The College warmly thanks Gill for all her wisdom and generous commitment in executing her Trustee role on the Board of Trustees [1]. Gill played a crucial part as a Board member, being a valued contributor to its discussions and providing excellent perspective to challenge the College’s ambitions and work to further paediatrics and child health. The College wishes Gill much success for the future.
Smon brings experience and insight from his career within the legal profession as well as from his involvement with a number of organisations in the charity sector.
Responding to his appointment as an Independent Trustee, Simon Meredith [2] said:
I feel privileged and humbled to have been asked to join the RCPCH Board of Trustees. The College and its members and staff seem to me to be remarkable people who play a crucial role in the health, welfare and development of our children and young people; nothing is more important and no cause closer to my heart than this.
I hope to play, in whatever way I can as a trustee, a part in supporting and enabling this work and to contribute something to the efforts of those exceptional members and staff who give so much to those they care for and to this organisation.
On stepping down as an Independent Trustee, Gillian Budd [3] comments:
I can think of little more rewarding, and justifying of the commitment of time and energy, than being part of the work and governance of this extraordinary charity, the RCPCH. My five years as a Trustee have allowed me to work with so many dedicated and committed employees, volunteers, members and supporters of the College in pursuit of the charity vision of leading the way in children’s health. It has been a pleasure and a privilege.
The new Chair of the Board of Trustees, Joanne Shaw, comments:
Simon brings a wealth of experience and insight, and the College will greatly benefit from his contribution. I’m very pleased that he will be joining the Board and I look forward to working with him. The timing of Simon’s arrival coincides with my own as the new Chair of the Board and I also want to take the opportunity to thank Gill for her solid hard work and dedication as her own Trustee term concludes. She has provided much wise counsel for which we are very grateful. All of us at the College wish her much success in her next chapter.
Notes
[1] The College’s Board of Trustees is the body with legal responsibility for all the College’s activities. There are twelve posts on the Board, of which seven are open to RCPCH members, plus five independent Trustee posts (these are the Chair, a beneficiary representative and three other roles).
[2] Simon Meredith is an experienced commercial tax lawyer. Having trained and worked as a solicitor at one of the City’s leading law firms, Slaughter and May, he worked briefly in investment banking before joining City law firm CMS Cameron McKenna, where he was a partner until 2006. After obtaining a coaching qualification from Henley Management College, setting up his own property investment business and speaking and coaching young people in local London comprehensive schools, he returned full time to the world of tax and in 2011 was one of the founder partners in a specialist tax law boutique, NGM Tax Law where he is still a full time partner.
Simon has had a long-standing involvement in the charity sector and working with young people, including being one of the co-founders and latterly a trustee of Blind In Business; BiB’s principal aim has been to facilitate the transition of young people who are blind and partially sighted from education into employment, focussing on specialist IT as a key enabling factor. He was also a trustee for a short while of the Royal London Society for Blind Children.
[3] Gillian Budd is an experienced commercial and charity lawyer. Having trained and worked as a solicitor at one of the City’s leading law firms, Slaughter and May, she became an in-house lawyer at Cadbury Schweppes working in various senior legal roles. She has since had substantial experience in governance, legal and risk matters in the not-for-profit sector, working for Save the Children UK and Plan International, two international children’s charities.
Gillian is currently head of governance, legal and compliance for Teach First, a leading education charity whose mission is to end educational inequality across England.
Gillian has extensive trustee experience as a past or present trustee of various UK charities; Blenheim CDP, Community Links, Hampstead Theatre and ShareGift. She also chaired the board of a social enterprise, advises small charities on governance matters and is a member of finance, audit, risk and nominations committees in several charities and a school governor.