Celebrating Trustees’ Week – 4-8 November 2024

At Pilgrims Hospices, our trustees are responsible for the strategic direction of the charity.

Our Trustee Board work with the Executive Management Team to oversee every aspect of Pilgrims work, from caring for our patients and their families, to fundraising in the community.

All our trustees have specialist knowledge, from medical and clinical to legal, business development and marketing. As a collective, our Trustee Board apply their knowledge, steering the strategic direction of the hospice.

As Trustees’ Week 2024 approaches, we have been talking to one of our trustees, Elizabeth Sharp. With a background as a consultant surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, specialising in breast and skin cancer, Elizabeth has a wealth of medical experience, which she is able to draw on and share with her fellow trustee colleagues accordingly.

Reflecting on her role, Elizabeth shared:

“Being a trustee is an interesting, although sometimes challenging role. As trustees, we work collaboratively to support our CEO and leadership team. We are here to have open, honest, dialogue, share triumphs and, when we need to, we challenge the leadership team. This helps to shape our collective thinking, ensuring that everything we do is in line with the overarching strategic direction of the hospice.

“There is always something new to learn; in my case, I’ve learnt a lot about income generation, and despite the current funding challenges that all hospices are facing, I find the role of being a trustee extremely rewarding.”

This Trustees’ Week, we extend our thanks to Elizabeth and all our trustees, who play a role in shaping the future of hospice care in east Kent.

Trustees’ Week is a time for us to come together to celebrate the achievements of nearly one million trustees across the UK. We thank them for the time, commitment, and effort they bring to their charities to help them thrive.