Raise Your Hands began with a simple idea in 2014 — one that’s still at its core. We’re a small team, guided by our trustees, who believe small charities have extraordinary impact, and that giving should be exciting, meaningful, and easy.
Our Story
Back in 2014, Ed and Chris, the founders of Raise Your Hands, got chatting about how they wanted to give to a children’s charity. Like many people, they knew the big names, but wondered whether there were smaller charities doing equally important work that might need the money more.
After a bit of digging, they realised this wasn’t about a handful of organisations. There were hundreds of small charities supporting children and families — doing brilliant, often specialist work — yet the majority of donations were still going to the same large charities.
The more they learned, the less the situation made sense. Small charities were close to the communities they served: passionate, agile and deeply knowledgeable, without the layers of bureaucracy that can come with larger organisations.
As they spoke to friends and colleagues about the idea, the same frustrations kept coming up. People wanted to give, but weren’t always confident about where their money would go. They wanted to support children in a meaningful way — without being stopped in the street or asked repeatedly for more.
Out of those conversations, and a shared desire to do things differently, Raise Your Hands was born.
A model that helps exceptional small charities have a real impact — and offers people and companies a better way to give.
Giving on your terms.
Our Team
The names and faces behind Raise Your Hands.
Slaney Wright
CEO
Slaney Wright brings over two decades of experience in the charity sector to her role as CEO of Raise Your Hands. From working with children in Bolivia to joining the UK’s national youth charity Fairbridge, Slaney’s career has centered on a commitment to helping young people thrive.
Having worked across both front-line programme delivery to leading fundraising efforts as Head of Philanthropy Development (the ‘dark side’ as she likes to call it), Slaney co-founded Switchback in 2007, a criminal justice charity dedicated to supporting young adult offenders in making lasting changes post-release. Her leadership has consistently emphasised impactful, grassroots solutions for young people facing significant challenges.
At Raise Your Hands, Slaney oversees the strategic direction and daily operations, ensuring that exceptional small charities receive the support they need to transform young lives. Her extensive experience and unwavering dedication make her a pivotal force in championing underrepresented voices within the charitable sector.
Rose McCarthy
Head of Communications
and Development
Rose is a seasoned communications and strategy professional with over 15 years of experience spanning media relations, strategic partnerships, events, and stakeholder engagement. Throughout her career, Rose has been passionate about crafting compelling narratives and building meaningful connections that drive positive change.
Rose joined Raise Your Hands in 2024 and leads efforts to strengthen and grow the organisation, ensuring that the stories of the small charities they support are heard and celebrated.
Madelaine Jones
Head of Partnerships
Madelaine is a charity fundraising pro!
With extensive experience across the charity sector Madelaine joined Raise Your Hands in 2022 having held roles at large international charities like Oxfam, ActionAid and Amnesty International, as well as with smaller, local organisations in the UK and the Philippines.
As Head of Partnerships, Madelaine’s role is about relationships; building them, developing them and leveraging them for the benefit of small charities. She is also responsible for the ongoing management and support of Raise Your Hands’ portfolio of small charities.
Contact Madelaine to find out more about partnering with Raise Your Hands.
Maria Serna
Digital Marketing Manager
Maria Serna is a digital marketing specialist with over 15 years of experience across both the private and charity sectors.
At Oliver’s Travels, she helped grow the company from a six-person start-up into a well-known travel brand, leading on campaign strategy, content creation, and performance marketing. In 2020, Maria shifted to mission-driven work, supporting nonprofits and later managing paid media campaigns at Action for Children.
Known for her mix of creative thinking, data-led decision making, and collaborative approach, she thrives in fast-paced, purpose-led environments.
Jake Parke
Fundraising and Insights Officer
Jake has worked in fundraising for the past five years, specialising in using data and insight to build meaningful connections with donors and strengthen individual giving programmes.
Before joining Raise Your Hands in 2025, Jake spent several years at Chichester Cathedral, where he developed a broad range of fundraising experience — from corporate partnerships and events to major donor cultivation and grants fundraising. His work focused on harnessing CRM data to inform strategy, deepen engagement, and deliver measurable results across a diverse group of stakeholders.
