When you choose to support The Mary Stevens Hospice, you’re not only helping us provide care today, you’re helping us protect the future of the hospice, ensuring that people in our community will always have somewhere to turn when they need it most.
Our Board of Trustees provides strategic guidance and governance, safeguarding the future of The Mary Stevens Hospice. Each trustee brings a wealth of experience and heartfelt dedication to our mission, ensuring our care is delivered with integrity.
The Board of Trustees at The Mary Stevens Hospice is made up of passionate, skilled individuals who share a common goal: to uphold our values of care, compassion and kindness, while ensuring our hospice continues to thrive for generations to come.
Our Trustees volunteer their time and expertise to support the hospice’s strategy, finances and governance. Together, they ensure we remain accountable to our community and responsive to changing needs. Their combined knowledge helps shape a sustainable and compassionate future for hospice care in Dudley and beyond.
Trustee
Our Senior Leadership Team provides strategic direction with compassion, courage and integrity - ensuring that every decision made supports our mission to deliver exceptional hospice care.
Find out more
Our hospice teams bring together skilled professionals and volunteers united by one purpose - to provide compassionate care for every patient and loved one we support.
Find out moreWhether you have a question about our care, need guidance on accessing support, or want to know more about how you can get involved, our team is here to help.
You can reach us by completing our online form, or giving us a call.
Please complete the form, and a member of our Hospice team will be in touch as soon as possible. Every message is handled with care, compassion and confidentiality.
Fields marked with * are required.
Originally from Herefordshire, John obtained a degree in theoretical physics before qualifying as a chartered accountant, specialising in taxation, and subsequently becoming a partner in Deloitte. He is the former appointed treasurer of Stourbridge Tennis Club and a long-time supporter of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. John was appointed Chair of the Trustee Board in November 2024 and continues to chair the Finance Committee.
Peter’s career has spanned over 45 years working in the NHS, managing major capital development, during which the last 15 years, Peter was responsible for delivering non-medical facilities over multiple sites. Peter was appointed as a magistrate in 1997. In November 2024, Peter ended his tenure as Chair of the Trustee Board and was appointed vice chair. He continues to chair both the Fundraising and Governance Committees.
Brian has over 40 years of experience in financial services, covering corporate banking and private equity. He has a range of non-executive positions across venture capital, corporate finance, private equity and online retail. In 2020, Brian was appointed Chair of Trading for The Mary Stevens Hospice.
Dr Gillian Love was brought up in Stourbridge and has served as a Dudley GP since 1996. She worked at The Mary Stevens Hospice as a salaried doctor for eight years, where she felt privileged to be part of a team supporting patients and their families through their palliative care journeys. Dr Love has always regarded this aspect of clinical care as one of the most important responsibilities held by a clinician. After leaving the hospice, she contributed as a senior GP to the restructuring of local community service provision, a role she held for five years.
Dr Love shares:
“As I approach retirement, I’ve been able to reduce my non-clinical responsibilities in practice, giving me the time to give back to the hospice as a Trustee - a role I feel very honoured to hold.”
Before retiring, Spencer had 30 years’ experience in senior manager roles, gaining a mix of commercial, operational and administrative financial expertise across the private and semi-public sectors. Spencer is a fundraising volunteer for The Mary Stevens Hospice, a member of the Finance and Fundraising Governance Committees and is a Director of the Lottery Board.
Barbara is a retired teacher with over 40 years’ experience working in the education sector across Birmingham and Sandwell. Barbara has had links and experiences with several hospices in the past, and seeing the wonderful work that they do prompted her to become a trustee at The Mary Stevens Hospice. Barbara is a member of the Clinical Governance Committee.
Steve is an alderman of Dudley Metropolitan Borough and also a former Mayor of Dudley, with over 23 years of public service for which, along with a lifetime of charity fundraising, he was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2018. Steve has served on various health boards and currently sits on both the Fundraising and Trading Board Committees at The Mary Stevens Hospice.
David is a chartered accountant with over 35 years of experience working as an accountant in industry and, more recently, in practice. Now semi-retired, many of his clients are owners of SMEs. David is a member of the Finance and Fundraising Governance Committees.
John is proud to be of Scottish heritage; his parents are from Fife, and he is named after his grandfather, who was a coal miner in Scotland. Born and raised in Kent, John was inspired by his police officer father and read law at Birmingham University, followed by studying at the College of Law before qualifying as a solicitor in 1981. After initial employment in West Bromwich, John moved to Tanfield’s in Dudley until his retirement in 2020. During his legal career, John practised in litigation and disputes, appearing regularly in local courts. John lives in West Bromwich, where he is a treasurer and bell ringer at All Saints Church. His interests include performing arts, music, theatre and the Dudley Rotary Club, amongst many others. John was a carer for his partner, Christine, and has lived experience of caregiving.
Dr Victoria Smart graduated from Birmingham Medical School in 1984 and dedicated 41 years of continuous service to the NHS. For 37 of those years, she served as a GP partner in a Dudley-based practice, retiring in June 2024. Dr Smart is well known to The Mary Stevens Hospice, having also worked for 17 years as a salaried doctor on the Inpatient Unit. In addition to her medical career, Dr Smart has 15 years of experience as a secondary school governor. She lives in Hagley with her husband, an accountant, where they raised their four now-grown children. One of their children lives locally, and Dr Smart and her husband enjoy helping with grandparent childcare.
She shares"
“My son has cystic fibrosis and diabetes, so I have also experienced the service user side of care. I look forward to hopefully being a positive contributor to this great hospice facility.”
Tom was born in Dudley and attended Dudley Grammar School before graduating from Imperial College, London as a Metallurgist and Engineer. He began his career in the early 1970s working on a copper mine in Zambia before joining the family business – a foundry specialising in copper-based alloy castings in Dudley and Cradley Heath. Following his father’s death, Tom became Chairman and has successfully grown the business into one of Europe’s leading foundry groups.
Tom is Chairman of Westley Plastics Ltd., recently recognised with the King’s Award for Enterprise for its export achievements. He also served as Chairman of Castings Technology International Ltd. until its sale in 2013. Tom is committed to regional economic growth and sits on the board of the West Midlands Growth Company, a business directed by the West Midlands Combined Authority to encourage investment and economic growth in the West Midlands. He was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of the West Midlands in 2017.
Karen has lived in Haden Hill for 37 years and her career has been with Lloyds Banking Group for just over 40 years. For the last 10 years, Karen was responsible for Branch Banking across the Central England Network ensuring customers received an excellent service, all colleagues felt valued and heard and the Retail Strategy was delivered to a high standard including Governance & Finance.
Karen feels very honoured to be joining The Mary Stevens Hospice as a Trustee and, now retired, is looking forward to giving back and being part of something that has an impact on so many families and communities.
