The Friends are a small charity run on a voluntary basis by a group of Trustees none of whom claim any costs.
The Trustees are a mix of medical staff, former NHS staff and supporters. The Trustees meet at least twice a year to consider requests for funding and to oversee financial affairs, but much business is undertaken by email or telephone in between meetings. A set of annual accounts and a report is submitted to the Charity Commission each year. The Trustees are listed below:
Chairman – David Fox joined the Trustees in 2012 following his retirement from the NHS in 2011, after 37 years’ service. Most of his career was spent in Leeds and from 1999 until 2011 he was the senior manager for Haematology, Oncology and Palliative Care services in the Leeds hospitals. He played a key part in securing and managing the new facilities at St James’s. He now undertakes a variety of voluntary work in the countryside.
Treasurer – Matthew Baker is a Solicitor and a Partner at Pinsent Masons LLP specialising in Commercial Property Dispute Resolution. He has been involved with the Friends for over 10 years since his father John Baker was treated on the ward in 1998. Matthew’s Mother (Angela Knowles aka Miss February) and his Mother-in-Law (Lynda Logan aka Miss July) are two of the original Calendar Girls.
Honorary Secretary – Carol Bilbrough has held the role since 2005. She has worked with haematology patients since 1977 when she was Outpatients Sister at the LGI. She was appointed Chemotherapy sister in 1988 and then Clinical Nurse Specialist IV therapy, Haematology from 1990 to 1997 when she retired. She returned as a part time research nurse until May 2011.
Jean Harris has lived and worked as a Careers Adviser in Leeds all her adult life. Now retired she continues as a committed blood donor, volunteering with the Anthony Nolan Hero Project giving talks in schools to encourage young people to register as bone marrow, blood and organ donors. She is also a voluntary courier for Anthony Nolan, collecting and delivering stem cells and bone marrow to be used in transplants. Her husband Roger was treated for Leukaemia over many years at the LGI and they were grateful for the support given by the Friends to patients and their carers.
Rod Johnson – Consultant Haematologist in Leeds since 2002. His main clinical and research interests are in the treatment of Lymphomas. He is currently the Lead Clinician for Haematology in Leeds and was appointed as a new Trustee in October 2017.
Derek Norfolk was a Consultant Haematologist at the LGI from 1986 to 2006. From 2006 until retiring from clinical practice in 2011 he was Consultant in Haematology and Transfusion Medicine at Leeds Teaching Hospitals (LTH) NHS Trust and NHS Blood and Transplant. He then worked as Associate Research and Development Director for LTH before retiring in 2017. Dr. Norfolk has been a Trustee of the FLCLLM since 1986.
Roger Owen is a Consultant Haematologist and has a particular interest in the diagnosis, treatment and disease monitoring in patients with Myeloma, MGUS, Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinaemia and marginal zone lymphoma. Roger has been a Trustee since 2007.
Graeme Smith was appointed Consultant Haematologist at the LGI in 1993 and was responsible for producing Regional Guidelines for the management of CML in Yorkshire. He was latterly Clinical Director of Oncology and has been a Trustee since 1993. He retired from the NHS in 2017.
Claire Ferris is the Matron for Outpatient areas and Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy [SACT] within the Oncology Clinical Service Unit at St James’. She joined the Trustees in January 2020.
She completed a Bachelor of Health Sciences degree (Hons) at Leeds University and qualified as a registered nurse in 2006. She found her true passion for haematology when she moved to be a staff nurse on ward J89 in 2008. Claire has held a variety of posts within the Haematology service in Leeds including Junior Sister on the haematology day unit (J87) and then later the Senior Sister. From late 2019 she was seconded for a year to the haematology matron’s role. Her latest role continues to involve her working closely with haematology outpatient and SACT services.