Jill Douglas to Become Patron of My Name'5 Doddie Foundation

26 February 2024

Our CEO, Jill Douglas, will be stepping away from her role at the end of April and becomes patron of the charity.

Jill has been involved with the Foundation since its inception, starting off initially as a trustee on the board before becoming its first CEO in 2018.

Under her leadership, the Foundation has grown from an idea amongst friends at the Weir kitchen table, into a organisation that has now committed over £11 million to vital MND research plus an additional £2 million to supporting people living with MND.

This has been made possible by the support of thousands of people and we thank Jill for her enthusiasm, humour, tenacity, and relentless determination to make a difference to the lives of people living with MND.

A quality that Jill shares with Doddie is her commitment to make time for everyone, whether this is spending time with families affected by motor neuron disease, connecting with the research community, lobbying decision makers or joining a “Doddie Dook” in the depths of winter.

Jill will remain a key cog for My Name’5 Doddie Foundation in her new role as Patron. In doing so, she’ll continue to support the MND community, fly the tartan banner for us, attend events and of course conduct important taste tests for any new gin or wine partnerships we develop.

Our work, of course, continues apace until we deliver Doddie’s legacy of a world free of MND. With that in mind, the appointment of our new CEO, Nicola Roseman, brings with it a huge amount of excitement and opportunity and the Foundation will be in safe hands going forward.

In due course, we look forward to introducing you to Nicola, who already is a key part of the Foundation as Chief Operating Officer, but for now we’ll sign off by saying a huge thank you to Jill for all that she’s done for My Name’5 Doddie Foundation and the MND community. She’s been integral to putting MND in the public eye, giving hope to those living with the disease, and driving forward vital research.

“It has been an absolute privilege to play a part in establishing My Name’5 Doddie Foundation and I am proud to see the way the charity has grown and evolved to become  ia key stakeholder in the MND community. We miss Doddie every day – he was not only a great friend, but also someone who inspired everyone around him. He was also very good at persuading people to get involved and I was just one of the initial team who was “encouraged” by Doddie to invest our energies in the creation of the Foundation.

“We are fortunate to have the support of  thousands of exceptional people who continue to go to extraordinary lengths to help us. I’d like to thank our army of fundraisers and the wider MND community for their commitment to the Foundation. So many people have helped me personally. I have especially appreciated the patience and guidance of the research community, it has been a steep learning curve and I am optimistic about the future, given the endeavour of those who devote their lives to seek answers.

“It has been a difficult decision to make but I’ve been spinning a few plates and it is time now for the Foundation to move forwards with Nicola at the helm. We have built a fantastic team and I’m excited to see what the future holds. There are more exciting announcements to come from the Foundation about our investment plans, and I am looking forward to playing my part as Patron in the years to come.”