The helpline is closed from 23-26 December and 31 December-1 January.

  1. 20-22 December: 9am-8pm
  2. 27-30 December: 10am-4pm weekdays; 10am-1pm weekend

We will respond to client enquiries during these hours but it may take us longer than 48 hours to respond. We will re-open fully on 2 January 2024.

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Team ASN

Staff

Interim CEO Sam Smethers joined ASN in December 2022. Sam is the former Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society, the UK’s leading feminist campaigning charity and is also a trustee of BPAS. She brings 12 years’ experience of being a charity CEO. Since Jan 2021 she has been freelancing, working for a number of not-for-profits to help them to grow their impact or move to the next stage of development, including 18 months working as the Project Director for a new national Black-led charity, the Black Equity Organisation.

Service Manager Annie Tidbury joined ASN in April 2023. She oversees and supports our frontline services including the helpline, accommodation team, translation team and hosting team. Annie’s background is in advocacy and before joining ASN she worked at a disability rights organisation and a rape crisis centre. She spends a lot of time thinking about how we can do radical, transformative work within oppressive systems. When she’s not working she can be found swimming, gaming or volunteering with a local Rainbows group. 

Fundraising and Communications Manager Dani Anderson joined ASN in June 2021. She looks after ASN’s fundraising activities, including working with our wonderful volunteers on individual giving, community fundraising, and trusts and foundations. She will also be working to diversify ASN’s income so we can make sure we can continue to help people get abortions. She lives in Glasgow, and outside of ASN volunteers with sex worker rights charity Scot-Pep.

Volunteer and Admin Assistant Julia Pata joined ASN in April 2023. She is a human rights activist who has worked on reproductive rights campaigns in Poland and the UK. Julia is currently a Youth Director on the Board of Directors of Amnesty International UK and volunteers with grassroots organisations in Poland. At ASN, she supports our volunteer teams and provides support across the organisation to help keep everything running smoothly.

CEO recruitment

Board of Trustees

Charlotte Fischer (Chair) was a member of the ASN helpline team for six years before joining the ASN Board. Charlotte works for Citizens UK as a Senior Community Organiser and is co-Founder of feminist organisation Love & Power and antisemitism training organisation L’Taken. She brings vast experience in politics, conflict, movement and coalition building, and, of course, radical practical feminism.

Sarah Wootton was a founding trustee of Abortion Rights and led campaigns in reproductive rights and gender equality at the Family Planning Association and Equal Opportunities Commission. She is now CEO of Dignity in Dying, the campaign for choice at the end of life, and its sister charity Compassion in Dying, a service provider that supports people to have greater control over their deaths within existing laws.

Vicky Elliott (Secretary) is a human rights campaigner, organiser and activist with experience in Ireland, Belgium, France and Canada. She works and campaigns on various issues, from climate justice, to accountability in Sri Lanka, to peace and nuclear disarmament. After having an abortion in 2015, she took up running challenges to raise money for ASN and has been supporting us ever since. 

Sophie Bridge (Treasurer) lives in Islington, grew up near Manchester, and is a 30 year veteran of COO roles in top tier financial services firms across Asia and Europe. A life long feminist and believer in the fundamental right of women to own their reproductive health outcomes, she hopes that her experience in the practical financial management of successful businesses will add value to ASN.

Sangeetha Navaratnam-Blair has worked and volunteered in the women’s rights sector for many years, both in the UK and internationally. She currently works in the women peace and security field, and has voluntary commitments across gender-based violence, women’s political participation, global health and is thrilled to support ASN as a host and now a trustee.

Jane St Pier has lived in Guernsey for the last 25 years, holding director/trustee positions in various charities and not-for-profit organisations, primarily in the children and young people sector.  She was Chair of the Youth Commission for Guernsey and Alderney for six years, and also co-founded a charity offering specialist support to teenagers.  She is currently a director of the Guernsey Community Foundation and also the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce.  A chartered accountant, prior to her involvement in the charitable sector, Jane held senior positions in the finance industry.