Having started my career in retail, working my way up to sales and operations manager at Ryman The Stationer, I joined Forget Me Not in 2016 as Head of Trading. A few years later, I became Director of Income Generation, responsible for our fundraising and marketing teams as well as all our shops. 

Now, I couldn’t be more proud to be the CEO for this amazing charity, based in the place I was born, raised and now live with my family. It’s a once-in-a-career opportunity. 

Ready to take Forget Me Not on the next stage of its journey

Relatively speaking, Forget Me Not is still a young charity. We’ve been delivering care to children and families since 2011. We’ve had setbacks – the pandemic was a huge challenge for us – and huge leaps forward – like our pioneering support for pregnant families or for those devastated by the sudden and unexpected death of their child. 

I’m incredibly proud to be the person charged with plotting the course for the next stage of our journey. I know what we’ve been through to get this far. I know we have firm foundations in place to build on. And I know that we face significant challenges ahead. 

As CEO, my key priority is to protect the future of Forget Me Not. This means having the right care model, the right finances and the right people in place so that we’re here for many years to come. And so that we’re able to help more families and provide more innovative services and support.

Every day’s a school day!

Every day, since the moment I first stepped through the doors of Russell House back in 2016, I’ve learnt something new. Whether that’s hearing from a family about a particular challenge they face, exploring with the team how we could do things differently or gaining my Advanced International Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, my knowledge, understanding and experience is always growing. 

It’s the same for Forget Me Not. We are a learning organisation, always listening to what families tell us and creating innovative services to better meet their needs.

That gives us – and me – agility, the flexibility to adapt to the changing needs of families and the changing world in which we live. We did this superbly during lockdown when we couldn’t deliver vital support in the usual way. We quickly changed how we did things so that the families we support, who felt vulnerable and isolated, got the support they needed. We’re doing that again, right now, as we develop a new way of caring for families to help them not just survive, but thrive. And that also means developing new ways of raising funds.

Banging the drum

A key part of my role is to continue to bang the drum about the vital work children’s hospices do and the need to fund them properly. Building on the amazing work my predecessor Luen has done in this area, I want to ensure that we’re recognised as a critical service for families in West Yorkshire.