An Interview with Caroline Hattersley

by Gordon Nary

Gordon: Tell us about your family when you were growing up.

Caroline: The child of an agnostic father and a Methodist mother, I was raised in the Baptist church as my father wanted my sister and I to have a choice in whether to be baptised into the church or not. At the age of 9 I joined a new British Red Cross youth group in my village, I stopped going to church preferring to do Red Cross ‘Duties’ at the weekends helping other, the over 60’s club was a favourite of mine, and even at that young age I was sure that God would prefer me to be helping others than sitting in a church. At six form college I again discovered joy in a faith-based community, first with a college bible study group then discovering the different churches that my friends attended. I found a deep resonance in the liturgy of the Catholic Church and joined the RCIA group and was baptised into the Catholic Church when I was 18.

Gordon: When did you attend University of Exeter, what degree did you earn, what was your favorite course and why was that course your favorite?

Caroline: I left home at 18, I didn’t have the support I needed from my parents to take up my university place, so I moved into lodgings and I worked full time, studying with the Open University and at my local adult education college around that, and gaining youth work and counselling qualifications. I then moved on to a part time Masters Degree at the Institute for Arts in Education, studying a university of Exeter degree in The Arts in Therapy and Education.

Gordon: Tell us about your work at the British Red Cross.

Caroline: This was one of the best periods in my life, working for the organisation that had been a great refuge in my childhood. I started doing regional youth work for them, and then moved into working at their Head Office developing work to support the organisation to become more inclusive. I had become disabled at the age of 21 and lost the ability to walk though with work and an intensive rehabilitation program I have regained much of my mobility, though I will always be disabled. When that happened I lost my connection with the Red Cross as a volunteer. So it was a real privilege to work for the Red Cross, pioneering their work around disability and community inclusion, and moving away from historic paternalistic models of working.

Gordon: Please list all of the organizations where you served as Trustee.

Caroline: There have been a lot over the years, Catholic Youth Services was the first, then Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, Churches Together in England, 10 years at the Cardinal Hume Centre, Action for Kids (now my AFK), Beyond the Streets, European Freedom Network, World Freedom Network, and PACT, I am currently Gestalt Centre London, and on the board of Caritas Westminster and Chair the Safe in Faith steering group.

Gordon: When were you a Therapist and what was one of your favorite memories of the people that you helped?

Caroline: I wasn’t a practicing therapist for very long, I did it for a few years during and post qualifying around 2000-2004, I was very young when I trained, but I remember working with a young girl who never spoke, she’d been seen by a lot of professionals and therapists but never spoke to them, I’d tried everything, probably like all the others who had worked with her before, and had weeks of silence from her though we often played music and painted silently together. One day I just said to her, “....let’s go outside….” we went out to the school field and lay on the grass looking up at the clouds and she just started talking, I learned a lot from that, whilst boundaries are important sometimes you just have to change the rules to take the pressure off.

Gordon: When did you serve as Head of Information, Advice and Advocacy at National Autistic Society and what was their mission?

Caroline: I was there for 8 years from 2006 The National Autistic Society was founded by parents whose children had been written off as, to use the term of the time, ‘Ineducatable’ Which of course is as far from the truth as you could get.

They focused on supporting parents and autistic people to get the support they needed. I was lucky enough to be there at a very exciting time, working to change the law, leading on legal campaigning for families, and working with the Institute of Education on a groundbreaking research study that has changed the language around autism for the better.

Gordon: When did you serve as Deputy CEO of Providence Row and what were your primary responsibilities?

Caroline: I joined Providence Row in 2013, I wanted to work for a Catholic organisation after my years in big secular organisations. I oversaw the charities services, the trainee schemes, the day centre, the learning programmes and the advice and casework services for around 1200 people each year.

Gordon: Tell us about your time at Women @ The Well,

Caroline: I went over to women@thewell in 2015, to head up their work to support women trafficked into prostitution. It was emotionally hard work, but I think we made a difference, I oversaw their services, did policy and campaign work, and supported a really important project with Durham University looking at Prostitution and Catholic Social Thought.

