Who are we?

FND Hope UK is managed by its board of trustees who have experience of Functional Neurological Disorder and its impact.

As a board of trustees, we plan the strategic development of FND Hope UK (Registered Charity England & Wales 1173607 and Scotland SC048333) and are responsible for its policies and work of the charity. We have a range of business, financial, management and legal experience.

Our Legal duties are to:

Act in our charities best interest
Manage our charities resources responsibly
Act with reasonable care and skill

Trustees are elected by FND Hope UK and serve for a minimum of 3 years.

If you are interested in becoming a Trustee, please contact FND Hope UK for further information

fndhopeuk@fndhope.org

Welcome FND Hope UK’s New Patron, Lorraine Kelly!

Lorraine Kelly, OBE is an avid Dundee United supporter as well as host of her own ITV show “Lorraine”. Born in Glasgow, Lorraine joined her local weekly newspaper The East Kilbride News aged seventeen. In 1983, she joined BBC Scotland as a researcher, and a year later she became TVam’s Scottish correspondent covering stories like the Piper Alpha disaster and the Lockerbie bombing. She went on to co-host TVam and GMTV. In 2012, Lorraine was awarded the OBE by HM The Queen for services to charity and the armed forces at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. She was Hon Colonel of the Black Watch Cadets and a former Rector of Dundee University. She is a patron of Help For Heroes. Lorraine lives in Buckinghamshire with her husband Steve, daughter Rosie and their dog Angus.

MEET OUR TRUSTEES FOR ENGLAND, WALES AND SCOTLAND

Cindy Smulders - Chair

Cindy has been an experienced Global Training Consultant for the past 27 years and helps people improve how they present and communicate within the corporate world, she brings with her professional expertise as a Professional and Motivational Speaker, Sales and Management consultant and works for some of the top Fortune 500 Companies in many different industries from banking to pharmaceuticals.

Cindy is a wife and mother to 2 children and joined our Board of Trustee on the 3rdOctober 2018 after one of her children received a diagnosis of FND. Cindy is very keen and passionate in helping to support all the parents and carers within our community under the age of 18 years old, and challenge the lack of treatment protocols in place for our young adults.

Charlotte Maskrey

Charlotte is an Educator and online course provider, she has a 1st Class Degree in Counselling and Psychology, with a focus on children and young people’s mental health, inclusivity and SEND.

She runs her own business ‘Survive Succeed Achieve’ which offers educational and mental health based support and resources for home educated and SEND students, supporting students with disabilities and mental health struggles to achieve their potential. Within her work she strives to raise awareness of mental health, invisible disabilities and FND.

Charlotte was diagnosed with FND in 2021, at the time she had no knowledge of the disorder and has since aimed to spread awareness to the wider community. Charlotte is passionate about improving understanding of FND, especially for children and teenagers, to reduce stigma and increase acceptance within the next generation.

Tori McKillen

Tori is a learning and communication professional with over 30 years’ experience, the last 20 of which have been in Medical Communications where she has helped educate and inform researchers, clinicians, policy makers, pharmaceutical sales and marketing staff, and patients on a wide range of diseases. Through this work, and her personal experiences with Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, brain injury and FND, she understands the impact of such conditions on the lives of patients and their families.

Before specialising in Medical Communications, Tori built up a wealth of diverse experience in a number of sectors and has always been actively involved in fundraising for various charities.

Tori hopes that her unique mix of experience and her passion for communication and driving change will prove invaluable to FND Hope and help make the difference that is long overdue.

Callum Alexander

Callum has a professional background in customer experience, business operations and business-to-business (B2B) marketing. For the past several years he has held a variety of roles at one of the world’s largest manufacturers of industrial coding and marking and digital printing equipment. With a BA (Hons) in Management, he has overseen and implemented many continuous improvement projects and worked across a variety of B2B marketing campaigns. His voluntary experience includes being a former Chair of Trustees for a UK registered charity over a 4-year period.

Having been diagnosed with FND in 2020, Callum has volunteered at FND Hope UK since June 2021. During this time he has co-run one of our peer support groups and overseen our recruitment process for volunteers. He has represented the charity at various events and participated in patient advisory boards for FND research projects. He has also advocated for FND in both the national and regional media. He was appointed to the Board of Trustees in September 2023.

Gordon Mattocks

‘A qualified CIPFA accountant, Gordon took early retirement after 40 years’ experience in public sector finance, audit and risk management. He has worked in new towns, higher education and local government, and was most recently employed in the social housing sector. Now a board and finance/audit/risk committee member of various public sector and charitable organisations, he was a governor of the National Women’s Residential College, an audit committee member of the Royal College of Midwives, and a board member of several housing associations. He is presently treasurer/trustee of the Young Women’s Trust and independent audit committee member of the Dorset and Devon & Cornwall Police Authorities.

