january 2026 CEO Blog

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Looking Ahead with Purpose: Empowering Choice

As we step into 2026, I would like to wish everyone connected to The Road Victims Trust a healthy, successful and prosperous year ahead.

The start of a new year brings reflection and renewed focus, and for RVT this feels like a particularly important moment. As we move from planning into delivery of our 2025–2028 Strategic Plan, we are strengthening the foundations of the charity to ensure we remain responsive, resilient and focused on what matters most — the people we support.

One important step in this journey is the introduction of a new Operations Manager role, a vital addition that will support the day-to-day running of the trust and allow greater focus on strategic leadership, partnership working and service development. This appointment will also provide me with more time and greater flexibility for income generation, ensuring the longer term sustainability of the trust.

Alongside this, another significant development — and one I believe represents a meaningful step forward for RVT — is the implementation of a Legal Panel, which I anticipate will go live early in 2026.

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Why a Legal Panel — and Why Now?

For many of our clients, the aftermath of a fatal or life-changing road collision brings not only grief and trauma, but complex legal decisions at a time when clarity can feel out of reach. Navigating legal systems can be overwhelming, particularly when individuals are still processing shock, loss or life-changing injury.

My own early experiences of the legal profession came through the criminal justice system, working with solicitors and barristers focused on prosecution and defence cases. Over the past two years as CEO of RVT, I have met a very different group of professionals — lawyers, rehabilitation specialists, financial advisers and business development managers — whose commitment to ethical, client-centred support has really impressed me.

What unites them is a shared focus on helping people rebuild their lives, not just secure outcomes on paper. It is this approach that has shaped our thinking around the Legal Panel.

It is also important to acknowledge that law firms are, by necessity, businesses. They provide their services with the expectation that there may be a financial benefit in the future. For RVT, it is imperative that this reality never disadvantages the client. Our approach to developing the Legal Panel has been guided by finding the right balance — selecting firms whose commitment to ethical practice, transparency and high standards of client care ensures that individuals’ needs, choices and wellbeing always come first.
This will be reinforced through robust due diligence at the point of selection and ongoing review thereafter.

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Empowerment Through Informed Choice

The Legal Panel is being developed with one clear principle at its heart: empowerment.

At a time of extreme emotional trauma and grief, it is vital that individuals are able to seek support from trusted, reputable and ethically grounded law firms. This matters deeply to RVT. Any organisations included within the Legal Panel will be subject to appropriate due diligence, reflecting professional expertise, ethical standards and a clear commitment to client-first practice.

The panel is not about directing clients towards particular firms or limiting choice. Instead, it provides access to ethically aligned, high-quality legal professionals, alongside clear information that allows people to make decisions at their own pace and in a way that suits their own needs and circumstances.

Crucially, this approach recognises that recovery after a fatal or life-changing collision involves far more than legal advice alone. Through relationships developed alongside the Legal Panel, clients may also be able to access information about wider support services, including:

• Rehabilitation specialists, supporting physical recovery and independence
• Financial advice, helping clients understand compensation, long-term planning and financial security
• Vocational or employment support, where injury or trauma has affected the ability to work
• Family and dependency planning, particularly where caring roles or family circumstances have changed
• Practical guidance on benefits, entitlements and care provision, helping to reduce uncertainty and stress

These options are not presented as directives, but as choices. Clients remain firmly in control of what support they access, when they access it, and whether it feels right for them.

By offering clear, trusted information within a trauma-informed framework, RVT aims to support people not just through immediate crisis, but towards longer-term stability, confidence and hope for the future.

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Safeguarding Integrity and Independence

We are acutely aware of the ethical responsibilities that come with developing a Legal Panel. Its implementation will be underpinned by transparent selection criteria, clear ethical expectations and ongoing review.The Legal Panel strengthens client choice without altering RVT’s independent and collaborative role.

Maintaining trust, integrity and strong relationships with our police and statutory partners remains essential.

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A Natural Progression for RVT

As RVT continues to evolve, so too must the ways in which we support those who turn to us at the most difficult moments of their lives. The Legal Panel reflects a natural progression of our mission: standing alongside people affected by fatal and life-changing collisions and supporting them to move forward with the right information, at the right time, in the right way.

I am confident that 2026 will be a year of meaningful progress — not just in structures and plans, but in the lived experiences of the individuals and families we support.

Thank you, as always, to our staff, volunteers, trustees and partners for your continued commitment, compassion and belief in RVT’s work. Together, we are building a future that offers people greater confidence, clearer choices and lasting support.

Paul Cook
Chief Executive Officer
The Road Victims Trust

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