Louise Wright An energetic & inspirational leader, Louise is at her best leading & motivating teams to reach new heights. She constantly raises the bar for herself & others & has a passion for helping develop those around her to achieve results beyond their expectations. Professional, compassionate, thoughtful, & determined – qualities that have transformed the scale, services & reach of Back Up under her stewardship as CEO

Louise is a dynamic leader. as Chair of Back Up (https://www.backuptrust.org.uk/). Louse was the CEO for 10 years and throughout that time pioneered growth, inclusion and sustainability to leave a larger, more professional organisation; but one still connected to its roots and those it serves. Louise’s style is open and collaborative; she builds positive relationships with her staff team and key stakeholders. She is supportive and ably coached her SMT to grow and develop personally and professionally in order to make the most of everyone’s potential. Louise is driven, ambitious and strives for results and does not shy away from making difficult decisions. She was a delight to work with and will be a fun and strong addition to any organisation.

Steve Jones worked for 35 years as an international development consultant specialising in social and economic problems of rural poverty in South Asia and Africa. He ran his own consultancy practice and worked for clients including the United Nations, the World Bank, the UK government and EU. He is now retired.

Steve was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis in 2008. For the first five years, the disease progressed slowly and he continued to work and led a reasonably full life. In 2013 his condition deteriorated. He was fortunate to receive a single lung transplant in March 2016.

Steve is currently Secretary and Vice-Chair of the Papworth Hospital Pulmonary Fibrosis Support Group. He is also a member of the Papworth Hospital Transplant Patients Support Group committee.

Steve was a founding trustee of a Cambridge charity – the Centre for Global Equality. He is also a Parish Councillor.

Steve is very pleased to have been asked to join Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis as Chair. He believes that further effort is needed to strengthen the network of support groups across the country and to reach out to people with IPF living in remote areas or who are otherwise isolated.

Steve has recently been elected as President of EU-IPFF European Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation

EU-IPFF has 21 member organisations representing countries all over Europe, who unite their voices in the European organisation sharing experiences, sharing knowledge and communicating about PF care and treatment in the various countries. In this way we create impact and influence on how the individual country handle the disease.

EU-IPFF works in various ways to raise awareness of the fact that Pulmonary Fibrosis is a devastating disease for both the people affected by it and their relatives.

We set up awareness campaigns, develop material for carers, doctors and patients, arrange webinars and summits with professionals and specialists sharing their research, thoughts, knowledge and enthusiasm to really make a difference in the PF area.