Press releases

January 12 2005

CHARITY APPOINTS NEW DIRECTOR

Paul Gauntlett, former Director of Marketing with the Samaritans, has joined The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation 1 as Director of Development.

Paul, whose work in the voluntary sector over the past 15 years includes consultancy with other national charities such the NSPCC and Opera North , will be in charge of the Foundation’s fundraising, marketing and public relations functions 2.

Said Paul: “I am thrilled to be joining such a dedicated and hard-working team of staff and volunteers. This exceptional charity has made great progress over the past couple of years.

“I am relishing the opportunity to drive its marketing, fundraising and communications plans so that it can expand its important work and ultimately defeat lung cancer.”

Chief Executive Mike Unger added: “I am delighted to announce the appointment of an individual of Paul’s calibre. He has joined the Foundation at a very significant stage in our development, following a radical change of emphasis towards more sustainable sources of income such as payroll giving and legacies.

“As part of this essential organisational change, we have re-vamped the PR, marketing and fundraising functions, bringing them together into single development department. These functions will play a vital role in the coming years”.

Paul joins the Foundation from O2 UK, the telecommunications company with which he has been working for the last six months on the company’s flagship Corporate Social Responsibility partnership with Weston Spirit. The latter is a Liverpool-based charity working with disaffected and vulnerable young people.

As a consultant Paul has worked for, and advised, the Boards of such diverse organisations as London First, the London International Festival of Theatre, Friends of the Elderly and The National Academy of Writing.

In addition, he has worked for an organisation that is responsible for the economic and social regeneration of Britain’s former coalfields.

A trustee of his local Citizens Advice Bureau , Paul was also a volunteer with the Samaritans for 24 years and its national Vice-Chairman for three of those years. Paul is an active member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, the Institute of Fundraising and the Institute of Directors.

ENDS

1. The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation is the only lung cancer charity in the world wholly dedicated to prevention, research and patient care. The Liverpool-based charity, which pioneered Lung Cancer Awareness Month in the UK four years ago, is currently undertaking a ground-breaking 10-year population-based research study, The Liverpool Lung Project. This aims to identify individuals at risk of developing lung cancer, monitor changes in the lungs before lung cancer develops and develop screening programmes to improve early detection. In March 2004 the Foundation launched The National Clean Air Award – the first and only UK wide scheme which provides guidance to employers wishing to devise a no-smoking policy in the workplace and awards a certificate to those with an effective policy in place.

The Foundation’s Patient Care Division provides support, information and advocacy. There are 25 Roy Castle Lung Cancer Patient Support and Information Groups throughout the country, which provide an opportunity for people affected by lung cancer to meet others in a similar position, learn more about lung cancer issues and chat to local lung cancer nurse specialists. The Roy Cancer Lung Cancer Helpline, 0800 358 7200, is the only one of its kind and provides people affected by the disease with lung cancer information and access to local lung cancer support services. The Foundation's lung cancer awareness initiatives help raise the profile of lung cancer by encouraging the general public to recognise the signs and symptoms of lung cancer and by campaigning for improvements in patient care.

The Foundation’s website at www.roycastle.org provides detailed on-line lung cancer information.

2. Paul Gauntlett’s appointment as Director of Development comes in the wake of significant organisational change for the Foundation. Last year, Chief Executive Mike Unger oversaw the implementation of a raft of new policies for legacy and major donor fundraising, public relations and marketing. He also overhauled the charity’s database and direct marketing approaches, created a dedicated appeals section and launched a membership programme. Recently, the charity committed to a payroll giving scheme with other national non-government organisations through the Time4change programme.