays a vital role in UK society. Every day, I see our community of practitioners, volunteers, peer supporters and staff working together to give pregnant women and parents more positive experiences and outcomes throughout pregnancy, birth and early parenthood. That is what motivates me - to work with the Board of Trustees and the Leadership Team to make things better for every parent and every birth.

“At a time when maternity, neonatal and postnatal services are under real strain, NCT’s support for parents is more important than ever. There is still much to do to ensure parents’ voices and experiences shape the future of the UK’s maternity services.

“I would also like to thank Sherry Bevan, our outgoing NCT President. She represented and supported NCT with great commitment through some exceptionally challenging years, not least during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her leadership helped ensure the charity not only survived but continued to thrive.” 

Joëlle Warren MBE, NCT Chair, said: 

"I am pleased to announce that Elizabeth Duff has been elected as NCT’s new President. Elizabeth has dedicated her career to supporting women and parents and is a long-standing supporter and former staff member of NCT. She brings valuable experience and insight to the role, and we warmly welcome her to the Board and look forward to working with her.

“I would also like to thank everyone who voted in this year’s Trustee elections. Member participation is an important part of our charity governance, and we appreciate your continued commitment to NCT.”

Outgoing NCT President, Sherry Bevan, who has also been re-elected as a Trustee, added:

“I’m delighted that Elizabeth has been elected as NCT President. She will be fabulous and is such a well-respected figure within our community. I look forward to working alongside her on the Board of Trustees.”

Alongside the elections, members came together to celebrate the charity’s impact across 2024/25 and hear about NCT’s progress on its five-year For Every Parent strategy. 

Charity impact highlights 24/25:

• The charity supported nearly 180,000 people in person last year, and millions more online.
• Last year more than 3,000 volunteers gave over 77,000 hours of their time to support local parents. Their efforts enabled over 80,000 people to attend over 6,000 community events, and thousands more parents were supported through our perinatal peer support programmes, such as NCT Parents in Mind.
• Volunteers offer peer support, coordinate local community groups, lead walking groups, run our NCT Nearly New Sales, crochet baby blankets, co-ordinate baby first aid classes, pack toiletries bags for new parents and run marathons as part of #TeamNCT.
• Our award-winning antenatal classes continued to see incredibly positive feedback, with 94% of participants rating them good or excellent, and 95% of people staying in touch with those they’ve met.
• NCT achieved the Patient Information Forum’s (PIF) accreditation tick for our online information – helping parents know that the content on our website is trustworthy, inclusive and evidence-based.
• In an ongoing cost of living crisis, we helped thousands of parents access free and affordable supplies through our NCT Baby Bundles and NCT Nearly New Sales
• We continued to support new parents with infant feeding – through our free to access Infant Feeding Line, at NCT Baby Cafes and through dedicated infant feeding sessions in our antenatal courses. Almost 20,000 parents were supported through our breastfeeding peer support programmes by over 700 peers.

See NCT’s 24/25 Annual Report and Accounts.

About the newly elected President and Trustees

Elizabeth Duff, NCT President

An NCT member since her first pregnancy in the 1980s, Elizabeth has worked in voluntary, representative and staff roles for the charity. For 15 years Elizabeth was NCT’s Senior Policy Adviser, before in 2024 leaving to pursue other interests, including qualifying as a walking tour guide in the London Borough of Camden, where she lives.

Elizabeth has held posts as Editor of the Royal College of Midwives’ journal; Communications Manager at the International Confederation of Midwives; and Executive Director of the Iolanthe Midwifery Trust, alongside voluntary roles including trustee of the New End School charitable trust; chair of the local Community Health Council; and vice-chair of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Women’s Network.

Her two daughters and two grandsons also live in London and she counts herself lucky to be able to spend regular time with all of them and remaining closely in touch with today’s challenges and opportunities for parents.

The new Trustees

Sherry Bevan, Trustee

Sherry qualified as an NCT Breastfeeding Counsellor in 2010. For three years she worked for Baby Café while also facilitating sessions in antenatal classes which she continues to this day. She launched an NCT Baby Café in her local area in 2022. She continues to volunteer locally at NCT Baby First Aid and Nearly New Sales.

Sherry was elected to the Board at our AGM in 2019 as Trustee and President, and was re-elected as Trustee in 2025.

Colin Cassidy, Trustee

Colin is a Principal Security Consultant with over 25 years of experience in IT, software development, and cybersecurity, from mobile applications to Critical National Infrastructure. A long-standing member of the NCT for over 23 years and a father for 22 years, Colin has supported his local branch through Nearly New Sales and co-developed the branch newsletter for four years with his wife, an NCT antenatal practitioner and Breastfeeding Counsellor.

In his spare time, he searches for spare time, usually while walking his rather feisty border terrier.

Keshia Firth, Trustee

Keshia is a communications and marketing leader living in Wales. She has over a decade experience in helping nonprofits reach their organisational goals through audience engagement, brand development and high-impact marketing strategies. The NCT is a charity Keshia wants to see thrive for years to come. It was a part of their journey as first-time parents and put her and her husband in good stead for the rollercoaster ride that is parenting. Seeing 'empowered and confident parents in every household' is a statement Keshia truly believes in, particularly as it will make a difference not just for the parents involved, but their children too who will feel secure and safe in the homes they grow up in.

ENDS.