Meet The Chairman

We are delighted to introduce you to our new Chair of the board of Trustees at Willowbrook Hospice, Ian Craig.

Ian was formally elected as Chairman during our AGM in November 2023. He has previously served as a Trustee and as chair of the Finance committee.

We would like to thank our previous Chairman Alan Chick for his many years of support and commitment to Willowbrook Hospice and wish him well in his retirement.

Ian answered a few questions for us to get to know him better:

Tell us about yourself:

I was born in Aberdeen, where I lived until I was 24 years old before moving to England for a new job. I grew up with my Mother and had one older brother (17 years older!) who moved to Edinburgh when I was 5, so it was only my Mum and I at home.  I sadly lost my Dad to a brain tumour when I was very young. After doing well with my ‘O’ levels at Aberdeen Grammar School, I decided to not go onto further education, instead choosing to go straight into employment (to make some money), much to my Mother’s dismay! However, while working, I studied part time to gain a Computer Science degree, so that made her a bit happier with me!

Prior to retiring in January 2021, I worked in the technology and financial services industries during my 40+ working years. I have been fortunate to have travelled the world and visited some incredible countries (in various jobs) before my family life took priority, and I settled back in the UK permanently. With two young sons, it was very difficult to be away from my family so much, so the last 20 years have seen me working in UK based executive roles within financial services for Bank of America, Barclays and (prior to retirement) Nationwide Building Society, where I ran their UK Customer Service and Operations.

When Covid hit in 2020, it changed my (and I’m sure many others) perspective on life, so I decided to retire, and with help from Nationwide, I took on Trustee roles at Willowbrook and The Brain Charity (in Liverpool) and was also appointed as a Non-Executive Director with Stafford Railway Building Society.

I’m married to Dawn, have 2 sons (Scott and Jack, 25 and 20 respectively) and we have a gorgeous Cockapoo named Fudge who is the daughter we never had! I enjoy playing golf (albeit generally quite badly!) and still enjoy travelling as much as possible, visiting new places. My favourite places visited so far include Mauritius, Dubai (for the golf!) and my all-time favourite city is Rio de Janeiro which we were fortunate enough to visit last year. Although I am from Aberdeen (and my first love is Aberdeen Football Club), Jack and I are Everton season ticket holders and have been for 10 years. Unfortunately, Scott has gone wrong somewhere along the line and supports Manchester City! 

Why did you want to be involved with Willowbrook Hospice?

When I decided to retire, I was keen to do something to do with my time which added value to the community and helped people. When I was told about Willowbrook Hospice, I was keen to find out more and really wanted to use my knowledge and skills to help where I could. I was shocked by how little funding they received from the NHS and was humbled by the clinical staff who do so much for the patients and their families. Seeing how committed the volunteers are to the hospice also sold it to me. 

What are your highlights and lowlights to your role?

I am proud of my involvement in the implementation of a new structure of investment. Seeing it come to fruition now, with the newly refurbished hospice brings immense pride. It is so wonderful to see tangible results, and I know it will make a big difference now that we have invested to bring the hospice up to date. 

I always enjoy speaking to the clinical team and seeing them take pride in their job. Hearing stories where we have helped grant wishes to patients really warms my heart. 

I am also proud that, with my help and involvement, we have built a Board with people who bring a mixture of the right skills and abilities to the table. 

Also, seeing so many wonderful volunteers who give up their free time for the hospice is inspirational. 

However, a constant lowlight is the practical concern in making sure we don’t suffer with financial difficulties. But with our fantastic fundraising team and supporter involvement, we are fortunate to be in a strong financial position currently. However, things can change quickly, particularly with the economy as it is, so we must remain focused and never take our supporters and fundraisers for granted.

What are you looking forward to in your role as Chairman, for the year ahead?

We have new Trustees joining us, we are evolving our strategy, we have a fantastic new shop opening in Kirkby soon, and our refurbishment means we can now care for maximum capacity of patients and continue to extend our quality of service. 

Along with all the other Trustees, I intend spending more time speaking to our staff and volunteers and will be going out and about to visit shops and sites to meet everyone. I am a huge believer in inclusivity and really want to champion the link with our community. 

Tell us something about Willowbrook that people might not know about

I don’t think people realise how little funding we receive from the government, and how we must find the shortfall ourselves! Our brilliant retail shops and warehouse are also a well kept secret!

I always surprise people by telling them that hospice care is free to access – a lot of people don’t realise this! 

For me personally, I wasn’t aware of the number of medical conditions we support and how much specialist care is provided by the hospice. 

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself! In 1975, I was one of only 3 students to gain 100% in the Arithmetic ‘O’ level in the whole of Scotland! I was also the Scottish Junior Ten Pin Bowling Champion in the same year. It looks like I peaked too early as that was almost 50 years ago!!