Celebrity ambassadors and supporters

Our ambassadors help increase the voices of the communities we work with overseas.

From backing fundraising appeals to speaking out on issues such as the climate or refugee crisis, they amplify our work and we are very grateful for all they do.

Dermot O’Leary

The This Morning and BBC Radio 2 star has been a CAFOD ambassador for over 20 years and recently supported our Lent 2024 fundraising campaign with a video message direct from the This Morning studio thanking everyone for taking part.

Dermot has travelled to Sierra Leone, where he met women who had been sexually assaulted during the country’s civil war and former child soldiers undergoing rehabilitation. He has voiced numerous fundraising appeals, from emergencies to our Coronavirus Appeal, and has backed our work on climate change. Dermot and his father also won £32,000 on the celebrity version of ITV gameshow Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, which they donated to our work.

Dermot said: “As a lifelong supporter I am proud to be able to use my public profile to highlight how CAFOD transforms people's lives. Seeing CAFOD posters of babies during the 1984 Ethiopian famine was when I first started thinking about what was happening in the world and what I could do to help.

 “I took part in no end of Lent and Harvest fast days when I was at school, and it was really important for me to see for myself the work that the charity does on the ground in Sierra Leone. I think CAFOD does a heck of a job.” 

Julie Etchingham

The ITV News at Ten presenter and journalist has hosted our flagship Pope Paul VI Lecture, voiced some of our major fundraising films, and reported for ITV News at Ten on CAFOD and Caritas Lebanon’s work with Syrian refugee children.

To celebrate our 60th anniversary in 2022, Julie was on the panel of our ‘Leaders of the Future: Catholic Women in Public Life’ event, and in 2023 she chaired Every Second Counts, CAFOD’s emergency response initiative aiming to raise £5 million in 4 years.

Julie said: "I've been a CAFOD supporter ever since school - it is so lovely still to be involved all these years on, and to introduce my own children to its work too. CAFOD works in the places many of us can't reach: at the sharp end of people's need for support, food and shelter in some of the toughest places on earth. Its dedication is an inspiration - and its ability to educate and draw generations into supporting CAFOD's work is amazing. It's an honour to be an ambassador."

Alex Macqueen

Alex Macqueen, BAFTA nominated actor and star of The Inbetweeners and The Thick of It, is the newest ambassador to join the CAFOD family.

During Lent in 2024, Alex found out about the support that we’re helping to give to Liberian fishermen who, thanks to the right tools, can now stay safe at sea and bring home food for their families. He also shared details of his favourite walk to work through St James's Park in London as a way to encourage others to get involved.

Alex said:

"As a new ambassador for CAFOD, I can’t wait to fly the flag for a charity that I’ve had a lifelong affection for.

"I learnt about the work of CAFOD as a school volunteer at my primary school and it had a profound impact on me. It was the thought of children in other countries, my own age, not able to go home for food that made me want to raise money, so I asked everyone in my class to bring in 50p - this is back in 1984! I was totally delighted to raise £5.40 for CAFOD and I’ve even kept the Royal Mail postal order, in a frame.

"Forty years later, I am proud to continue supporting CAFOD, especially when the need for their work, tackling poverty and injustice around the world, is more vital than ever."

Delia Smith

Cook and television presenter Delia Smith CBE spoke out about the plight of refugee families and urged people to donate to our Refugee Crisis Appeal after being moved by the gravity of the disaster.

She has backed fundraising appeals, from emergencies to fast days, written religious reflections for supporters, and also helped launch our 'Friday Suppers' cookbook which raised vital funds for our work, and kindly donates the royalties from her classic cookbook 'Delia’s Frugal Food' to us.

Delia said: “I’ve been a CAFOD supporter for roughly 50 years. I know that anything I give goes directly to people in need because of the tremendous network the Church has throughout the world. I shall always try to do whatever I can to help.”

Adeniké Adewale

Adeniké is a singer-songwriter from London. She was a contestant on The Voice in 2020, under the mentorship of coach and musician will.i.am, where she wowed the coaches with a rendition of ‘Get Here’ by Oleta Adams. She successfully reached the semi-finals of the show and has since become the leading performer of the show 'Whitney - Queen of the Night' in theatres and arenas both nationally and internationally. 

