Brain Tumour Research is announcing a number of changes to its Board of Trustees at the start of the charity’s new financial year.
Wendy Fulcher is standing down as Chair of Brain Tumour Research. The role of Chair will now be taken up by Trustee and current Vice Chair Rob Hughes, Sue Farrington Smith MBE, also a Trustee, will become Vice Chair.
Rob and his wife, Carole, established Anna’s Hope, a Member Charity of Brain Tumour Research, when they lost their youngest daughter Anna to a brain tumour at the age of three.
Having worked for Mars Inc for 33 years, where he was managing director of Mars Food in the UK for 11 years, Rob was chair of North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust from 2013 to 2021 and a member of Cambridgeshire Integrated Care Board.
Co-founder and former Chief Executive of Brain Tumour Research, Sue led the coming together of a number of brain tumour charities to found Brain Tumour Research in 2009. At the end of June last year, Sue announced that she was retiring from her role as Chief Executive after undergoing extensive surgery for low-grade abdominal cancer the previous year.
Sue’s passion for the brain tumour cause comes from the loss of her beloved niece Alison Phelan in 2001 just before her eighth birthday and the many families that she met along the way.
Wendy’s determination to bring about better outcomes for brain tumour patients came about after losing her husband John to the devastating disease and led her to set up Brain Tumour Research Campaign, which is also a Member Charity of Brain Tumour Research.
Our CEO, Dan Knowles said: “We extend a huge vote of thanks to Wendy for her invaluable services as chair and are relieved that she is not leaving us as a trustee, just standing aside for Rob to take up the reins. And we know we’ll be in very capable hands with Rob at the helm and Sue alongside.
“We are grateful to all our Trustees who are vital members of our team, each with their own unique expertise which plays a key role in the development of the charity and helps set our overall strategic direction.
“It’s been a fantastic year for Brain Tumour Research – our best ever in terms of income – and we have exciting plans for next year which will help fund even more research in the quest to identify more effective treatments, while bringing us closer to our vision of finding a cure for all types of brain tumours.”
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