Prior to his four years at the £2.7bn luxury British brand, the finance executive spent more than two decades at consumer goods transnational Unilever, holding senior financial roles across the UK, Asia and Latin America.

Stevenson takes over from charity financial management expert Stephen Perry who has served as Mencap’s Interim Chief Financial Officer since December 2017.

The charity is halfway through its Our Big Plan, an ambitious five-year strategy designed to help people with a learning disability make the choices they want and to enjoy the same opportunities as the rest of the population, free from discrimination .

Jan Tregelles , Chief Executive of Mencap, said:

“We are delighted to welcome Paul Stevenson to the Royal Mencap Society. It is an exciting, challenging and important time to join the charity and we cannot thank Stephen Perry enough for keeping us on a robust financial footing. We are determined to achieve the ambitious goals detailed in our five-year plan and to continue to provide value for money for our funders and supporters. I have no doubt Paul’s breadth of experience will prove invaluable and a welcome addition to our executive team.”

Paul Stevenson, says:

“I am delighted to be joining the executive team at the Royal Mencap Society. The national charity has a rich history and an incredible track record for making a real difference to the lives of people with a learning disability, their carers and their families. I’m looking forward to working with staff and supporters at Mencap to create a society more inclusive for people with learning disabilities.”

Stevenson will join the Mencap team in January but will provide pro bono support for the organisation throughout December. As part of his induction , he will visit services, projects and shops.

Pension fund trustee Stevenson is currently studying for a Masters at Cass Business School’s Centre for Charity Effectiveness.

Mencap provided direct support to 5,231 people with a learning disability in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2017/2018 and answered nearly 13,000 calls through the Learning Disability Helpline.

The charity celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2016.

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For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact the Mencap press office on 020 7696 5414 or media@mencap.org.uk or for out of hours 07770 656 659.

Notes to editors

About Mencap

There are 1.4 million people with a learning disability in the UK. Mencap works to support people with a learning disability, their families and carers by fighting to change laws, improve services and access to education , employment and leisure facilities. Mencap supports thousands of people with a learning disability to live their lives the way they want.

www.mencap.org.uk

For advice and information about learning disability and Mencap services in your area, contact the Learning Disability Helpline on 0808 808 1111 (9am-5pm, Monday-Friday) or email helpline@mencap.org.uk.

What is a learning disability?

A learning disability is a reduced intellectual ability which can cause problems with everyday tasks – for example shopping and cooking, or travelling to new places – which affects someone for their whole life.

People with a learning disability can take longer to learn new things and may need support to develop new skills, understand difficult information and engage with other people. The level of support someone needs is different with every individual. For example, someone with a severe learning disability might need much more support with daily tasks than someone with a mild learning disability.

Learning disability is not a mental illness or a learning difficulty, such as dyslexia . Very often the term ‘learning difficulty’ is wrongly used interchangeably with ‘learning disability’.