Cited in UK press coverage of health & social care
3 citations
Across 2 topics, first on 27 Aug 2026.
Biography
Kirsty McHugh has been Chief Executive Officer of Carers Trust since February 2022. Carers Trust is a UK charity that works to transform the lives of unpaid carers through a network of around 130 local carer organisations, covering 88% of local authority areas in England, Wales and Scotland. Before joining Carers Trust, McHugh served as CEO of the Mayor's Fund for London and, before that, as CEO of the Employment Related Services Association; she also held a director-level role at Business in the Community. She is a Trustee of Guy's and St Thomas's Foundation and has personal experience as an unpaid carer, having cared for both parents approaching end of life and supporting another with a long-term disability. McHugh is a public advocate for social care reform, arguing that successive governments have placed an unsustainable burden on unpaid carers and calling for a National Carers Strategy and dedicated investment in carer support.
References
- 1.Meet Our Team | Carers Trust — Confirms McHugh's title as CEO, her start date of February 2022, her prior roles, her trusteeships, and her personal caring experience.
- 2.Carers Trust appoints new chief executive | Third Sector — Confirms appointment as CEO, prior roles at Mayor's Fund for London and Employment Related Services Association, and 12 years as a Labour councillor in Lambeth.
- 3.Carers Trust appoints Kirsty McHugh as its new CEO | Carers Trust — Official announcement of appointment; confirms 50% income increase at Mayor's Fund for London under her leadership.
- 4.Sector Responds to Government's Plans for Social Care Reform | The Carer — Press quote from McHugh on social care reform and the burden on unpaid carers, evidencing her public advocacy role.
- 5.
Expertise
Cited on
Stated areas of expertise
- Unpaid carer support and recognition
- Social care reform
- Young carers policy
- Carer poverty
- Voluntary sector leadership
- Federated and network organisations
Notable achievements
- Appointed CEO of Carers Trust in February 2022, succeeding Gareth Howells, after almost three years leading the Mayor's Fund for London. Source ↗
- While CEO of the Mayor's Fund for London, steered the charity through the Covid-19 crisis while overseeing a 50% increase in its income. Source ↗
- Under her leadership, Carers Trust's combined network turnover reached over £138 million by the end of 2023-24, up £4 million on the previous year. Source ↗
- Named as a Trustee of Guy's and St Thomas's Foundation alongside her CEO role at Carers Trust. Source ↗
What they’ve said
“As the review makes clear, the DWP's guidance on overpayments was both wrong and confusing. It was a huge error going back a decade that meant countless carers were wrongly judged to have received overpayments of carer's allowance.”
chief executive of Carers Trust · Adult social care & reform · 27 Aug 2026 · DWP to reassess hundreds of thousands of cases in carer’s allowance scandal ↗
“This seems to be a really serious error of judgment. There has been an independent review which came up with some very clear findings. The DWP must now stand by this report and get on with returning money to carers.”
chief executive of Carers Trust · Adult social care & reform · 27 Aug 2026 · Senior DWP civil servant blames victims for carer’s allowance scandal ↗
“It's heartening to see the government do the right thing by acknowledging its mistakes and now getting on with returning money to carers who were penalised for no fault of their own. This is an important first step in sorting out the myriad problems with this archaic benefit.”
chief executive of the Carers Trust · Unpaid carers · 27 Aug 2026 · Thousands of unpaid carers to face DWP repayment demands during overhaul ↗
Source references
- DWP to reassess hundreds of thousands of cases in carer’s allowance scandaltheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
- Senior DWP civil servant blames victims for carer’s allowance scandaltheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
- Thousands of unpaid carers to face DWP repayment demands during overhaultheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
Contact & links
- Staff pagehttps://carers.org/about-us/meet-the-team
- Press office emailpress@carers.orgpublished here ↗
- LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/kirsty-mchugh-9870461/
- Websitehttps://carers.org/news-and-media/spokespeople
Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.
Chief executives, directors and spokespeople of trade bodies, representative associations and charities speaking for the sector. Citations are counted by an automated scan of UK press coverage and may be incomplete. Roles, biographies and contact details are researched and human-reviewed before they appear here; anything not yet reviewed is simply absent rather than shown unverified. See the methodology for how this page is built, or email contact@bridgeheadcommunications.com to correct anything on it.