8th July 2024

Chris Monk, Bristol & Weston Hospitals Charity's Chair of Trustees, will be stepping down from his role this month. Former staff member at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW), Chris joined the trustee board  in 2016 and went on to become chair in 2019. 

Since joining the charity board, Chris has always been an advocate for our activity. In 2018, he completed the Bristol to Paris Cycle Challenge, raising £3,400 for our hospitals, and in 2023 he took on the Great Weston Ride, a 57-mile cycle from Bristol to Weston, and raised a further £715. Chris plays our weekly lottery, has attended gala dinners and donated £800 to win a cottage stay in a charity auction. In total, Chris has raised more than £10,000 for our hospitals. We'd like to say a big thank you to Chris for all his work for the charity over the last eight years.

To round off his final year in style, Chris has been shortlisted as Charity Chair of the Year at this year's Third Sector Awards. Here are just some of things his colleagues had to say as part of the award entry…

“Chris epitomises the values of the charity. He leads from the front and he is a tremendous and encouraging support to the management team.” – Paul Kearney, Chief Executive Officer

“I can say that having served on the Charity’s Trustee Board for seven years, the last five those years under Chris’s leadership have been the most enjoyable and productive.

“Chris is adept at bringing people together and using the skills of his trustees and the wider charity team to best effect, with the patients and their families always at the heart of his thinking and doing.

“In my opinion we are lucky to have Chris as our chair and through his leadership we have developed into a highly professional and respected charity in Bristol.” – Steve Bluff, charity trustee

And Amy Ford, Hospitals Partnerships Manager at the charity, said: “Chris is a legend! He’s always up for a new challenge, whether it’s cycling to Paris, hiking up an icy Ben Nevis or letting 60+ people wonder through his garden, he has always done all that he can to support our hospitals and the work of the charity.

“He’s a true advocate and friend of the staff here at the charity and the difference he’s made over the past eight years has been immeasurable. He will be greatly missed.”

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Chris will be replaced as Chair of Trustees by David Wynick. David has recently stepped down as Director of Research for UHBW and North Bristol Trust. He continues as Professor of Molecular Medicine at University of Bristol and Honorary Consultant in Pain Medicine at UHBW. He is also Director of Bristol Health Partners and the NIHR Bristol clinical research facility.

Our Trustee board is also joined by Ben Breeze, Jane Oakland, Rajnish Razdan and Bishrut Mukerjee. Welcome to the BWHC team!