Nadra Ahmed CBE DL

Chair of the National Care Association (NCA)

Nadra has been involved in the field of Social Care for over 40 years. Her background is in training and education, which has been the passion that drives her towards quality service underpinned and provided by a skilled and valued workforce.

She has been the Chair of the NCA since 2001 and is a trustee of Royal British Legion Industries and Governor at Canterbury Christchurch University. She is also the Co Convenor of the Cavendish Coalition, formed to work with the NHS and Unison to support workforce issues in Health and Social Care pre-Brexit. Nadra is currently the Chair of the Care Provider Alliance which brings together 11 national representative bodies in the sector.

Other positions Nadra holds within voluntary organisations delivering services to vulnerable people in the community include:

• Vice President of HiKent a charity supporting people with hearing loss,
• Patron of Rockdale Housing supporting older citizens through a pathway of care and support
• Vice Patron of Kent Autistic Society
• Trustee of Spadeworks which is a charity to support younger adult s with learning disabilities to learn skills and run a garden centre.

She has been a member of a number of Government advisory committees in the UK Government’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) including at Ministerial level and Government Taskforces. Through the Covid pandemic Nadra was the respected voice of care providers consistently both privately with DHSC and publicly.

Nadra is a regular contributor to journals and conferences and is frequently called upon by major media networks to represent the views of Social Care providers both nationally and internationally.

In 2006 she was awarded the OBE for her services to Social Care and the following year was appointed Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Kent and a Kent Ambassador.

Over the years, Nadra has been the recipient of many awards within the care sector from Care Personality to ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Business Community’. Adding to her accolades, in 2023, Nadra was awarded the CBE for her continued services to Social Care.

Outside of social care, Nadra is deeply committed to her local community, and in March 2023, took over the role of High Sheriff of Kent.

The role of High Sheriff has adapted over a long history and today is a non-political Royal appointment for a year. The High Sheriff represents His Majesty the King within their county to support the Judiciary in Maintenance of law and order, delegated in the main to the Chief Constable.

Other responsibilities conferred by the Crown include the wellbeing of High Court Judges, attending Royal visits in the County and various other ceremonial tasks.

The office is independent, non-political and unpaid which enables the High Sheriff to bring together a wide variety of individuals across the county.