Jill Elizabeth Pitkeathley, Baroness Pitkeathley, (née Bisson; born 4 January 1940) is a British Labour Party member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

. Her first job was working for Manchester City Council as a trainee child care officer in 1961. She was paid £660 a year. She worked in the

voluntary sector The voluntary sector, independent sector, or civic sector is the realm of social activity undertaken by organizations that are non-governmental nonprofit organizations. This sector is also called the third sector, community sector, and nonprofit ...

, as chief executive of

Carers A caregiver or carer is a paid or unpaid member of a person's social network who helps them with activities of daily living. Since they have no specific professional training, they are often described as informal caregivers. Caregivers most commo ...

National Association (now renamed Carers UK) for which she was appointed an OBE in the

1993 Birthday Honours The 1993 Queen's Birthday honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's ...

. Mrs Pitkeathley was created a life peer as Baroness Pitkeathley, of Caversham in the

Royal County of Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

, on 6 October 1997. Since 1998 she has been chair of one of the lottery distributors, the New Opportunities Fund. In 2004, she was appointed chair of the

Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) is a non-departmental public body in England set up to promote the welfare of children and families involved in family court. It was formed in April 2001 under the provisions ...

(CAFCASS). Lady Pitkeathley also chaired the Office for Civil Society Advisory Body until its abolition in March 2011. Lady Pitkeathley was a founding member of

ACEVO ACEVO (Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations) is a membership body for the leaders of third sector organisations in England and Wales. ACEVO has sister organisations in Scotland (acosvo) and Northern Ireland (CO3 Chief Officer ...

, the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations. She is a trustee of

Cumberland Lodge Cumberland Lodge is a 17th-century Grade II listed country house in Windsor Great Park 3.5 miles south of Windsor Castle. Since 1947 it has been occupied by the charitable foundation known as Cumberland Lodge, which holds residential conferences ...

References

1940 births Living people Pitkeathley, Jill Pitkeathley, Baroness Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Officers of the Order of the British Empire {{Life-peer-stub