We are delighted to welcome our new Chair to Sight Concern Worcestershire. Caroline was born in Northern Ireland. After graduating from Durham University with a law degree, she joined the NHS graduate management training scheme. Her career focused on HR management and general management. She became Chief Executive of Birmingham Women’s Hospital from 2000 to 2005. Her final role was Director of Leadership for the West Midlands Strategic Health Authority before taking early retirement in 2012. She is currently a Non-Executive Director on the board of the West Midlands  Ambulance service. Her term of office finishes on 31st March 2021.

Caroline lives in Worcester and has three grown-up children. Her interest in sight loss matters stems from her mother being blind from glaucoma, having a cousin who is blind from Retinitis      Pigmentosa and a child with an underlying condition with an ocular manifestation. She herself has an early-stage macular disease and is keen to learn how she can maintain maximum independence before the disease progresses. She believes that her interest in sight loss coupled with her extensive skills at the Board level enable her to take up this new role with enthusiasm

Hazel has spent the last 24 years working in the visual impairment and assistive technology sectors, as Marketing at Director for Dolphin Computer Access. Passionate about accessibility, Hazel has worked on both UK government and EU projects piloting accessible textbooks for blind and low vision learners. As the parent of a disabled child, Hazel is all too familiar with the challenges of navigating the health and education systems.

Hazel heads up Marketing for Gloucester IT solution provider, CAM Systems, and being a volunteer dog walker and ‘foster parent’ for Amicii Dog Rescue.

Dr Rob Milford is the Managing Director and Founder of Milford Research and Consultancy Ltd. He seeks to support the public and charity sectors by bringing corporate governance and collaborative expertise to the organisations. This includes tackling some of the most challenging organisational initiatives, such as shared services and collaborative transformation.

His professional career has allowed him to operate from both the executive management and non-executive director positions. As a former Chief Audit Executive, he worked with multiple audit committees and boards to enhance the governance of the organisations. He has a PhD in the governance of collaborations along with professional chartered fellowships in management, leadership and governance.

He supports several local projects and is currently an Enterprise Adviser for Worcestershire operating with Prince Henry’s High School in Evesham. He has also been a visiting lecturer in leadership and business for several universities.

He created the unique Collaborative Business Management & Leadership Programme based on his research and experience. This programme has been institute approved as a pathway to becoming a collaborative business management professional as recognised by the Institute of Leadership and Management. He also co-developed the Collaboration Accreditation Review (CAR), a scheme developed by the collaboration to provide an assessment and rating scheme for collaborations/shared services across the UK.  The scheme is recognised by the Local Government Association.

Elizabeth has been involved with Sight Concern for over 20 years.

A retired social worker for people with sight loss and also registered blind herself, she brings a wealth of experience. Elizabeth has been an ambassador for people with sight loss for several decades, representing the needs and desires of people on committees such as the County Councils Sensory Impairment Consultative group. She is also involved with several other visual impairment charities including volunteering on the Helpline for Retina UK.

Andrew is a Chartered Surveyor who has been in the property industry since 1985. He started his career in Private Practice in Kent before moving to London and joining Avison Young. In 1994 he then moved to the Midlands and assisted in opening an office for BNP Paribas in Birmingham. In 1997 he moved into Development and joined Severn Trent Property and assisted in building out circa 2m sq ft of warehousing and 500,000 sq ft of offices as well as bringing through the planning system for approx. 500 acres of commercial land for future development.

In 2004 he moved into family property company in Birmingham to open their commercial development department, purchasing, developing and selling built out schemes. In 2010 he built up his own residential portfolio including single investments, HMO’s and developing and selling built houses. In 2013 he co-founded residential projects lending platform CrowdProperty.com and as director is Head of the Underwriting and Recoveries teams.

John was born August 1944 in South London and started work as a craft apprentice followed by training as a design draughtsman. Progressed through Production Engineering into Project Management. Specialised in conveyor systems for baggage handling and bulk mail distribution. He established a manufacturing company in 2003, specialising in customised conveying systems.

John began to develop sight loss in 2015, becoming registered as having severely impaired vision 2 years later. As a result he moved to Worcestershire to be closer to family. Following ongoing treatment he was invited to join the Patient, Public Forum (PPF) within the Worcester Acute Hospital Trust. This led to being invited to join Sight Concern as a Trustee.. His intention is to further develop cooperation between the hospital trust and Sight Concern.

Jim was born in Kent but moved to Worcestershire in 1985 after being appointed to the Board of a Construction Chemical Company.  He left them in 1990 and has since worked for himself in various guises.  He currently owns Lesk Engineers, a precision engineering manufacturer based in Worcester.

He has just stepped down from Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce having spent 12 years on the Board, the last six as Chair.  He is also a Worcester Ambassador and a Worcester Warriors supporter.

Still trying to play squash at his club where he is Chair and Trustee.

With both local, national and international experience Jim is an energetic individual and brings a wealth of experience with him.

Shirley lost her sight in her early thirties and spent 14 years not knowing that there was support available. She became involved with Sight Concern when she moved to Worcestershire in 2010. Over subsequent years she learnt new skills and developed confidence through support. She joined the board of trustees in 2014.

Shirley has thrown her heart and soul into helping other people come to terms with sight loss and spread the word about how the charity can help. She took on an ambassadorial role, going around the county giving talks about her experience of sight loss and how Sight Concern helped her to adapt, to different groups and organisations in the county; raising significant donations as a result. She is also a real adrenaline junky and takes part in almost any challenge we throw her way including wing walking, abseiling and zip wires, thankfully she leaves her Guide Dog Taylor at home on these days.