Charlton Athletic Community Trust (CACT) are delighted to confirm the appointment of three new members to the Board of Trustees.
Jason Benn, Farai Nyadundu and Ian Parkes join a passionate team of individuals dedicated to supporting CACT’s mission to empower communities and change lives through sport, education, health, and youth engagement and bring a wealth of experience and a shared commitment to strengthening CACT’s impact across south-east London and Kent.
Find our more about the three new additions below:
Jason Benn
Jason is currently Co-Principal at St Mary Magdalene School C of E School in Greenwich. Born and raised in Guyana, he moved to the UK to pursue a professional cricket career. Whilst playing, he worked and coached cricket in a number of schools in Kent and south-east London which led him to developing a strong interest in teaching.
After qualifying as a Physical Education and Sports Science teacher, Jason secured a number of leadership roles during his teaching career which enabled him to progress as a senior leader within the secondary sector. These important opportunities and responsibilities have resulted in him contributing towards young people's academic success and personal development over the past 10 years.
"I see my role as a real privilege and one that I take very seriously because I believe that young people only have one chance at securing the best possible education," he explained.
"I believe that education and sport have a huge role to play in bringing society together and for making the world a better place."
Jason currently represents England over 40s in cricket and is also a member of Marylebone Cricket Club and Bickley Park Cricket Club.
Farai Nyadundu
Farai is an Investment Manager working in the impact investing space, where he focuses on channelling capital into projects and organisations that create real, lasting change.
Being driven by impactful work, Farai spent three years as a trustee of a large healthcare charity and currently serves as a school governor - roles that reflect his belief in contributing beyond the workplace and supporting initiatives that make a difference on the ground.
Ian Parkes
Ian's career has spanned the public/private and not for profit sectors. Most recently, he was Chief Executive of ELBA, a charity devoted to promoting social mobility and supporting the communities of east London through harnessing the goodwill, expertise and people power of large corporate businesses. Ian stepped down from ELBA in 2024 but is still engaged as a volunteer helping with their social mobility programme for young people.
He founded and ran his own business for 15 years and, among other work, was involved in helping organisations assess and tap into the wide benefits offered by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
He is a supporter of young people in and out of education, and has been a serial school governor. He currently chairs Graveney multi academy trust and chairs the governing body of Graveney School. He also chairs Barking and Dagenham Giving, a social investment charity. Ian was recently awarded an Honorary Fellowship by Queen Mary University London in recognition of his work to support equality, diversity and inclusion and social mobility.
Ian has lived in Greenwich for over 30 years and is a long term season ticket holder of CAFC, currently sitting in the NW Stand.