At Raise Your Hands, Jake combines his analytical approach with a collaborative mindset, ensuring that fundraising decisions are driven by both evidence and empathy. He’s passionate about helping small charities access the support they need to create real, lasting change for children and young people.
Our Trustees
Our Board of Trustees meets once a quarter and guides the strategic direction of Raise Your Hands.
Chris Kirkland
Chris works for a family owned construction and real estate business based out of central London. He started his career at Knight Frank where he was an advisor in the capital markets team. He then moved into development working for Landid Property Ltd on a variety of schemes across South East England.
Chris is chairman of the board at Raise Your Hands with a specific focus on wider strategy and fundraising within the organisation.
Federica Cucè
Federica has over 25 years of experience in finance across M&A, private equity, public equities, and hedge funds. After more than 10 years in different investment banking roles for BNP Paribas, JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank in Paris, New York and London, Federica spent more than 14 years in London as a senior Investor Relations executive at Marshall Wace, a leading global alternative investment manager with a philosophy of entrepreneurship and innovation. Today Federica is an independent Asset Management and Sustainability consultant.
In her free time, Federica teaches Yoga and volunteers for selected charities that focus on improving underprivileged children’s lives.
Federica is a languages, travel, philosophy and sports enthusiast.
Nick Burlington
Originally a chartered accountant by training, Nick has spent the last 14 years in private equity investment with the likes of Triton Partners, Permira, Impax Asset management and most recently Arrow Global Group covering institutional relationships, investor relations and fundraising.
During his time at Impax, Nick was responsible for defining the Impact led investment strategy, and has been heavily involved in the implementation of best practice ESG initiatives across all his recent roles within the asset management industry at a time when ESG increasingly becomes a fundamental element considered in everything that money managers do.
Nick is a passionate endurance sports enthusiast and a Freeman of the City of London. He sits on a charitable board of the Girdlers’ Livery Company, which is focussed on making meaningful donations to a selected number of charities. He has also involved himself on a personal level raising funds for mental health charities which are very close to his heart, for the last 7/8 years.
Adam Lawrenson
Adam is Executive Creative Director of Albion, an innovation consultancy based in London. Albion is famous for designing the Skype brand and product experience, inventing the disruptive telco GiffGaff and scaling Candy Crush from facebook game to global phenomenon.
Adam spent his early career in advertising, creating campaigns for BMW, Sky, Gov UK and Bupa. He then ran a product design studio where he led long-term innovation projects for leading brands. And he did a long stint as Creative Director working on the global rebrands of Jaguar, Land Rover and Vodafone.
Adam has sat on the digital advisory board for WPP. He’s won a Bafta and an Emmy for a real time documentary with Channel 4. And rather bizarrely had a poem exhibited at the V&A alongside poet laureate Andrew Motion.
Rossa Shanks
Rossa is a marketeer with a 20-year career that spans creative advertising agencies, News UK, Dow Jones and cybersecurity investment company ISTARI, where he is currently Chief Marketing Officer. He has worked with a variety of well-known brands including BT, Mercedes-Benz, The Economist, PepsiCo and Greene King.
His entrepreneurial spirit led him to found Great Little Place, a mobile app for finding hidden gems to stay, recommended by users.
Rossa believes there is nothing more exciting than unlocking the potential of a child by investing early in their future.
Nicole McCarthy (nee Downer)
Nicole is a seasoned finance professional who came across Raise Your Hands when Managing Partner at MV Credit, where she served as Co‑Head of Business Development and a member of both the Management and Investment Committees.
She began her career at Banker’s Trust in leveraged finance and securitisation, then led the Structured Securitisation Team at Deutsche Bank before joining MV Credit in 2005.
Her recognition as a Woman of Influence in Private Markets in 2022 was due to her growing the firm’s assets under management, managing strategic investor relationships, and driving initiatives around ESG, diversity, and inclusion.