Change in Bat Conservation Trust CEO from April 2018

After nearly 20 years at Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) our Joint CEO Julia Hanmer has decided it is time to move on to new challenges and will be leaving at the end of March 2018. Julia is going to take the spring and summer off with her family while she decides what's next. She will remain as Joint CEO with Kit Stoner until the end of March 2018, when Kit will take over as full-time CEO on 1 April 2018.

Julia first took up the role of CEO in December 1998 and has been instrumental in shaping the growth and expansion of BCT to the point where it is today. Julia feels deeply privileged to have had the opportunity to lead such a great organisation and to work with highly committed and skilled people. She will be deeply missed by everyone at BCT and all our partners and collaborators. We have a saying at BCT that "nobody really leaves BCT" so we are pleased that Julia plans to continue this tradition by staying closely involved as a supporter.

Kit is looking forward to continuing to work at BCT and to being an ambassador for the organisation and for bats, influencing others and building partnerships that act in favour of bats. Kit said, "We are very grateful for the huge contribution that Julia has made to bat conservation over the past two decades, and the solid foundation that she helped to create in order to continue to secure the future of bats in our ever changing world."

We hope you will join us in offering Julia our heartfelt thanks for everything she has done for bat conservation while simultaneously giving our support to Kit as she continues our ever more important work to conserve bats and the landscapes on which they rely.