MS Trust trustees and patrons
The 13 trustees and four patrons all bring to the charity different skills, knowledge and experience: understanding of MS, charity law and finance, medicine, therapy and nursing. Five have MS themselves and four have MS in their immediate family.
Trustees
Mike Barnes is Professor of Neurological Rehabilitation at the University of Newcastle and the Clinical Director of Hunters Moor Neuro Rehab Ltd. He has a long-standing interest in MS, particularly in applied research and in the improvement of symptom management. He is currently Chairman of the UK Acquired Brain Injury Forum (UKABIF).
Paul Budd is Head of PR and External Relations for Care UK. He has held a number of roles within Royal Mail Group, including External Relations Director from 1999 to 2010. From 2010 to 2011 he was a member of Royal Mail's Group Executive Team.
Dr Alexander Burnfield recently retired as a Consultant in Child and Family Psychiatry. He has written and lectured extensively on MS, been an active campaigner for the needs of people with MS and helped found Persons With MS International.
Helen Caulfield is Head of Legal at the Human Tissue Authority. She worked for many years at the Royal College of Nursing.
Russell Hardy is a founding trustee. He has a strong commercial and accounting background having held senior posts at a number of companies in the retail sector. He is currently Chair of Nuffield Health, Chair of Hunters Moor Neuro Rehab Ltd, Chair of the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic and District Hospital, and a Trustee of the UK Acquired Brain Injury Forum. He has experience of living with MS in his immediate family
Jill Holt is a founding trustee. She has worked in the MS voluntary sector for over 30 years and brings to the Trust her expertise in fundraising as well as knowledge gained from living with MS in her immediate family.
Sarah Joiner took early retirement from the Department of Health in 2007. She is actively involved in her local community and several national charities. Diagnosed in 1981, she contributes as an Expert Patient to a number of forums on long term neurological conditions, with a particular interest in vocational rehabilitation. Sarah credits her "get up and go" to her wonderful family and the brilliant MS multi-disciplinary team at the National Hospital in London..
Chris Jones was a co-founder of the MS Trust in 1993 and retired as Chief Executive in July 2008. Her passionate belief in the need for good quality information and in fighting for improved health services for people with MS have shaped the work of the MS Trust.
Nick Kavanagh has worked mainly in the international aid area of the charity sector with Oxfam and Save the Children. He currently works part time the Arvon Foundation, lectures in charity finance and taxation at St Mary's University College Twickenham and Southbank University, and volunteers with the Charity Tax Group.
Dawn Langdon is Professor of Neuropsychology at Royal Holloway, University of London and is qualified in clinical, health and neuro-psychology. Her research interests focus on psychological aspects of MS, including multinational studies of cognition and the effects of medication.
Mike Laver was a pilot and instructor in the RAF flying helicopters. He was diagnosed with remitting relapsing MS in 2005 and has since retired from the RAF to retrain as a fine furniture maker.
Thea Longley is a solicitor with Bates, Wells & Braithwaite specialising in work for charities and social enterprises.
Neil Scolding is Burden Professor of Clinical Neurosciences and Director of the Institute at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol. His research interest is in exploring the role of stem cells in tissue repair in MS and how that may translate into treatment.
Patrons
Edith Rifkind trained as a zoologist and worked as a researcher in the Department of Medicine at Edinburgh University. She was diagnosed with primary progressive MS in 1997.
Laurence and Jackie Llewelyn-Bowen have long been associated with the MS Trust. Whilst Laurence is well known for his flamboyance and flair from his television appearances, fewer people may realise Jackie's influence in their design business. They have donated designs for a range of cards not only in memory of Laurence's mother who had MS, but also for Jackie's mother who was recently diagnosed. Laurence and Jackie bring to the MS Trust a 'can do' approach summed up in their motto 'Don't dream it. Be it'.