The youth work charity Redthread has announced its chief executive Lucie Russell will leave the charity as its merger with the education and training charity Catch22 continues.

Russell will become chief executive of the criminal justice education charity User Voice.

Redthread and Catch22 initially announced that the two charities were “exploring” the conditions of a merger in July. 

The charities said Redthread employees were expected to transfer into Catch22 and deliver its programmes as a branded service.

Redthread said today that Russell would leave the charity tomorrow (13 September) and Tayo Salami, chief operating officer, and Garnet Johnson, director of services, would leave in the next couple of months as the merger progresses.

Kate Wareham, strategic director of Catch22’s young people, families and communities hub, will lead Redthread as its director, the charities announced.

Wareham will be supported by the wider Catch22 chief officer group and governance oversight during the next merger phase will be provided by a transition trustee board made up of some existing Redthread trustees with new members joining from Catch22. 

Catch22 did not respond to questions from Third Sector about whether any of the leavers were being made redundant.

Paula McDonald, chair of Redthread, said Russell had led the charity with “grit and determination” over a period of “many challenges” alongside the executive team.

McDonald said: “[Russell’s] leadership and expertise have been pivotal in enabling us to reach a point, through our merger with Catch22, where we are better able to continue responding effectively to the ever-growing needs of the children and young people affected by violence and exploitation that we work with.”

On joining User Voice, Russell said the charity’s model was “targeted, effective and with on-the-ground expertise”.

She said: “The organisation has such a groundbreaking history of ensuring experts with experience of the criminal justice system are at the forefront of much-needed operational improvements and systems change, and I am hugely proud to be leading the charity into the future.

“User Voice’s model of ensuring the most marginalised people are at the heart of changes both in policy and practice works, because it is targeted, effective and enriched with on-the-ground expertise.

“With a new government and a system in crisis, I am totally committed to ensuring my role and skill set continues to empower the organisation’s thriving network of experts by experience, amplifying their voices and increasing their influence, to ensure they play a pivotal role in creating a far more effective criminal justice system that works for all.”