Richard joins Sarcoma UK from national blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan, where he was Director of Engagement, responsible for overseeing communications, fundraising and marketing. Under Richard’s leadership, his 80-strong team helped dramatically increase the recruitment of stem cell donors from 20,000 per year to 80,000 in 2018.
He also played a key role leading the campaign that successfully pushed for legislation on smoke-free public spaces in the UK when he was Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Cancer Research UK.
With close to two decades of experience working in cancer charities, Richard is thrilled to be joining the charity. He says: “There’s clearly a huge amount of passion and ambition in the charity and I look forward to working with staff, volunteers, healthcare professionals, researchers and most importantly patients.
“I'm absolutely committed to raising much needed awareness of sarcoma and know how crucial early diagnosis is. I’ve experienced first-hand the devastating impact sarcoma can have on your family, and I'm honoured to have been given the opportunity to lead this amazing charity."
Richard joins Sarcoma UK at a time of continued growth over the last few years, including the launch of its Support Line, a successful partnership with 10 Downing Street and year-on-year increase in the amount invested in sarcoma research, making the charity one of the biggest funders of sarcoma research in the UK.
Glyn Wilmshurst, Sarcoma UK’s Chair of Trustees, said: “We’re very excited to be welcoming Richard to Sarcoma UK. He has an outstanding track record and will bring great energy and intellect to the role. Sarcoma UK has an ambitious strategy to fund even more ground-breaking research, support everybody affected by sarcoma, and increase public awareness, and Richard has demonstrated he has the vision, skills and experience to deliver it.”