Kirsty McHugh

Who Kirsty McHugh is

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 for this biography

1. 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. 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. 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. 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. 5.Carers Trust responds to Wes Streeting speech at Labour conference | Carers Trust — Further press-quoted commentary by McHugh on social care workforce, National Carers Strategy, and the role of unpaid carers.
6. 6.CARERS TRUST Company Overview (07697170) | Companies House — Establishes Carers Trust registered office address and postcode (CV21 1TQ, Rugby) as the legally registered head office.
7. 7.Contact the Press Team | Carers Trust — Establishes press@carers.org as the organisational press contact email for media enquiries.
8. 8.Carers Trust Consolidated Report and Financial Statements | Charity Commission — Confirms McHugh leads the Executive Team as CEO; cites network turnover of over £138 million in 2023-24.

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 Kirsty McHugh has said

• “It has been reassuring to see the Government accept the vast majority of the recommendations of the Sayce Review, whilst the £75 million allocated by last year's budget is further evidence the Government is serious about righting these wrongs”

  Chief Executive of Carers Trust · Unpaid carers · 30 Sept 2026 · Estimated 25,000 unpaid carers to have debts cut or cancelled ↗

• “incredibly encouraging”

  chief executive of Carers Trust · Unpaid carers · 30 Sept 2026 · DWP benefit review could end unpaid carer earnings limit cliff edge ↗

• “This major review of Carer's Allowance is something we, carers, and the 130+ local carer services in our network have long called for.”

  CEO of Carers Trust · Unpaid carers · 30 Sept 2026 · Views sought to transform benefit paid to carers ↗

• “it was 'incredibly encouraging' that the Government had committed to reviewing the benefit”

  chief executive of Carers Trust · Unpaid carers · 30 Sept 2026 · DWP Carer's Allowance earnings rules could change under review ↗

• “The impact of our catastrophic failure to reform social care on individuals and families was centre stage and there was recognition that supporting families is every bit as valuable as treating illness.”

  chief executive of Carers Trust · Adult social care & reform · 9 Sept 2026 · Industry reacts to Burnham’s adult social care plan ↗

• “Local carer organisations are facing a perfect storm of National Insurance rises, increased operating costs and demands from commissioners to do more with less. If this continues, many of these vital services could be lost forever.”

  Chief Executive of Carers Trust · Adult social care & reform · 8 Sept 2026 · ‘Perfect storm’ of operating cost and NI rises could mean ‘many services are lost forever’ ↗

• “This action plan has the right aims – to make it easier for carers to be identified, get support, and ensure carers are properly considered across health, education and employment. All too often carers continue caring without support, despite the impact on their wellbeing, finances and future opportunities.”

  CEO, Carers Trust · Unpaid carers · 8 Sept 2026 · Millions of unpaid carers to get recognition ↗

• “Carers Trust warmly welcome the Government's willingness to get on with the reassessment exercise and undo historic mistakes. This will have a huge impact on thousands of unpaid carers who were penalised for no fault of their own.”

  Chief Executive Officer of Carers Trust · Unpaid carers · 8 Sept 2026 · Unpaid carers impacted by unclear guidance to have debts cancelled ↗

• “This action plan has the right aims - to make it easier for carers to be identified, get support, and ensure carers are properly considered across health, education and employment.”

  CEO, Carers Trust · Unpaid carers · 8 Sept 2026 · Millions of unpaid carers to get recognition and earlier support ↗

• “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 ↗

Where Kirsty McHugh has been quoted

1. Thousands of unpaid carers to have debts cut after DWP interventionindependent.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
2. Estimated 25,000 unpaid carers to have debts cut or cancelledchroniclelive.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
3. DWP benefit review could end unpaid carer earnings limit cliff edgecambridge-news.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
4. Views sought to transform benefit paid to carersgov.uk · 30 Sept 2026
5. DWP Carer's Allowance earnings rules could change under reviewliverpoolecho.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
6. Industry reacts to Burnham’s adult social care plancaring-times.co.uk · 9 Sept 2026
7. ‘Perfect storm’ of operating cost and NI rises could mean ‘many services are lost forever’carehomeprofessional.com · 8 Sept 2026
8. Millions of unpaid carers to get recognitionthecareruk.com · 8 Sept 2026
9. Unpaid carers impacted by unclear guidance to have debts cancelledgov.uk · 8 Sept 2026
10. Millions of unpaid carers to get recognition and earlier supportgov.uk · 8 Sept 2026
11. DWP to reassess hundreds of thousands of cases in carer’s allowance scandaltheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
12. Senior DWP civil servant blames victims for carer’s allowance scandaltheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
13. Thousands of unpaid carers to face DWP repayment demands during overhaultheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

• Death tax, dementia tax, no tax at all: Why England hasn’t fixed social careTheLead.uk
• Maryland Reform Act Keeps 26 Offenses in Adult Court, Advocates ConcernedDavis Vanguard
• We need help before next general election, carers sayBBC

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.