Meet the ILM team
Find out more about us and how to get in touch
Matthew Lagden
Chief Executive
[email protected]
07360 207651
LinkedIn
Matthew joined ILM as CEO in July 2018. With many years’ experience in fundraising and legacies, Matthew worked as Director of Fundraising at St Paul’s Cathedral, as well as for major charities including Action for Children, the Stroke Association and the British Heart Foundation.
Esther Oddy
Head of Member Engagement
Esther joined ILM as Head of Member Engagement in May 2021. She has worked with organisations in the charity sector for many years, shaping responsive and personalised membership support and training. Her experience has been gained in previous roles at The Children’s Society, The School Food Trust, Good Things Foundation, and ARC (England).
Katie Hayward
Head of Communications
Katie joined ILM in March 2024. Katie is an experienced marketing professional, with a background in hearing aid manufacturing and ecommerce within the construction industry. Katie has a degree in journalism and her specialist areas of marketing lie in communications, event management and PR. Katie has always had a keen interest in corporate fundraising, having launched fundraising initiatives and events within all of her previous roles.
Olivia Baxter
Membership & Governance Officer
Olivia joined ILM as Membership & Governance Ofiicer in January 2024. Originally from New Zealand, Olivia has several years’ experience in the UK charity sector in membership and operations management roles and takes an analytical and technology-driven approach to her work.
Getting in touch
The best ways to get in touch are as follows:
Corporate Partnership Enquiries
[email protected]
Membership Enquiries
[email protected]
Training and invoice Enquiries
[email protected]
Web Content / Newsletter / Job Listings / Press / In person events
[email protected]
Invoicing / Payment Queries
[email protected]
If you have any general enquiries, please fill in the form below.
The Board
Seven ILM members currently sit on the board. These directors are elected by their peers, other ILM members.
James Stebbings (ILM Chair)
Macmillan Cancer Support
James has been an ILM member since 2007 and he is currently Head of Legacy Income at Macmillan Cancer Support. He was appointed as Chair of ILM in the July 2021, having served on the board since December 2014.
In that time he has represented ILM on a number of matters including the Charity Commission’s review of SORP 2015 and the Law Commission’s look at Technical Issues in Charity Law.
He is determined to ensure that the estate administration sector works for charities and beneficiaries generally, and he believes that ILM can be a powerful voice as the sector modernises in the coming years. Equally important to James is that ILM continues to deliver the best possible training to charity legacy officers to ensure the quality of legacy administration continues to improve.
Blerta Clubb
Battersea Dogs & Cats Home
Blerta started her legacy career with Cancer Research UK’s legacy team and went on to qualify as a solicitor in 2012. She then worked in private practice before joining the charity sector once again where she currently leads the Legacy Income team at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home and was appointed to the board of directors of ILM in April 2019.
Blerta is passionate about the sector, and is known widely among her peers as championing change and promoting best practice. She has proactively established a peer support group and has worked with HMCTS to highlight the importance of the Smee & Ford notification service.
Blerta successfully won the Legacy Professional of the Year 2019 award to recognise her passion, hard work and achievements within the sector. Blerta is also a committee member of the Law Society’s Private Client and Estate Member Advisory Committee.
Meet the Private Client and Estates Member Advisory Committee | FAQ | Communities – The Law Society
Rebecca Billen
Senior Legacy Manager, Blood Cancer UK
Becky has been working within the legacy sector since 2004, beginning her legacy career at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home as a Legacy Assistant.
Having worked for various charities over the years, Becky joined Blood Cancer UK in 2017 as the Senior Legacy Manager and was appointed to the board of directors of ILM in 2021.
Becky is passionate about personal and professional development, graduating as a Legal Executive in 2019 and completing an Equality and Diversity Course in 2021, to assist with her role as an Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Champion.
Paul Browne
Legacy Consultant
Paul is an experienced manager with a diverse background from retail finance to scientific research in board level technical and international development roles. He is a natural communicator at all levels from executive to volunteer, able to articulate highly technical subjects to people at all levels.
Paul has specialised in business process and IT systems in the past, working on several large change management projects for central government and international businesses.
Having been introduced to the legacy world by Linda Norgrove, he is now enjoying the challenges of delivering legacy administration and educational seminars with Legacy Link.
David Hawes
Director of Finance & Infrastructure, Devon Air Ambulance Trust
Dave qualified as an accountant with H W Fisher in London before working as an Audit Manager at BDO in Sydney. Following a return to England and a period of working for Capita as a Manager of the Investment Trust and VCT team in Exeter, he moved into the charity sector as Director of Finance & Infrastructure at Devon Air Ambulance Trust in 2014.
He has really enjoyed working in the sector and the exposure to legacies it has given him. Dave oversees the facilities and finance departments and is an integral part of the governance structure as part of the executive leadership team for the charity and a director for its Trading Company.
Rebecca Massey
Senior Legacy Management Lead, CRUK
Becky studied Law at the University of Birmingham and then completed the LPC at the College of Law in Birmingham. She qualified as a Solicitor in 2008 and worked in a Private Client team at a firm in the West Midlands, managing a caseload of Wills, Probate and Court of Protection matters. Becky completed the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) diploma in 2014.
Becky moved into legacy management in 2013 when she joined Cancer Research UK as a Legacy Officer. She is currently working as the Senior Legacy Management Lead for Cancer Research UK’s Legacy Management Team and was appointed to the board of directors of ILM in September 2021.
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