The mental health grantmaker the Maudsley Charity has appointed Sarah Holloway as its chief executive.

Holloway succeeds Rebecca Gray, who left the grantmaker in December for a role at the NHS Confederation after nine years. 

Holloway has spent the past two years as programme director at the King’s Maudsley Partnership, where she works across both South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London.

Before her current role, she served for four years as head of mental health at NHS England. She also spent two years as a senior policy adviser in the Department of Health and worked in the Cabinet Office as a policy adviser for just under a year.

Holloway said: “As the largest specialist funder in mental health, we have a huge opportunity to generate innovation in practice and also to scale what we know works. Both will improve support and address longstanding inequalities for people living with mental illness in south London and beyond. 

“We can only have impact through working in partnership, and I am looking forward to extending and developing our relationships, both locally and nationally.”

Frances Corner, chair of the Maudsley Charity, said: “Sarah impressed and inspired us in a competitive selection process. 

“Her passion, understanding and experience in the mental health landscape and her commitment to working in partnership with others will help us leverage impact throughout our next strategic period and drive us closer to achieving our mission where everyone with a mental illness, without exception, gets the right care and support for them.”

Lisa Kiew, finance director at the Maudsley Charity, will continue as interim chief until Holloway joins in April.