Gordon: When did you serve as Convenor of the VAWG Committee of the National Board for Catholic Women and what is one of your favorite memories when you were there?

Caroline: I was the inaugural convenor of the VAWG committee back in 2020, it’s such an important subject that the Board knew they needed a dedicated focus on it. There is something very powerful in women coming together with a collective voice. I think I was struck by the force for good that Catholic women could be and it was so interesting learning from the women who had been at the forefront of change following the 2nd Vatican Council.

Gordon: When were you a Board member of European Freedom Network and what was their mission?

Caroline: I’d worked with them since 2015 and joined their board around 2021. They were focused on ending Trafficking and Modern Slavery, a challenging mission, and one we took further with the founding of the World Freedom Network in 2022.

Gordon: When did you serve as Chief Executive Officer Relate London North East? Tell us about your time there.

Caroline: I joined as CEO just over 3 years ago and like most charities these days, we have faced so many challenges. The team are deeply committed to the work and it is a real joy to lead such a warm and caring organisation. We have supported so many couples and families to resolve their issues and move forward.

We became the Family and Relationship Centre earlier this year, and are about to move into an exciting new chapter of our work.

I’ve worked in the charity sector for nearly 30 years, and honestly every day has been a privilege. I hope that my work has made a difference, both for the individuals we supported and those that came and will continue to come for support after my time.

Gordon: When did you serve at Immigration Advice Authority and what was their mission?

Caroline: I joined the IAA in April this year, as an NED, I feel passionately about people's right to access accredited legal advice, and sadly in the immigration sphere there is a lot of unregulated advice and exploitation that takes place. So joining the IAA was a natural fit for me as they are focused on ensuring that people have access to high quality accredited advice.

Gordon: Tell us about your time at Bigger Boxes Group.

Caroline: Bigger boxes group is a small group of consultants that do various freelance work for charities, I do occasional freelance work as part of the group, though my day job doesn’t leave a lot of time for that.

Gordon: When did you serve as Chair Gestalt Centre London and what was their mission?

Caroline: I’ve been Chair of the Gestalt Centre for nearly 3 years, they are focused on training counsellors and psychotherapists in the Gestalt modality, and offer all sorts of training programmes, they also provide low cost community based counselling and psychotherapy and host private practice counsellors in their centre.

Gordon: You currently hold several positions. What are they?

Caroline: My main job is CEO of the Family and Relationship Centre, but I am also an NED for the Immigration Advice Authority, I sit on the HES Advisory Panel for HSJ Information, serve as Chair of Trustees for the Gestalt Centre, sit on the PACT and Caritas Westminster Boards and chair the Safe In Faith steering Group, I have just started in private practice offering spiritual direction though my new company Apple Bough House. I also serve as an ambassador for the charity Widowed and Young having lost my husband when I was 43.

Gordon: What parish do you attend and what do you like most about your parish?

Caroline I live in Brentwood Diocese, and attend either St Albans Elm Park or Holy Cross South Ockenden they are both great parishes and where I go depends on my weekend commitments with my work and various voluntary roles. Both parishes have a great sense of community and wonderful music. As a musician myself, the music is very important to me.

Gordon: Tell us about St. Joseph of Cupertino, St. Margaret of Castello, and St. Giles who are all Patron Saints for people with disabilities.

Caroline: Some great saints there, St Joseph was a Franciscan, and is one as one of the most miracle prone saints. He experienced scorn and ridicule throughout his life including being described as ‘remarkably unclever’, he was blessed with a love of prayer from a very young age.

Margaret of Castello was a Dominican tertiary, and was blind and had other disabilities, she was known for her holiness and deep faith.

And St Giles who was wounded protecting an animal from hunters, was known for his altruism and his life of poverty.

I know that in the times that my disability has affected me negatively and when I have been very unwell and in hospital, I have found great solace in the experiences of the saints.

Gordon: Thank you for an exceptional interview. It is a blessing to have your interview.