Management Team

Simon Aulton – Chief Executive

Dr Simon Aulton is the Chief Executive Officer of Community Action Dacorum.  Simon trained as a chemist before moving in to the third sector and has worked in charities for over 25 years in various roles supporting sector development, specialising in youth charities.  Simon has worked in growth and development for The Scout Association and prior to joining Community Action Dacorum was the Deputy Chief Executive Officer at The IARS International Institute, a London based think tank working across Europe.  Simon was a Director of Partnership for Young London an umbrella body supporting youth organisations in the capital. 

As a volunteer, Simon is an Explorer Scout Leader at his daughters’ Scout Group. 

Helen Mutio – Deputy Chief Executive

Helen is the Deputy Chief Executive of Community Action Dacorum.  Helen has a degree in Behavioural Science and has worked in the voluntary sector both in the UK and abroad for over 30 years with organisations that specialise in supporting health and wellbeing and community development.  She is passionate about individuals being treated with respect and given opportunities without barriers to achieve.   

Helen has over the years also been an active volunteer in the community working with the Crescent HIV Support Group, Home-Start Dacorum/Hertfordshire and as a governor at Health Lane Nursery.

Loretta Anderson – Head of Communities

Loretta has been with Community Action Dacorum for nearly 30 years joining at the beginning of October 1994 after being a volunteer for 7 years.    

Loretta supports local voluntary and community groups to have good governance in place, seek funding, training and volunteers to support their work.  Loretta led the CAD team during the pandemic that recruited and trained 1000 local volunteers to support the NHS staff at the vaccination centres and then organised the rotas of up to 75 volunteers a day, 7 days a week for 14 months which added up to over 50,000 hours of volunteer support for the two Hemel Hempstead based vaccine centres, for which she was honoured by the Rotary Foundation as a Paul Harris Fellow. 

Loretta is also Chair of the board of trustees for The Centre in the Park and the Margaret Lloyd Playgroup.  She is also a Director of Dacortium, a consortium of Dacorum Charities and has recently retired after 23 years as a Governor of a local secondary school where she led on Admissions and Safeguarding. 

Cindy Withey – Head of Employability

Cindy provides information and expertise on community involvement opportunities for businesses of all sizes and supports its members in the delivery of their Corporate Social Responsibility objectives.  She has been working at Community Action Dacorum since 2013 and has over 20 years’ experience of working on CSR-related projects with Hertfordshire company Grass Roots in Tring and also for City & Guilds in London where she also organised events which involved HRH Prince Philip The Duke of Edinburgh.

Cindy has been involved in various volunteering roles for local school and sports groups. In 2012 Cindy was particularly proud to have been a Games Maker at the London 2012 Olympic Games and also for volunteering at a local vaccination centre throughout COVID 19. 

Alex Care – Head of Wellbeing

Alex has a wealth of experience and a passion for supporting the community and a strong background in community services, having previously served in roles that focused on improving the lives of individuals and families in our local area. She has a dedication to fostering positive change and an innovative approach to wellbeing initiatives .

In her role as Head of Wellbeing, Alex is leading efforts to develop and implement a wide range of programs and services aimed at promoting physical, mental, and emotional health within our community. From organising wellness workshops and support groups to collaborating with local partners on initiatives that address key health issues, Alex is at the forefront of our efforts to create a healthier and happier community for all.

Simon Aulton – Chief Executive

Dr Simon Aulton is the Chief Executive Officer of Community Action Dacorum. Simon trained as a chemist working on European Business development for an analysis company in Manchester before moving in to the third sector and has worked in charities for over 25 years in various roles. Simon has worked in growth and development for The Scout Association and prior to joining Community Action Dacorum was the Deputy Chief Executive at The IARS International Institute, a London based think tank working across Europe. Simon was a Director of Partnership for Young London an umbrella body supporting youth organisations in the capital. 

As a volunteer, Simon is an Explorer Scout Leader at his daughters’ Scout Group. 

Ian McKenzie – Head of Service

Founder of HITS and manager of overall Service since 2001.  Since 2006, Ian has also been HITS Head of Training, tutoring over 2300 students on 90 ‘short’ courses and 15 annual DPSI courses (Local Government and English Law options).  Twice recipient of the Nuffield Trophy from the Chartered Institute of Linguists as tutor of the UK’s most successful DPSI examination group entry of the year.  Member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists Quality Committee from 2007 to 2018 and guest lecturer in Public Service Interpreting at the University of Bedfordshire from 2009 to 2012. 

Ian is the HITS Head of Quality, overseeing its ISO9001 and 27001 accreditations, and author of all HITS tender submissions. He has guided HITS from its original status as a small locally based training provider to its present position as a major provider of language support services. 

Fatima Ikram – Head of Bookings

A trainee on the very first HITS ‘short’ course in April 2002, Fatima has achieved the full DPSI qualification in both Local Government and Health options. In addition to her management responsibilities with HITS, she has completed over 7000 hours of professional interpreting in the Urdu language, specialising in Hospital and GP Services, Mental Health, Adult Care Services, Learning Disabilities and Child Protection.  

Fatima has over 10 years of management experience and holds day-to-day responsibility for the smooth running of the delivery of interpreting services to HITS customers. As such she has immediate responsibility for the delivery of more than 40,000 interpreting assignments to more than 300 customers every year.

Riffat Ali – Head of Finance

A HITS ‘short’ course trainee in 2006, Riffat has achieved the full DPSI qualification in both Local Government and English Law options. A former member of the National Register of Public Service Interpreters, she has completed over 10000 hours of professional interpreting in the Urdu and Punjabi languages, specialising in Hospital and GP Services, Mental Health, learning Disabilities, Police and Court services. Riffat joined HITS in 2007 as a member of the Booking Team, assumed responsibility for payroll services in 2009 and became Head of Finance in 2017.  

A qualified payroll professional, Riffat assumes overall responsibility for the issuing of customer invoices and the collation of accompanying data activity. As Lead of HITS Forecasting Group, she is responsible for trend analysis, business risk management and budget recovery planning.