We are delighted to announce the appointment of Jeremy Cross as our new Chair of Trustees.
With a background in chartered accountancy, Jeremy has pursued a varied career in retail and financial services, working for Selfridges, Boots, ASDA and Halifax Bank of Scotland. Eight years ago, he gave up full-time work to look after his daughter as well as undertaking a number of paid and unpaid non-executive roles. He is currently Chair of Mansfield Building Society and a non-executive director at Harrogate NHS Foundation Trust. He also spent five years on the Board at Airedale Hospital.
Jeremy said: “I’m excited to take up the position of Chair at Forget Me Not at this really interesting time. Having worked in the NHS, I’ve long been intrigued by why, despite being a very trusted and essential part of healthcare provision in the UK, hospices do not receive guaranteed statutory funding. Given the government’s recognition, during this pandemic, of the importance of hospice care, this is a good time to open the debate on what the role of a hospice is and how we should be funded.
Having come through what has been a very challenging year, Forget Me Not is now in a great position to build on the progress made by the Board and Exec team which will see the charity continue to make a genuine difference to people’s lives. I’m grateful to my predecessor, Kathryn Winterburn, for her hard work in getting Forget Me Not to this point. It’s a real privilege to be able to pick up the baton and carry that work forward.”
Luen Thompson, our chief executive, said: “Jeremy has been with us for the last 18 months and has a really good in depth knowledge of the charity, the services it provides, the opportunities that lay before us and the context within which we operate. This continuity and understanding is important as we come through the pandemic period and build on the foundations we now have in place. It means we can take advantage of his extensive level of governance experience which together with the focused expertise of our trustees can help the charity make the step change required to support the growing number of local families who would benefit from our support.”