About us | therichmondgroup.co.uk

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The Richmond Group of Charities is a coalition of the leading health and social care organisations in the voluntary sector.

We work together as a collective voice to better influence health and social care policy and practice, with the aim of improving the care and support for the 15 million people living with long term conditions we represent.

We are passionate about bringing the patient and user voice into the very heart of health decision-making and to encourage and facilitate the kind of transformational change which will most improve outcomes and experience for people. We aim to champion the cause of improved outcomes and better use of health and care resources through person-centred, high-quality care.

The Richmond Group of Charities is a coalition of the leading health and social care organisations in the voluntary sector.

We have unique insights into how people with a range of different long term conditions live their lives and experience their care, and have the knowledge and commitment to help improve the quality of care for all.

We work directly with patients, carers and families affected by long term conditions and seek to clearly draw on their experiences in all we do. We also have direct expertise in both influencing and service delivery. So we can support - through both services and influencing activities- transformational change which focuses on improved patient outcomes and experience.

We aim to be a close collaboration, based on long standing and strong relationships between people at all levels in the twelve member organisations, but we also work with other, external partners where this gives us greater impact. We are a critical friend of the health and care system, taking the side of users and patients, but keen to support and accelerate the development of evidence based, sustainable and innovative solutions to the many challenges facing health and care today.

We are here to help.

Our team

Lynda Thomas

Chair

Lynda Thomas was appointed Chief Executive of Macmillan Cancer Support in March 2015. Since joining Macmillan in 2001 Lynda has worked in the communications and fundraising departments. As well as being the current Chair of the Richmond Group, Lynda also chairs the NHS England Cancer Charity Forum and is a member of the Cicely Saunders Institute Advisory Board, the National Cancer Board, and the NHS Assembly.

Contact Lynda Thomas

Catherine Johnstone

Vice Chair

Catherine has been leading Royal Voluntary service as Chief Executive since August 2017. Starting her career as a trained nurse in the NHS , she has extensive experience across all sectors building innovative and sustainable services and inspiring and enabling voluntary action. Her key passions are frontline service delivery and enabling the gift of voluntary service which recently saw her leading the development of a number of large-scale initiatives to support the NHS and our communities during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Before joining Royal Voluntary Service, Catherine was Chief Executive of Samaritans, which provides confidential support to anyone experiencing a tough time in their life. Whilst at the helm for almost 7 years, Catherine was responsible for developing a long-term strategy that saw the organisation become the thought leader of suicide prevention and innovator of postvention services in the UK. This resulted in her being awarded a CBE in 2016 for services to suicide prevention. Catherine was fortunate enough to also spend some time working in the Asylum and Refugee support sector which in her own words was exceptionally humbling and tough.

In her career Catherine is also well known for her leadership roles across the world of volunteer infrastructure having held CEO roles in CVS/Volunteer Bureau and Community Action organisations. As Chair of Directory of Social Change for many years she understands the key role that small charities make to their local communities. With a keen appetite for collaboration, Catherine has recently led the development of Shaping the Future With Volunteering coalition that she now Co Chairs with Matt Hyde. She was recently appointed as Vice Chair of the Richmond Group.

Her time as CEO of NDPB national funding agency, Capacitybuilders placed her at the heart of government and VCS funding decisions. The breadth of experience that Catherine has been able to secure also included a period of time working in the Asylum and Refugee support sector. Catherine is particularly proud of her five children and five grandchildren who keep her grounded and eternally entertained and busy.

Contact Catherine Johnstone

Neil Tester

Director

Neil was previously Deputy Director of Healthwatch England, leading work on maximising impact and increasing the influence of people’s experience on health and social care policy. He was Director of Policy and Communications between 2015 and 2017. Starting out in journalism on Parliament’s The House Magazine, Neil went on to work for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and for federated charities including Relate, as well as other membership organisations.

Neil joined the Richmond Group in September 2019. He is deputy chair of the General Medical Council's Good Medical Practice advisory forum and a member of the ABPI's Patient Advisory Council. The ABPI reimburses the Group for Neil's time but he receives no personal payment for this role. He is a Trustee of Healthwatch Hertfordshire.

Contact Neil Tester

Michelle Roberts

Physical Activity and Health Programme Manager

After completing a Combined Arts degree from the University of Leicester Michelle began working on community physical activity projects via a stint in local government. She then joined the national Walking for Health team under its stewardship of the Ramblers and Macmillan Cancer Support. Following this Michelle moved into the private sector, working for Intelligent Health and managing their innovative physical activity programme, Beat the Street. Michelle joined the Richmond Group in June 2017.

Contact Michelle Roberts

Eve Riley

Programme Manager for Taskforce on Multiple Conditions

Eve manages our partnership programme with the Royal College of General Practitioners and Guys and St Thomas’ Charity to improve the lives of people living with, or caring for, people with multiple long-term conditions.

Eve has over 12 years of experience in health policy, research management and NHS quality improvement, previously working as the Associate Director of Research and Governance at the National Joint Registry. After graduating from UCL with a first-class BA in social sciences, Eve began her career working in the community sector, as an outreach worker with a homelessness charity. From there she took a role with the Royal College of Physicians and has worked in the field of health and care quality improvement ever since. She has also previously worked at The King’s Fund and the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership.

Eve joined the Richmond Group in July 2018.

Contact Eve Riley

Our aims

Being at the table

We believe that health and care will only be designed, led and delivered in the right way, if the people who rely on services can make their voices heard at every level. This is why it is one of our main aims to ensure that patients, service users, their carers, families and organisations are at the table when important decisions are made. We are hearing every day about what matters to the people we work for, and we are here to bring together the lived experience of people with long term conditions and the expertise of large health and care organisations.

Improving the lives of people with long term conditions

Our aim is to change the way people with long term conditions can use services provided by the health and care system. Too often, these services are uncoordinated, don't help people to stay as well as possible or don't help people to look after themselves. We think about policy solutions, but also bring our experience of practical service improvements to this challenge.

Prevention

Preventable illness causes avoidable suffering. Many cases of long term illness could have been prevented through reducing people's exposure to risks, such as smoking, inactivity, alcohol misuse and an unbalanced diet. Even people who already have a long term condition often benefit from changes to their behaviour around physical activity, smoking, alcohol use and diet. They need help to understand what they can do, and support to do it. It is never too early or too late to make a difference to someone's health and wellbeing.

Our impact and capability

Each year, our members reach and support over 21.4 million people in England.

a lot of the carer groups which are very helpful and valuable are actually provided by the voluntary groups

Fred

Carer

We provide support to more than 554,000 callers through our national helplines every year

Evidence shows that people benefit hugely from the support of peers. Our 2,600 support groups are part of our core offer.

Our websites provide easily-accessible information and offer support with emotional, psychological and practical needs.

Our member charities distribute 19.3 million information guides annually to enable people to manage their conditions and feel in control.

You are here

The Richmond Group of Charities is a coalition of the leading health and social care organisations in the voluntary sector.

We have unique insights into how people with a range of different long term conditions live their lives and experience their care, and have the knowledge and commitment to help improve the quality of care for all.

£7 in every £10 spent on health and social care is spent on managing long term conditions.

Long term conditions account for half of all GP appointments and 70% of hospital bed days.

Our team

Our aims

Our impact and capability

Each year, our members reach and support over 21.4 million people in England.