New Chair brings international corporate leadership and governance as Bat For A Chance looks to scale up their global operations.
Bat for a Chance (BFAC), the cricket-for-social change charity, has appointed Mel Sims as its new Chair, succeeding Omar Khan, who retires after five years in the role.
Mel is a Partner at DWF, where he leads on major corporate and M&A deals across the financial services and insurance sectors. Prior to that he spent 26 years at DLA Piper, latterly running the firm’s Middle East corporate practice across seven offices, advising on landmark transactions with the Towergate Group, Global Risk Partners, Hastings Direct, PSC Insurance Group and many more. He is a trustee of the Utley Foundation, and the Cullum Family Trust and sits on the Investment Committee of the Bayes Business School Entrepreneurship Fund.
Will Gaffney, Founder of Bat For a Chance, said: “Mel’s exactly the Chair the charity needs right now. We’re growing fast, and having someone with his experience leading the board is a huge asset and really excites me as we take Bat For a Chance into its next chapter. I also want to say a huge thank you to Omar. He’s guided this charity from its earliest days through to now impacting thousands of individuals a year, and that leadership has shaped everything we’ve built. We’re hugely grateful to him.”
Mel joins at a pivotal moment for BFAC. Having grown from a kit recycling operation into a global cricket-for-social change charity, BFAC is now looking to build greater infrastructure — to match its ambition. Under Mel’s leadership, the charity plans to deepen its flagship programmes, using cricket to address key global challenges such as gender equality, poverty and education access while strengthening its board and staff to support the next phase of international growth.
Mel Sims, incoming Chair, said: “It’s an honour to be joining Bat For a Chance at this stage of its journey. It has already achieved so much on pure energy and ambition, and the opportunity now is to help shape what comes next building off the fantastic foundation that the team have created. I am looking forward to getting properly stuck in over the coming months and most importantly playing my part in changing people’s lives through cricket.”
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