Jennie Jeffery

Jennie is a charity sector professional and has worked across fundraising, grant-making, and charity development for the last 10 years. She spent most of this time at The Funding Network, supporting small charities and social enterprises to raise funds through live events, and working with donors to help them achieve their philanthropic goals. She currently works with a small disability charity, Flamingo Chicks, supporting them with fundraising on a part-time basis. In November, she will join the Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations’ Council team where she will provide advice and support to Edinburgh’s charities. Jennie is passionate about helping charities and social enterprises to flourish and believes wholeheartedly in the power of communities to drive change for themselves.

In May 2022 after a short illness, Jennie was hospitalised and eventually diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder. Her experience living with – and beginning to recover from – this illness has led her to want to raise awareness of this poorly understood condition and support others living with it. She is originally from County Durham and has settled in Edinburgh, having lived in Paris and London along the way.

Abigail Bishop-Laggett

Abigail is a public relations and government affairs professional who is experienced in supporting healthcare organisations raise awareness of complex or lesser-known conditions. Abigail works with a range of organisations from international pharmaceutical companies to local charities, with particular experience in neurological conditions and improving care for the thousands of people in the UK impacted by conditions like Alzheimer’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis. Abigail specialises in government and NHS engagement, making the case for policy change to improve care for these often under-prioritised conditions.

Abigail joined our Board of Trustees in November 2020, after learning about the impact of FND through our online community and website. Abigail is passionate about increasing understanding and awareness of FND and achieving greater recognition in the health system so that individuals, families and carers can feel better supported and heard.

Bridget Mildon

Bridget Mildon, is President and Founder of F ND Hope. FND Hope is the first non-profit organization specifically for those diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder and related illnesses. A proponent of FND patient rights, Bridget is an active voice for FND patients. Her diverse experience and knowledge have cultivated into a unique perspective for those facing medical uncertainty and battling the challenges of living with Functional Neurological Disorder.

Dr. Chris Symeon

Chris is a consultant neuropsychiatrist at St George’s University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. He undertook his undergraduate medical training at St Bart’s and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry; followed by his specialist training in adult psychiatry on the South London and Maudsley training scheme and MSc in Neuroscience from Kings College London.

He is the clinical lead for the multidisciplinary FND rehabilitation programme within the Wolfson Service. He has an interest in digital health, leading to the creation of the myFND App, aiming to support patients with understanding and self-management of the condition. He understands the issues that so many patient’s face with access to appropriate healthcare resources, and he is passionate about developing services to allow patients with FND to access high quality treatment in a timely way.

Stephen Betteridge-Sorby - Trustee

Stephen is a Nurse Consultant and Lecturer in Paediatrics and Child Health and has worked within the NHS for over 33 years.

He trained as a Registered General Nurse in York and his Registered Sick Children’s Nurse training at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London.

He has a background in intensive care, children’s hospice care and community/primary care.

Stephen has held a number of executive positions within the NHS, Voluntary sector and Government. He served as Director of Children’s Services UK for over 6 years and has project managed and developed national projects of significance regarding parent carers and young carers.

He was appointed a Medallist of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s BirthdayHonours 2021, for his achievements to date.

He is married to James, a GP, who lives with FND.

Stephen has a passion for supportive care and progressive research and has a keen interest in service development.

Having joined the Board in October 2021, he is hoping to bring much of his strategic and operational expertise to developing innovative and supportive projects and services to FND Hope UK.

Dr. Penny Trayner

Dr Penny Trayner is a Chartered Paediatric Clinical Neuropsychologist and Clinical Psychologist. She received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Neuroscience in 2003, and doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology in 2008, from the University of Liverpool, before receiving a postgraduate diploma in Paediatric Clinical Neuropsychology from University College London in 2014.

In 2009 she founded a specialist community-based neuropsychological rehabilitation service for children and young people with acquired brain injury, which serves patients and families from across the UK. Clinical Neuropsychology Services (CNS) has a particular interest in innovative approaches to service delivery. In 2011, she was appointed as psychologist for one of only two specialist centres for the treatment of neurodevelopmental movement disorders in the UK, at the Evelina Children’s Hospital in London.

She has co-authored articles in leading international journals and has been an invited speaker at national and international conferences. Alongside her clinical work, Penny is also an honorary lecturer in Clinical and Health Psychology at the University of Manchester.

When she is not being a neuropsychologist, Penny is also a professional DJ and has used these skills to co-design a DJing for rehabilitation programme as a vehicle for helping children and adults recover from acquired brain injuries.

Cookie	Duration	Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional	11 months	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy	11 months	The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

Who Are We -FND Hope UK

Who are we?

Welcome FND Hope UK’s New Patron, Lorraine Kelly!

MEET OUR TRUSTEES FOR ENGLAND, WALES AND SCOTLAND

Cindy Smulders - Chair

Charlotte Maskrey

Tori McKillen

Callum Alexander

Gordon Mattocks

Jennie Jeffery

Abigail Bishop-Laggett

Bridget Mildon

Dr. Chris Symeon

Stephen Betteridge-Sorby - Trustee

Dr. Penny Trayner

Meet More Team Members

FND Hope Research Board Members

Bridget Mildon

FND Hope Board Members

Robert Wilson Thomas

REGISTERED CHARITY ENGLAND & WALES

REGISTERED CHARITY SCOTLAND