Our trustees

Sue Jay
Sue runs her own business and has spent many years dedicating her free time to the voluntary sector. She has been a School Governor and an active member of the National Association of Ladies Circles. Her service at local and national levels included membership of the National Board and, in 2001-02 the post of National President. Sue’s fundraising has been recognised by Cancer Research UK which presented her with a special award.

Sue is chairman of the Trustees’ Fundraising Committee and, in June 2012 she was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

Neil Edginton
Neil is a qualified property professional and runs his own property company in Birmingham. He has been instrumental in changing the landscape of Birmingham, having been involved in major regeneration projects such as The Cube, The Mailbox and Fort Dunlop. Neil has been honoured by Birmingham City University for his services to enterprise and innovation. Through his business activities, Neil has been a keen supporter and fundraiser for Birmingham Children’s Hospital for many years.

Christina Michalos
Christina is a leading media and intellectual property law barrister. She is the author of The Law of Photography & Digital Images (Sweet & Maxwell). During 2011, she was regularly seen on television during the Leveson Inquiry in which she acted as Counsel for one of the core participants. Christina is appointed to the Attorney General’s Panel of Counsel authorised to act on behalf of government departments. Since 2010, Christina has been the Chairman of Radio Lollipop London. She was appointed as a Trustee of Birmingham Children’s Hospital in 2013.

Urvasi Naidoo
Urvasi is a lawyer who was in private practice until 2001 and has since worked for the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and the International Cricket Council. Since 2008 she has been Chief Executive Officer of the International Netball Federation.

Urvasi qualified as a Chartered Secretary in 2005 and is also a Trustee of Sporting Equals, the only charity working across the UK to promote opportunities for black and ethnic minorities in sport and physical activity; All as One UK, a small international charity which fundraises for a school and orphanage in Sierra Leone; and the Netball Development Trust, a charity which brings netball to children in some of the poorest parts of India and Uganda.

Professor David Proops
David first came to Birmingham in 1965 to train as a dentist and subsequently studied medicine.  He undertook further training in Toronto before being appointed consultant ENT head and neck surgeon to the Birmingham Children's Hospital and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and has recently retired from clinical practice.  David has been President of the British ENT Society and is visiting professor at the University of Aston where he is still actively engaged in research.  He is also a trustee of the TWJ Foundation.

Hugh Reynolds
Hugh has been a Chartered Accountant for over 30 years and is an independent financial examiner of charity accounts. He has been a school Governor for several years and is also a member of his local Village Hall Management Committee. In his spare time he enjoys walking in the Welsh hills. Hugh chairs the Trustees' Investment & Finance Committee.

Jeremy Roper
Jeremy studied at the University of Birmingham in the early 1970s and has lived in the West Midlands ever since. He is a partner in an international law firm which has one of the largest healthcare practices in the UK. He has spent much of the last 20 years advising the NHS locally and nationally on a wide range of commercial issues ranging from capital projects and acquisitions of entire hospitals to procurement of IT systems and medical equipment.

John Russell
John is a retired stockbroker and trustee of several Midland charities who has been Chairman of the Birmingham Stock Exchange Association and President of the Securities Institute. He served on Lichfield City Council for a number of years, chairing the Planning and Finance and General Purposes committees. He was also the Mayor of the City of Lichfield.

John was Chairman of the Board of Trustees, standing down from that role in June 2012. His term of office has exceptionally been extended by a further year to eleven years in total at the request of the other Trustees and with the agreement of the Appointments Commission. This will allow the Charity to continue to benefit from his expertise whilst a replacement Trustee with investment management skills is sought.

Michael Stephens
Michael is a barrister who has practiced in Birmingham since 1985. He has previously acted as a trustee of the charity of a City of London livery company and is also now one of the UK trustees of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Professor Tamar Thompson OBE
With a background in nursing, Tamar has held senior positions with the NHS Executive and a Strategic Health Authority. She has also been a PCT Chief Executive and served on the Prime Minister's Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery (from March 2009). Now an independent health service adviser, Tamar was appointed a Trustee of BCH Charities in 2011.

Dr Peter Weller
Peter was appointed a Consultant at Birmingham Children's Hospital in 1980 with additional clinical responsibilities at City Hospital and Birmingham Chest Clinic. He established services for Paediatric Respiratory Medicine across the West Midlands with research interests particularly in Cystic Fibrosis. Peter was a Clinical Director at BCH for 5 years, finally retiring in November 2010. He chaired the BCH Research Foundation for 6 years stepping down in October 2011 when appointed a Trustee for BCH Charities. Peter chairs the Trustees’ Grant Making Committee and is also Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees.