Friends of the Earth appoints ex-Refugee Council fundraiser to communications post

Environmental charity Friends of the Earth (FoE) has appointed former Refugee Council head of fundraising Alison Wallace as communications and fundraising director. She will head a team of 35 marketing, public relations and fundraising staff.

Wallace, who joins FoE in September, has worked at the Refugee Council since 1999. Until January, she held the position of head of fundraising but since then she has run a special project on new Government legislation on asylum seekers. Wallace replaces Simon Bernstein, who has joined direct marketing agency Target Direct (MW July 4).

Before joining the Refugee Council, Wallace worked at the Orbis Charitable Trust as donor development director. She has also worked at Greenpeace.

In the past, the FoE has used Partners BDDH for its advertising on a project basis. But Wallace says she will be cautious about using advertising at FoE.

She says: “My feeling is that you don’t go into above-the-line without clear objectives. I would want to see obvious criteria, which can be measured.”

FoE uses specialist agency Whitewater for its direct marketing. The agency is also used by the Refugee Council, and Wallace says she has no immediate plans to review the brief when she takes up the post.