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Trustees

Our Board of Trustees guides the direction and management of Parkinson's UK.

Liz Wolstenholme CBE (Chair)

Elizabeth WolstenholmeLiz Wolstenholme was first elected to the Board of Trustees in 2005 and is now in her second term of office. She became hon. secretary in September 2006, vice chair in 2007 and chair in 2011.

Liz's professional experience spanned social services and health at local, regional and national level including 6 years in the Department of Health leading on policy for older people and disability (including neurological conditions).

She spent 5 years after leaving full-time work as non-executive chair of a Primary Care Trust. She was awarded a CBE in 1999.

Liz was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1994.

Paul Boothman (Vice Chair)

Paul BoothmanPaul Boothman was appointed to the Board of Trustees in September 2008. He became vice chair in October 2009.

Paul has enjoyed a successful business career, running a highly successful branded food business. Since leaving full time employment, Paul has acted as a 'business angel', helping develop and market a local food company.

He is an active member of our Huntingdonshire Branch and has been its treasurer. He now fundraises for the branch and also volunteers for various other clubs, societies and groups in his local area.

Paul's father-in-law had Parkinson's.

Colin Cheesman (Hon. Secretary)

Colin CheesmanColin Cheesman was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2006 and became hon. secretary in 2007.

Colin is a solicitor, and spent his working life in local government. For 5 years prior to his retirement in 2002, he was chief executive of Cheshire County Council, having previously worked in Nottinghamshire and Portsmouth.

Colin was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2001. He has been the secretary of our Chester Branch since 2004.

Ralph Tingle (Hon. Treasurer)

Ralph TingleRalph Tingle was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2007.

Ralph is a qualified accountant and has worked within the NHS for over 20 years, initially with the Shropshire Health Authority, then with the main acute hospital in Norwich, before taking up the post of executive director of finance at the former Southern Derbyshire Community Trust in 1994.

He then continued to work in Derbyshire, becoming finance director to successor organisations following the reorganisations that have taken place in the NHS, until he retired in Spring 2007.

Ralph comes to us with a wealth of experience in the health sector.

Alun Morgan (Trustee from Wales)

Alun MorganAlun Morgan was appointed as Trustee from Wales in September 2008 and re-elected in 2012.

Alun was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1999 at the age of 49, and has been actively involved with Parkinson's UK since becoming a member in 2001. He is a former chair of our Younger Parkinson's Network and secretary of our Bridgend Branch.

Alun was an active member of his trade union during his career in teaching, and has been treasurer, secretary and chair for numerous organisations.

He has a wide variety of interests: photographing monkey puzzle trees, reading books on mathematics and popular science, building and maintaining websites, doing historical research and speaking to any audience about the day-to-day problems of living with Parkinson's. He does Pilates to keep his body in shape.

Teresa Watson (Trustee from Scotland)

Our Scotland Trustee Teresa WatsonTeresa Watson was appointed as the Trustee for Scotland in 2012.
Teresa is a retired teacher and held various secondary school teaching posts in and around Aberdeen from 1983 until 2011.

She was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2009 at the age of 47 and joined Parkinson's UK shortly afterwards. 

Teresa writes articles to raise awareness of Parkinson's and was appointed to the editorial board of The Parkinson magazine in 2010.

Teresa lives in Aberdeen with her husband. They have 4 sons, aged 20, 18, 16 and 15.

Terrence Kavanagh

Terrence KavanaghTerrence Kavanagh was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2009.

He has a successful business background, spending most of his working life in the London Stock Exchange.

Terrence has had Parkinson's for 22 years and has received honorary life membership of Parkinson's UK.

Most of the time his symptoms are well managed, which has enabled him to raise £55,000 for us by running 18 marathons since diagnosis.

Nadra Ahmed OBE DL

Nadra Ahmed OBE DLNadra Ahmed was appointed to the Board of Trustees following the 2010 AGM.

Nadra has been involved in the social care field for over 30 years. Until 2005 she was the registered manager of two private care homes for older people.

Nadra's background is in training and education. She continues to champion the role of education in the delivery of a quality service through her not-for-profit company Kent Care Training Associates.

Nadra holds a number of positions within voluntary organisations, both nationally and locally, delivering services to vulnerable people in the community. She has been chair of the National Care Association since 2001 and was the vice chair of Skills for Care for 11 years.

She's a regular contributor to journals and national and international conferences and is frequently called upon by the media to represent the views of social care providers.

In 2006 Nadra was awarded the OBE for her services to social care.

Mark Goodridge

Mark Goodridge was appointed to the Board of Trustees at the 2009 AGM.

Melinda Letts OBE

Melinda LettsMelinda Letts was co-opted to the Board of Trustees in 2007 and elected to the Board in 2008. She became Chair of the Board at the 2009 AGM. She has since stepped down from this role for personal reasons but remains involved as a trustee.

Melinda is a strategic consultant and executive coach working with voluntary, public and private sector clients.

She was chief executive of the National Asthma Campaign (now Asthma UK) from 1992 to 1998, chaired the Long-term Conditions Alliance from 1998 to 2004, and was commissioner with CHI and its successor body, the Healthcare Commission, from 1999 to 2004.

A member of the NHS Modernisation Board from 2000 to 2003, Melinda was a signatory to the Core Principles of the NHS Plan in 2000 and a founding director of Ask about Medicines from 2003 to 2009. Melinda chairs the Department of Health's NSPF Learning Events and is a patron of the Men's Health Forum.

She was appointed OBE in 2003 for her services to the NHS Modernisation Board. Melinda is married with 2 teenage children. Her husband was given a diagnosis of Parkinson's in 2007.

Dr Doug MacMahon

Dr Doug MacMahonDr Doug MacMahon was appointed to the Board of Trustees in March 2011.

Doug held the post of Consultant General Physician with special responsibility for the elderly at Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust. After retiring briefly, he is now resuming clinical work in the Midlands (University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire).

With particular interests in Parkinson's, dementia, community care and rehabilitation, Doug has written over 100 publications and 25 book chapters. These are predominantly on the management of Parkinson's and on health care policy for older people.

Doug has also been involved in researching Parkinson's drugs, and presenting at national and international meetings. He is on various steering groups, committees and editorial boards, and was previously chair of the British Geriatrics Society Policy Committee.

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