Beth Gardiner-Smith Appointed Our CEO

Beth Gardiner-Smith has been appointed CEO of Safe Passage and will commence in her new role immediately.

Beth brings a wealth of experience in the area of refugee and asylum rights. Working within Parliament, she oversaw the development of Party policy on refugee and asylum issues at the height of the ‘refugee crisis’ in 2016, ran the successful cross-Party campaign on the ‘Dubs’ amendment, working with stakeholders outside Parliament and developing significant Parliamentary support, and has been Head of Campaigns and Advocacy at Safe Passage since 2016.

The appointment comes at an exciting time for Safe Passage as the organisation begins life as an independent charity, having recently appointed a board of eight trustees, Safe Passage will separate from Citizens UK in 2018.

Beth said:

“It’s an enormous privilege to lead such a ground-breaking and compassionate organisation. Since we started three years ago, Safe Passage has enabled over 1,700 refugee children to reach a place of safety through our legal support and campaigns. As Governments in Europe and across the world are building walls and closing their doors to refugees, our work to open and strengthen safe and legal routes to protection for the most vulnerable is more important than ever.

“I look forward to working with the talented and committed staff team to ensure Safe Passage continues to go from strength to strength, delivering real change for, and alongside, the young refugees we support.”

Bishop Jonathan Clark, Chair of Trustees at Safe Passage, said:

“We are delighted to that Beth will be taking up the position of CEO. A natural leader, Beth took the reins as Acting Project Lead for Safe Passage in June and has been delivering fantastic results. We look forward to her taking the organisation from strength to strength.”