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Trustees

Since 31 January 2018, the sole trustee of the Thalidomide Trust has been ‘Thalidomide Trust Company’. The individuals who served as charity trustees before that date now serve as the directors of the trustee company. However, we continue to refer them as trustees internally for continuity and because their role within the Trust remains unchanged. Our current trustees are:

Sir Robert Nelson

Chair of Trustees
Trustee since December 2010

A retired judge of the High Court, Queen’s Bench Division.

Marlene Winfield OBE

Vice – Chair of Trustees
Trustee since July 2009

A senior executive in the NHS with specific responsibility for patient advocacy.

Committees: Health & Wellbeing (Co-Chair), Finance

Mark Benstead B.A, M.B.A

Trustee since May 2015
Senior fixed income fund manager at Legal and General Investment Management.

Previous experience at AXA Investment Managers, Royal Bank of Canada and Hambros Bank. Experienced across all classes of fixed income debt with a wide variety of clients.

Commitees: Finance

David Body

Trustee since January 2015
Until 30th April 2015, David was National Head of the Product Liability Team at Irwin Mitchell and had specialised in medical negligence and product liability work since the mid 1980s.

His specific areas of medical negligence expertise are claims arising from birth and paediatric injury, anaesthetic and neurosurgical accidents, and he has experience of most types of claims arising from failures to diagnose and treat.
In the 1990s he dealt with many product liability claims arising from the use of contaminated growth hormone which caused Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) and represented the families of CJD victims at the BSE inquiry. He has spent a good part of the last decade running a group action against Sanofi on behalf of the injured children of epileptic women who took sodium valproate during pregnancy.

Commitees: Health & Wellbeing

Professor Tim Briggs, MD(Res), MCh(Ort), FRCS

Medical Trustee
Trustee since July 2015

Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore
Director of Strategy & External Affairs, RNOH, Stanmore
Past President, British Orthopaedic Association
Training Programme Director, RNOH/Royal Free Training Programme
Member of Council, Royal College of Surgeons
Chair of Federation of Specialist Hospitals
Founder Member of Specialist Orthopaedic Alliance
Chair of National Reference Group for Specialist Orthopaedics

Committees: Research, Health & Wellbeing

Professor Caroline Glendinning AcSS

Trustee since June 2007
Professor of Social Policy in the Social Policy Research Unit, University of York since 2004.

Before that in the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre, University of Manchester. An experienced researcher into many aspects of policy relating to disability, ageing and care.

Committees: Research (Chair), Health & Wellbeing

John H Howard

Trustee since December 2009
A non-executive director of the Financial Ombudsman Service, National Counties Building Society, and the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (OFGEM).

Expert in financial services and consumer affairs, a writer and broadcaster, contributor to The Times, and presenter of the BBC’s “You and Yours” programme 1982-1996. Qualified solicitor.

Committees: Finance

Mark Spofforth OBE BSC FCA CTA FRSA

Trustee since December 2013
Senior Partner of Spofforths Chartered Accountants, former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Lecturer and broadcaster on financial matters. Member of Lord Hodgson’s 2012 review of the Charities Act 2006.

Committees: Finance

Kevin R Wesbroom MA MA FIA

Trustee since December 2010
A leading actuary with Aon Hewitt, formerly a Partner in the actuarial firm Bacon and Woodrow.

A specialist in pensions risk, dealing with the interaction of investments and pensions. Second degree in e-commerce.

Committees: Finance (Chair)