Adeniké is a passionate youth leader at her local parish and currently works at the Ministry of Justice in the Judicial Office. 

Adeniké became an ambassador for CAFOD in 2024 and helped us express gratitude to everyone participating in the Big Lent Walk, highlighting the transformative power of walking as a time for reflection and prayer. Adeniké will headline our webinar in November and sing at our Advent service in December.

“Being born and brought up in the Catholic Church has been a huge part of my life and faith journey. I feel blessed to be a part of a wider family that I have grown to love and serve. Becoming an ambassador for CAFOD, a charity I have supported through schools and parishes from a young age, is an absolute honour and I look forward to serving the community with my voice and actions both nationally and internationally. I am super excited for the journey ahead, to inspire and to be inspired!”

Emma Rigby

Actress Emma Rigby visited northern Kenya to see how money raised from the DEC and CAFOD's East Africa Crisis appeals was being used to tackle the hunger crisis in the region. Emma was also involved in the ‘The Time is Now’ climate lobby, the largest-ever environmental lobby of parliament – and calls for ambitious new laws that cut plastic waste, improve air quality and help stop the UK’s contribution to climate change by 2045.

Emma said: “My Catholic faith is an integral part of my life, so it is brilliant to be able to collaborate with a charity with the same values. CAFOD works with some of the world’s poorest people, bringing hope and seeking local solutions to end poverty and injustice. I find this incredibly inspiring and can’t wait to work with CAFOD to put my faith into action and give something back.”

Talia Dean

Talia Dean is a singer-songwriter and former X Factor finalist, known for her captivating voice and huge stage presence.

Originally from Hounslow, she went on to be the lead singer in Kings Daughters with a track called Get Up, produced by Queen guitarist Sir Brian May. She went solo in 2021 and released two singles, both going straight to number one on the iTunes blues chart. She is now working on her next music single, a collaboration with Sir Brian May which will be released in 2024.

In 2024 she became an ambassador and launched our first Big Pilgrimage. She has also lent her support to the Big Lent Walk, World Gifts, and in June visited her old primary school where she talked passionately about CAFOD’s work singing hymns and led pupils in prayer.

Talia said: “I was over the moon when I was asked to become an ambassador for CAFOD. I’ve been supporting the charity’s work since I was a child. I find it inspiring that they are helping people in some of the world's worst humanitarian crises driven by their love of God.”

Ooberfuse

Ooberfuse's quirky and upbeat songs have been lauded by Boy George and The Guardian, and they most recently collaborated with Snoop Dogg.

Social justice and inequality are strong themes in their music, and it is this use of music as well as their Catholic faith which motivated them to get involved with CAFOD’s work.

They have helped us with Lent campaigns and supported our Power To Be initiative by running a lyric-writing school workshop where students were encouraged to write their own lyrics on the importance of clean energy.

The band said: "The impact CAFOD has around the world is truly impressive: through CAFOD's interventions ordinary lives are transformed making the world we live in a better place. Through poverty alleviation projects, giving food security to millions, communities are invigorated and the lives of vulnerable people uplifted. To be involved in these noble endeavours in whatever shape or form is a truly humbling experience for us."

High-profile supporters

Frank Cottrell-Boyce

Every Christmas, Children’s Laureate and award-winning screenwriter and author Frank Cottrell-Boyce joins other fundraisers at CAFOD’s Liverpool Fun Run for some festive fun which has become a firm part of his family’s Christmas tradition. This year CAFOD will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of the fun run in Liverpool!

Frank has been a huge supporter of CAFOD’s work for many years and supported our 2024 Lent Appeal encouraging people to give what they could, emphasising the importance of CAFOD’s work in the face of a “world [that] is more unequal and unstable than ever. CAFOD has deep roots in its communities, so you know the aid it delivers is appropriate, sensitive and sustainable”.

Giuseppe Dell’Anno

Giuseppe won the 12th series of the Great British Bake Off in 2021 and this sparked off an ambition to share his family's gastronomic knowledge far and wide.

In 2022 he published his first book, 'Giuseppe’s Italian Bakes', which went on to become the fastest selling new release on Amazon. We were delighted that Guiseppe joined us this year for an inspiring webinar to talk all things baking, Italian food and family traditions, as well as his journey from engineering to baking.