The Thyroid Trust
In 2010 I set up a support group in London for thyroid patients which I ran until 2014 and continued to chair for a while after that. After a break I recently became involved again as the group was threatened with closure and asked for my help to keep going.
Having secured funding, we set up a new charity, The Thyroid Trust, registered charity number 1183292, to provide peer support and reliable information to people affected by thyroid disorders in London and beyond - and to help raise awareness and improve care for thyroid conditions. My role as Director is to lead the team, organise our programme of events and develop the organisation.
This is a project which is close to my heart.
Our activities include
- free events programme, with strong attendances, fantastic speakers and excellent feedback for all that have taken place so far
- a strong brand identity, fully functioning website and active social media accounts
- extensive national and regional media coverage
- creating a strong trustee board, constitution and full suite of policies and registries
- active participation as registered stakeholders in the new NICE guidelines for thyroid disorders
- invitations to attend and speak at other events including the patient symposium at the European Thyroid Association Annual Conference in Newcastle, 2018
- taking a leading role in producing a major report for the Department of Health and Social Care on access to a particular treatment for hypothyroidism and subsequently working closely with NHS England to support their revision of prescribing guidance for this treatment (liothyronine / L-T3), working with partners including other patient groups and the British Thyroid Association.
If you are interested in this work, or if you or someone you know is affected by thyroid disease and you are looking for support, you can find out more on The Thyroid Trust website.
You may also like to visit my blog about my own experiences of hypothyroidism and the early days of establishing the group, Thyroid Hope. I'm' pleased to be largely well now and able to help others.
We are incredibly grateful to everyone who is so kindly supporting this project.
