Chris has been a supporter of Hospice Africa since its formation in 1993. He has served as a trustee on the UK Board since 2013, and was appointed Interim Chair in September 2020. Chris first visited Uganda in 2005 with his family and found it an inspirational and humbling experience,  and was back in Kampala again as recently as Christmas 2019 for a unique and special celebration of the festive season. 

Outside of Hospice Africa, Chris is a Director of Catalyst Consulting who support organisations across all sectors with Business Transformation and Continuous Improvement.

Chris lives in Ormskirk with his wife Maria and family who are all involved in supporting Hospice Africa.  

Dr Mary Bunn, OBE is a palliative care doctor who initially trained to be a General Practitioner, including 2 years working in primary care in The Gambia. She went with her family to live and work in Malawi in 2005, running Umodzi, the Children’s Palliative Care service at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, which was set up with the support of Dr Anne Merriman and HAU in 2002. She completed a Masters in Palliative Medicine from the University of Cape Town in 2009, and continued to work in Hospice and Palliative Care when she returned to the UK.

Mary joined the Board of HAUK trustees in 2014. She moved to Freetown, Sierra Leone in 2017 to help develop palliative care services in the government sector there, based on the HAU model and ethos. She returned mid 2025 and was honoured to receive an OBE for her work in Sierra Leone, which she continues to support from afar by mentoring and encouraging Connaught Palliative Care team.

Pat was a Hospice Africa Founding Trustee in 1993 for several years. After retirement, she returned in 2016, and has been Hon. Treasurer since 2018.

Pat has held managerial roles in customer services, product management, and quality management. Living in Liverpool, Pat is an enthusiastic LFC Supporter, and enjoys the outdoors, birdwatching, and gardening. 

Pat developed further links with the work in Uganda when her son spent a period  working at HAU when he was 17.

Philippa is a palliative care doctor and senior lecturer working in London.  

Philippa explored many different specialities but always found herself drawn to the unique opportunities in palliative medicine to emphasise holistic care, quality of life and support patients to die in comfort, with care and dignity. 

She first visited Uganda in 2019 to volunteer for Hospice Africa in Kampala.  She worked alongside the wonderful nurses, learning first hand the challenges they faced and the profound difference they made to their patients and families. She was inspired by the hospice team and Dr. Anne in equal measure and she has been a firm supporter ever since.

She joined the board of HAUK trustees in March 2021 and hopes to visit Uganda throughout her career to volunteer and support the team and their vision. 

Doug is a Lancastrian who found his values were profoundly shaped by a year teaching Maths and Science in a resource-poor secondary school in northern Malawi. He returned to the UK to complete a Masters in Operational Research followed by a life-long career in university education at Liverpool Business School, LJMU. He became an HA Trustee in 1996.

Doug is drawn mainly to the big picture, seeking operational effectiveness at the global, organisational and individual levels. Fascinated by personality profiling, Doug is interested in being part of co-operative and supportive teams. 

He is married to Linda, a retired occupational therapist, with children and grandchildren living in Sheffield and Bristol. He is a deacon at the local Baptist church; loves the outdoors.

Hannah has been a strong supporter of Hospice Africa for over 12 years. She first visited Hospice with the family in 2005: an experience that left a deep impression on her. 

She returned independently at the age of 18, equipped with funds which she had raised and soon became very involved with all aspects of Hospice life. 

The Give A Chance project has been something very close to Hannah’s heart and she brought new energy and funding to this project, set up to support the children whose schools fees may have been seriously affected by the illness or death of a loved one. Hannah continues to support and visit hospice and has formed close ties with Dr. Anne and many members of the hospice team.

Emma Matthews has worked in Sheffield as a palliative care, oncology and haematology nurse for ten years. She is now undertaking further training to practice as a midwife. Her other role is working as an educator for refugee nurses, supporting them back into practice within the NHS.

Emma discovered the charity Hospice Africa by chance, but has subsequently been fortunate to spend several weeks working with the clinical team in Uganda, and also acting as a facilitator for the International Programmes Team.

Emma is keen to raise awareness of the work of Hospice Africa more widely, and to educate about the vital and impressive care work that the Hospice nurses deliver.

Dr Kate Eldred currently works as a GP in West Yorkshire, where palliative care is an integral part of her role. Through valued friendship with the Merriman family, Kate and her husband Oliver have had the privilege of spending a few months as volunteer doctors with Dr Anne and the Hospice team over the past couple of years. 

Kate joined the UK board in 2024. Having witnessed first-hand the difference that Dr Anne's vision has made to the lives of so many patients and their families, she is keen to work with the team to further raise the profile of Palliative Care in Uganda and beyond.

In her spare time, she and Oliver are keen outdoor enthusiasts and nature lovers. They have 3 grown-up sons.