Senior Management Team

Chief Executive Officer: Fergus Crow

Fergus is a leading figure in the UK’s child bereavement sector, he was previously Chief Executive Officer of Winston’s Wish, and, following the announcement of its planned merger with Child Bereavement UK in May 2025, was also interim Chief Executive Officer for Child Bereavement UK in April 2025.

Fergus’s personal journey into grief support began in his teens when his father died from cancer in 1989. He has described this loss as the defining influence that led him into the charitable and bereavement space.

His professional roots lie in education. He holds a Master of Education from the University of Cambridge and gained early experience working in schools on child wellbeing and anti-bullying initiatives.

In 2015, Fergus assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer at Winston's Wish, a UK-based charity established in 1992 and recognised as a pioneer in child bereavement support. During his tenure, Winston's Wish has significantly expanded its reach and impact, evolving into a leading provider of childhood bereavement support within the UK. In 2024 alone, the organisation positively influenced the lives of over 90,000 individuals. Fergus spearheaded the charity's innovative "Break the Script" strategy, which aimed to transform grief support for bereaved young people by adopting a digital-first approach, thereby broadening access to support for families throughout the UK. This digital-first model also facilitated the introduction of on-demand digital services, enabling immediate online access to bereavement professionals and substantially reducing waiting times. Furthermore, the strategy emphasised the prioritisation of children and young people’s voices and experiences to help inform and shape services and provide safe platforms for them to share their experiences. 

Fergus has had roles on several sector steering groups, including the APPG on Grief Support and the Impact of Death on Society, Support After Suicide Partnership, National Suicide Prevention Alliance, and the Mindfulness in Schools Project.

Fergus is driven by a belief that no child or young person should grieve alone and that every young person deserves timely, accessible bereavement support. His work emphasises early intervention and preventative care, and he often reflects on “light‑bulb” moments—stories of children’s resilience that spark innovation in services.

Chief Operating Officer: Becky Harding

With over 25 years of experience at Winston's Wish, Becky built a distinguished career within the finance department, progressing through a range of senior roles to become Director of Corporate Services. During this time, she developed extensive expertise in financial leadership, operational strategy, and organisational management, playing a key role in supporting growth and transformation. 

Now serving as Chief Operating Officer at Child Bereavement UK, Becky brings a wealth of experience alongside a deep commitment to delivering impactful services. She is proud to support the organisation’s mission, ensuring that families and young people receive the care and guidance they need during the most difficult times. 

Director of Services and Service Transformation: Letizia Perna

Letizia is a dynamic senior leader and trained psychotherapist, recognised for combining nearly two decades of compassionate clinical expertise with bold strategic vision, service innovation, and rigorous evidence-based approaches that improve outcomes for bereaved children, young people, and adults. With experience spanning service delivery, research, leadership, and organisational development, she has played a pivotal role in shaping responsive, forward-thinking bereavement services that strengthen accessibility, consistency, and impact. 

As former Director of Services and Service Transformation at Winston’s Wish, Letizia broke the script on traditional models of support access, pioneering digital-first approaches including On Demand Services and redesigned referral pathways. These innovations reduced barriers to support, redefined therapeutic delivery, and drove an 82% increase in service reach in under four years—supporting more than 113,000 bereaved children and young people. 

A trusted, values-driven clinical leader and trailblazer, Letizia brings together clinical insight, operational leadership, and a deep understanding of the needs of grieving families. She is recognised for embedding strong ethical frameworks, high-quality standards, and measurable outcomes in service design and delivery. 

Letizia now serves as Director of Services and Service Transformation at Child Bereavement UK, where she leads post-merger transformation to strengthen the quality, reach, and national impact of bereavement support across the UK.

Director of Marketing and Communications: Grace Lee

Grace is a strategic marketing and communications leader with over 15 years’ experience delivering brand transformation and organisational growth across the charity and healthcare sectors. As Director of Marketing and Communications, she sits at the heart of Child Bereavement UK’s leadership team, shaping strategy and driving a significant step-change in national profile, engagement, and impact. 

Grace has extensive expertise in building marketing and communications functions from the ground up—creating scalable, insight-led teams across local, regional, and national charities. She brings a strong focus on aligning brand, digital, content, and PR into cohesive strategies that build awareness and deliver measurable outcomes across income growth and service reach. 

Her expertise in brand transformation is demonstrated through leading major repositions, including the evolution of Compton Hospice to Compton Care, as well as redefining and modernising the former Winston’s Wish brand before its merger with Child Bereavement UK. 

A passionate advocate for innovation, Grace lead the development of Talk Grief, a pioneering digital platform that has redefined how bereavement support is accessed by teenagers and young adults, combining content, community, and lived experience to meet an underserved need. 

With a background in sociology, she applies a deep understanding of behavioural insight and marketing psychology to develop communications that connect emotionally and drive action.

Director of People and Culture: Julia Jones (Consultant)

Julia has been running her own HR and management development consultancy since 2018. Previously, she held HR Director positions for a top 30 accountancy firm and top 200 law firm. Working at board level she has been a trusted advisor to senior managers and leadership teams and has a wealth of experience in negotiating, influencing, problem solving and the development of management teams.

Julia worked closely with Winston's Wish leadership team before it's merger with Child Bereavement UK in 2026 providing strategic leadership advice as well as day to day operational HR support.

Julia is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and having a natural flair for developing others, she has designed and delivered many training programmes with particular focus on developing management skills within organisations. 

Julia has a wealth of experience working in the professional services sector but has also worked across many other business sectors including not for profit, media and publishing, and manufacturing.

Julia has been described as having the perfect balance of commercial sharpness, intuition and warm engagement. She has an inclusive style, quickly building rapport and trusting relationships, yet able to challenge the status quo to maximise learning potential. 

Julia has a passion for developing others and sees her success in witnessing those she trains and coaches to reach their career goals and full potential. Julia creates an atmosphere of energy, enthusiasm and fun where individuals are comfortable with stretching the boundaries and opening new opportunities for self-development. 

Director of Income Generation: Beckie Wynne 

Beckie is a strategic and visionary fundraising leader with more than 20 years’ experience delivering transformational income growth across some of the UK’s most respected charities. Her career spans five leading healthcare organisations, including senior leadership roles at Macmillan, Alzheimer’s Society, and Asthma UK. 

Beckie served as Director of Income Generation at Martin House Children’s Hospice, where she led a team of 75 across Fundraising, Retail, and Marketing. Under her leadership, teams have delivered income targets of up to £22 million and successfully driven major capital appeals of £12 million. Known for her ability to inspire ambitious, high‑performing teams, Beckie consistently brings people with her to achieve bold organisational goals. 

A committed fundraising professional, Beckie holds the Chartered Institute of Fundraising Diploma in Fundraising, previously served on the Institute’s Yorkshire Committee, and was recognised as Fundraising Leader of the Year in 2020. 

Beckie later became Director of Income Generation at Winston’s Wish and now joins Child Bereavement UK at a pivotal moment—bringing her expertise, energy, and strategic insight to shape and drive the newly merged organisation’s fundraising strategy forward. 

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Author: Harriet Hieatt-Smith

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