What we do
Our primary focus is to educate young people about stalking. We do this through school assemblies and PSHE lessons that explain about healthy and unhealthy relationships, how to recognise and respond to unwanted attention, how to help a friend, and how to manage one’s own negative behaviour.
We also upskill professionals in contact with young people to help them recognise and respond appropriately to stalking.
Added to this, we are actively involved in the development and delivery of programmes to prevent young people becoming stalkers in the first place, such as the EASI (Early Awareness Stalking Intervention) Project [link].
Beyond this core work, we deliver a range of services aimed at professionals who work, or might come into contact, with stalking victims or perpetrators, including training for criminal justice and social and healthcare professionals. We also provide information and advice for stalking victims and potential perpetrators, although we not offer advocacy.
Finally, we support academic research and run annual conferences that bring together practitioners and academics to promote dialogue and cooperation, and thereby to improve outcomes for stalking victims and perpetrators.
Our Trustees
Introducing our Trustees and Officers
Dawn Anderson
Trustee
Dawn is a Qualified Teacher with a background in Public Relations and Leadership and Management. Having been stalked for several years, Dawn is keen to champion and help publicize new initiatives that could prevent stalking from occurring, support victims or lead to better management of perpetrators.Dawn is a Qualified Teacher with a background in Public Relations and Leadership and Management. Having been stalked for several years, Dawn is keen to champion and help publicize new initiatives that could prevent stalking from occurring, support victims or lead to better management of perpetrators.
Tiffany Cater
Trustee
Tiffany is a criminology and forensic science lecturer at Solihull College & University Centre, as well as a PhD candidate at Birmingham City University, exploring stalking among young people aged 16–24. She is passionate about raising awareness of stalking among young people.
Mark Haggan
Trustee
Mark is a change professional, having led transformation functions for various organisations in the aviation and retail sectors, and currently leads the Transformation Delivery function for The Co-operative Group. Mark has been involved in the education sector both as a trustee of various development education charities and as a school chair of governors.
Anne Headley
Treasurer
Anne is a recently-retired Director of Finance and Operations, having worked in the education and charity sectors for 25 years.
Sue Hills
Trustee
Sue is Alice Ruggles’ mother and a co-founder of the Trust. Sue has delivered talks to school and university pupils, youth groups, the police and the CPS. She is actively involved in campaigning to change the law to protect victims and to manage perpetrators effectively.
Emma Kay
Trustee
Emma is an Inspector within Durham Constabulary. As their operational lead on Stalking and Harassment, she has created the training packages and roll-out of stalking training within the force. Alongside the Alice Ruggles Trust, she has set up a project to roll out education in schools around unhealthy relationships and stalking.
Maria Mullins
Trustee
Maria is a Senior Lecturer at St Mary’s University, London who has also trained as an Independent Stalking Advocacy Caseworker (ISAC). She is keen to bridge the gap between academic theory and practice and is also working to improve the safety and awareness of the student body around stalking, domestic abuse and coercive control.
Clive Ruggles
Chair
Clive is Alice’s father and a co-founder of the Trust. Clive has spoken at numerous training and development sessions for the police, CPS and judiciary as well as to social and healthcare services, academic colleagues and students. He manages the Trust’s administrative services and plays a leading role in its public awareness raising and campaigning work.
Nick Ruggles
Trustee
Nick is Alice’s elder brother and a co-founder of the Trust. As a software developer and systems architect he has a particular interest in working with technology companies to protect and safeguard victims, along with technologies for tackling cyber-stalking directly.
Catriona Sibert
Trustee
Catriona is a Partnerships Manager at Frontline, working with social services departments across the Midlands. She has a range of professional and voluntary experience in the charity sector, working in communications for Cancer Research UK and with young people in schools and through Girlguiding UK. Catriona also has a personal connection to Alice, having fenced with her in the East Midlands youth squad.
Rachael Wheatley
Trustee
Rachael is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Derby, having previously worked for HMPPS (Midlands) for 21 years. Since September 2022, she has been managing a forensic psychology practitioner qualification programme, conducting research, and undertaking consultancy, specialising in stalking and related matters.
Our team
Alongside our wonderfully active Trustees, the Alice Ruggles Trust staff and an ever-growing number of volunteers help us develop, carry out, and promote many of our wide range of activities.
Victoria Charleston
Managing Director
Victoria has a background in policy and campaigns in and around Westminster and had worked specifically in stalking for three years before coming to our Trust in 2020. She has been instrumental in a number of key successes across the sector including the extension of sentences for perpetrators and the introduction of Stalking Protection Orders.
Grace Wilson
Community Engagement Manager
Grace is deeply committed to empowering young minds. Her focus is on recognizing and addressing unhealthy relationship behaviours, particularly stalking. Grace’s role at the Trust includes coordinating our new Durham schools project [add link], which aims to bring education and awareness of the insidious issue of stalking to young people. Grace also helps with our social media output.
Faye Kennedy
Administrative Support Officer
Faye is a recent graduate in Criminology with Forensic Investigation. She has developed a deep passion in wanting to support victims of crime and their loved ones and believes that raising awareness and increasing understanding can truly have a positive impact.
Our partners
These are some of the charities, businesses, and public sector bodies we are delighted to be working in partnership with:
