Scotty’s – the military bereavement charity, has welcomed Carla Rose-Hardman as its new Head of Service, bringing over 20 years’ experience to help shape and strengthen support for the bereaved military community as the charity expands its reach. In her role, she will lead the development and delivery of Scotty’s services, ensuring support is effective, evidence-led and ready to grow.
Carla joins at a significant time as the charity evolves to reach the wider bereaved military community. Founded in 2010 by Army widow Nikki Scott after her husband, Corporal Lee Scott, was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2009, the charity began as Scotty’s Little Soldiers, supporting bereaved military children and young people. Children remain at the heart of the charity through the “Scotty’s Little Soldiers” service, but later in 2026 adults will also be able to access support as Scotty’s extends its reach.
With a career spanning more than two decades, Carla has held senior leadership roles in national charities supporting children and families across all four nations. She also brings hands-on experience as a practitioner working directly with families, alongside time as a trustee for local children’s charities. Her expertise spans holistic family support, emotional wellbeing, advocacy, information and guidance, and the delivery of high-quality activities and events.
Carla specialises in scaling impactful programmes, ensuring they are shaped by lived experience and underpinned by evidence of need. At Scotty’s, she will lead the ongoing development of services that are effective, evidence-led and ready to grow, drawing on a strong foundation of nationally significant research and insight previously developed by the charity. This includes the UK’s first estimates of the bereaved military community, research into bereaved military children’s experiences in education, and insights from longitudinal data from more than 750 Scotty Members.
Carla will play a key role in shaping Scotty’s new vision for 2026 – positioning the charity to extend its expertise to the wider bereaved military community, while remaining firmly rooted in lived experience. She will work alongside Scotty’s Council to ensure that the voices of bereaved children and young people continue to guide every strategic decision.
Carla said:
“With Scotty’s having built such strong evidence around the needs of the bereaved military community, it feels like a really exciting time to be joining as the charity develops and scales its services.
“With over 20 years’ experience supporting children and families, I have always worked to ensure lived experience is at the centre of the services and support my teams and I have developed throughout my career. That approach feels completely aligned with Scotty’s, where that lived experience has shaped and continues to shape everything the charity does.
“Scotty’s feels like a natural place for me to be at this point in my career, and I’m looking forward to helping build on that strong foundation as the organisation grows its support for the bereaved military community.”
Stuart Robinson, Scotty’s CEO, said:
“Carla brings an exceptional depth of experience and a clear passion for supporting children and families. Her expertise in developing high-quality, evidence-led services will be invaluable as Scotty’s continues to grow and evolve.
“As we expand our support to reach more of the bereaved military community, it is essential that we do so in a way that remains true to our roots and the lived experiences at the heart of Scotty’s. Carla will play a vital role in helping us achieve this, ensuring that every decision we make is shaped by the needs of the people we serve.”
For over 15 years, Scotty’s has combined lived experience with professional expertise to support thousands of bereaved Forces family members and ensure their needs are recognised. Now known as “Scotty’s”, the charity is transitioning to support anyone affected by military-connected bereavement, from any branch of the Armed Forces, whether serving or a veteran, and regardless of their relationship to the person who died or the cause of death.
Scotty’s helps children, young people and adults from the British Armed Forces community to have confidence and clarity in navigating their entitlements, the chance to build social connections, the very best mental health and wellbeing support, and outstanding development opportunities. The charity’s ambition is to empower a community of more than 25,000 bereaved people by 2035.
