KM Charity Team founder to depart after two decades
Chief executive’s final year was his ‘proudest’
The head of one of Kent’s most influential charities is to stand down after nearly 20 years. Simon Dolby founded Inspire Schools, which trades as the KM Charity Team, in 2000 and built it into a major force in the education and charitable sectors. Now every week more than 60,000 children and families at 200 schools use the organisation’s award-winning Active WoW walk to school scheme and Buster’s Book Club reading reward initiative.
The charity hosts the annual Kent Teacher of the Year Awards with sister events held in London and Sussex, as well as the Green School Awards, Young Cooks children’s MasterChef-style event and the Bright Spark Awards, which is a Dragons’ Den-inspired science showcase. It also stages events where the majority of the money raised goes to other good causes, including the KM’s bike ride, colour run, dragon boat race and abseils. And he holds the KM Big Charity Quiz which raises around £25k for good causes each year. Mr Dolby’s decision to stand down as chief executive six months before the charity starts its 20th anniversary celebrations is to ensure his replacement can begin their reign in style. He said: “It has been a difficult decision but I feel the time is right to let someone else take the helm and will support the charity to ensure its success continues. “This year has been one of my proudest as the amount we raised for other causes over our history has now passed £1 million; the number of reading minutes achieved through our Buster’s Book Club topped 10 million minutes in a year for the first time; and the lifetime figure for green healthy journeys passed seven million. I couldn’t be more proud of the achievements of the charity and the dedication of the staff involved.”
Mr Dolby will now take on an ambassadorial role for the KM Charity Team. Professionally he is taking on a new position at a Kent company and will reveal more in the coming weeks. “This is a fantastic and unique organisation to lead and I look forward to advising trustees when it comes to selecting my replacement,” he said.
The job vacancy can be viewed at KmCharityTeam.co.uk