Meet our new Trustees!
We recently welcomed five new expert colleagues to our Board of Trustees.
Jonathan, Renée, Julia, Tom, and Gary each bring their own unique skills and experience to our hospice, and we’re thrilled to welcome them to our special team. Here you can read a bit more about our new volunteer Trustees and discover what motivated them to join us at St Catherine’s.
Jonathan is a policy, public affairs and campaigning professional with 25 years’ experience in the health and social care sector, including 16 years as a director at national hospice charity, Hospice UK. He currently provides consultancy services to organisations working in health and social care. He is a passionate supporter of the hospice sector. Throughout his career, Jonathan has had considerable success in changing policy, shaping legislation and leveraging new funding into the hospice sector. Jonathan lives with his husband, Stephen, in south London. He loves to travel, with North America a particular favourite. If he is not planning his next trip, he is likely to be found working on modernising his home.
Renée has 30 years’ experience working across health and care and has spent the past three years in community health services provider. Renée has worked in a range of managerial and commissioning roles and has experience of working in the voluntary and community sector and in substance misuse services. Renée is a social worker by background and spent many years working in mental health services. Renée is passionate about community services and working alongside patients, the public, colleagues and wider partners to deliver the best quality care. During Covid, Renée was the regional lead for end of life care and worked with hospices across Sussex and Hospice UK to secure additional funding throughout the pandemic.
Renée lives in Angmering, West Sussex with her husband, two sons and dogs, Robbie and Dennis. She enjoys walking around the village with her dogs, spending time with her family, gardening, and is a huge Harry Potter fan!
Julia is a qualified lawyer and has worked in global finance for over 30 years. Her current role is as Managing Director and Risk Manager for a global investment bank.
Julia has two sons and lives in Handcross. She enjoys singing in her work choir, gardening and travelling.
Julia is the Chair of Slaugham Parish Council. She is looking forward to joining the team at St Catherine’s and helping develop the connection between St Catherine’s and the local community.
Tom has been working in the charity sector for almost 10 years in a variety of leadership roles and working for national charities like Macmillan Cancer Support and Cancer Research UK, where he still works today. His passion for charity is driven by his Dad, Mark Lay, who supported charities when he was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer by raising funds and awareness of early diagnosis. Mark sadly died in August 2017 aged just 46 but in his 5 years of living with cancer, he supported various St Catherine’s Hospice campaigns which inspired Tom to move into the sector.
Gary brings extensive experience of healthcare management across primary, community and hospital services, and in quality regulation. For the past 25 years, he has held board level posts in healthcare organisations in the UK and in Qatar, and has experience of both Executive and Non-Executive Director roles. In the UK, Gary was the first CEO of the Brighton and Hove City Primary Care Trust and then a Director at the Care Quality Commission. He then took up the position of Chief of Planning and Performance at Hamad Medical Corporation, the main provider of hospital services in Qatar. Most recently, he was a Non-Executive Director on the board at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead. Gary currently provides advisory and consultancy services to the Ministry of Health in Qatar and other organisations in the UK. Since 2017, he has been the Chair of the Board of Trustees at the East Grinstead Sports Club, a registered charity. Gary lives in East Grinstead with his wife Teresa and they enjoy travel, walking and spending time with their large family including 10 grandchildren. Some years ago, staff at St Catherine’s provided expert end-of-life advice and support to Gary’s parents and their carers.
