Directors
Meet the senior team. Below, they give their thoughts on their team's achievements over the 2009-10 financial year.
A note from the Chairman
Professor Martin Bobrow CBE FRS FMed Sci
Despite the most demanding economic climate in recent memory we have delivered and grown our core services this year as planned, a major achievement of which we should all be proud.
We have had a number of key successes this year of direct benefit to our families, doctors and scientists. Winning Tesco support for children’s equipment and wheelchairs will benefit hundreds of families throughout the country in the coming months. Our campaign for better NHS services is delivering tangible results that will benefit families; £1m has been secured in the South West of England to fund 15 new posts, including two neuromuscular consultants and four care co-ordinators. We are indebted to all the families, clinicians and parliamentarians who are supporting our campaigning work across the UK.
The major risk your charity faces is a decrease in income during a climate of unprecedented economic uncertainty. Everything is being done to secure funds going forward and we are especially grateful to all our supporters who have donated or fundraised this year.
The future. The coming 12-24 months will be critical. We have to work hard to make sure that the significant sums that we have raised through Tesco are well spent helping hundreds of families meet their children's equipment needs. We also have to work hard to secure the income needed to maintain existing programmes for our families, doctors and scientists. With a number of clinical trials underway and entering Phase II, one of the main aims of our campaigns programmes is to ensure that the infrastructure is in place to support future treatments.
When we report back in a year's time we hope that the fruits of all this hard work will be apparent and that, in particular, children and adults living with muscle disease will be enjoying significantly better treatments and services as a result of the campaigning work we have been doing. We can no longer allow muscular dystrophy to be the Cinderella disease of the NHS that it has been for so long.
Together we're stronger.
A note from the directors
Acting Chief Executive and Director of Policy and Operations and Company Secretary - Robert Meadowcroft
The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign is leading the fight to ensure every child and adult who has muscle disease has access to specialist care and support in their local community as well as through specialist centres. We draw together individuals, families, clinicians and parliamentarians to make sure that the voice of people living with muscle disease is at the heart of our campaigns.
Director of Care and Support - Lyn Inman
This year we invested £660,000 in NHS services, including our highly valued care advisors. We also provided free practical and emotional support to over 6,500 families and individuals. Anyone living or working with muscle disease can now sign up for care events, receive confidential support, free information and signposting to specialist local services in one step. Call us on 0800 652 6352 (freephone) or email info@muscular-dystrophy.org.
Director of Research - Dr Marita Pohlschmidt
As well as investing £1.7m in the pursuit of knowledge our twin focus this year has been in research communication. We published our first dedicated research magazine, Target Research, and improved the news service on this website. Progress in finding treatments is close to the heart of our families and we are keen that new research advances are speedily brought to them in a language everybody can understand.
Director of Finance - Hassan Khan
Hassan is a Chartered Certified Accountant with extensive experience both in the commercial and public sectors having held senior roles in both since moving out of Practice. In June 2009, after completing a six month interim role at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, Hassan was invited to become Director of Finance to lead his team through the exciting and challenging Tesco Partnership. He plans to add value by streamlining procedures and systems as well as by increasing the efficient management of assets to ensure that the charity meets the expectations of its stakeholders as it continues to grow.
