Hilary Dodd - COO

Hilary joined Age UK Sutton as Services Director in October 2019, was made Chief Operating Officer in 2023, but spent 8 months of 2024 in the Acting CEO role during recruitment.  Prior to Age UK she was Services Manager for Richmond and Kingston at Alzheimer’s Society for over 8 years.  She is passionate about ensuring that vulnerable and older people have access to good quality support that is centred around them and what matters to them, and enabling them to tell their story to as few people as necessary. 

Hilary has extensive experience in leading projects within the voluntary sector, and prior to this within industry.  Her strengths encompass strong networking skills, strategic thinking, data and impact assessments, collaborative and partnership working and effective engagement at all levels within community and statutory agencies.  She sits on a number of local Strategic Boards, including the the Mental Health Partnership Board, Sutton Dementia Strategy Group and the Frailty Partnership Board to name a few.  ​

She has substantial experience of strategically managing  commissioned and grant funded services, and more recently, charity enterprise.  In particular she developed an innovative proprietary person-centred toolkit for all teams within Age UK Sutton, to facilitate a holistic understanding of all clients, enabling them to establish their own goals and needs, and working together with an Age UK Sutton team member to develop a plan of support, as identified. ​

Previously Hilary worked for United Distillers as International Marketing Services Manager, and as a freelance Marketing Manager, before taking extended leave for family reasons, including a spell living in New York.  She is excited for the future of Age UK Sutton and the opportunities that she is able to leverage to ensure older people living in Sutton are supported in an age-friendly Society.