President
Mr Timothy ffytche LVO, FRCS, FRCOphth
Timothy is a retired eye surgeon who specialised in medical retinal conditions, including macular disease and diabetes. He was a consultant at St Thomas’s Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital, and also at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (HTD). Before he retired, he was Chairman of the European region of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. He was a founding member of the Macular Society having been approached by Elizabeth Thomas, and gave the opening lecture at its inaugural meeting in October 1987. He has been a member of its Council and a Trustee since then and was elected President of the Society in February 2021.
Trustees
Our Board of Trustees is the governing body of the Macular Society and is ultimately responsible for everything we do and how we do it.
Mrs Cecilia Bufton BSc(Hons), MBA – Chair
Cecilia brings to the Board her experiences of working in medical, pharmaceutical, digital health and wellbeing companies. A science graduate with an MBA focused on international strategic marketing and leadership training from the University of Oxford, her career has involved the development and delivery of products and services that help change the way healthcare is delivered. Cecilia has created marketing campaigns to promote the understanding of the benefits of new approaches to health and care management and has been responsible for building technology enabled services and software apps for use in supported living environments. Cecilia enjoys yoga and is a keen gardener, recently becoming a Board Trustee for Plant Heritage, a national charity involved in the conservation of cultivated plants.
Mrs Alison Guthrie BSc(Hons) MCOptom FBDO – Vice Chair (Optometry)
Alison Guthrie is a registered optometrist and dispensing optician; she has a longstanding interest in low vision management and service provision. In the last 15 years she has been involved with visually impaired patients within the hospital eye service in both macular and low vision clinics. In addition she is involved in optometrist undergraduate training, postgraduate assessment and examining, fitness to practice and works in the voluntary sector in sub-saharan Africa. She is currently researching the quality of life changes that result from vision loss.
Mr Paul Ryb - Vice Chair (Finance)
Paul currently holds board positions in the commercial, public and charity sectors, while also managing an investment portfolio for a private family office and advising on various social impact investment projects. He was managing director at the Royal Bank of Scotland operating within the Global, Banking and Markets Division having previously worked in the City of London for over 20 years at a number of investment banks. Since losing his central vision in 2007 to macular dystrophy, he has joined a number of boards as a non-executive director, specialising in his area of expertise: assisted technology, cyber security, angel investing and business strategy, as well as becoming involved in a number of sight charities including RNIB, the Macular Society and Blind in Business, where he continues to use his experiences in dealing with sight loss to benefit others. In 2017 Paul has become a non-executive director for Kings Access Tech Ltd and the NHS Mental Health Board (covering Barnet, Enfield, Haringey). Paul is a keen sportsman and has held the British number one VI Tennis title for the last three years, a brown belt in kickboxing and enjoys various extreme sports in the Alps every summer with his children including mountain biking, white water rafting and canyoning. Paul has two children and lives in London.
Mr Richard Piller FCA, CTA - Honorary Treasurer (Finance)
Richard's mother had macular degeneration. Richard is the retired network tax leader and an operations director of PwC. Richard's international career in professional services spanned 36 years, including 2 years living and working in Eastern Europe and work in numerous other countries. Richard became a Trustee and Honorary Treasurer in 2017. He is responsible for overseeing the Society's finances and is Chairman of the Finance and Fundraising Committee. Richard enjoys performing arts and most sports.
Miss Amanda Rowland
Amanda is a lawyer who worked in private practice in the City of London for over 20 years and was then a partner with PWC for 14 years before her retirement. She has specialist knowledge in financial / tax matters and regulatory affairs. She spends her time in retirement working with sight loss charities as a trustee and has picked up her interest in history and english literature to embark on some further study. Amanda has myopic macular degeneration which became severe in her mid 40s, requiring her to adjust to new ways of doing many things. Amanda became a trustee in 2020.
Ms Anna Fletcher LL.B (Hons) LL.M
Anna is an experienced employment lawyer and trainer with over 25 years' experience. She is a director in the employment and equalities team at an international law firm working with in-house HR and legal teams in sectors including aviation, aggregates, retail and manufacturing. Anna also co-chairs the firm's disability network. She has suffered from PIC, which affects her central vision for over 20 years and is a keen supporter of the Macular Society. She is also a school governor.
Mr Bill Best BA (Hons) Public Admin
Bill has central vision loss in both eyes through dry AMD. Now semi-retired, he was head of housing at a District Council for over 20 years. He then spent a similar amount of time as a senior manager in the private sector, leading both bidding and contract management teams on social housing related regeneration projects before setting up a specialist management consultancy with colleagues. Bill became a Trustee in April 2018. He is a member of both the Manchester and Leeds W@M Groups.
Mrs Elaine Latham
Elaine joined The Macular Society, as a Trustee in 2020. Elaine’s Mum has Age-related Macular Degeneration and as the disease has progressed, Elaine has supported her Mum throughout her sight-loss treatment and adjustments to new and evolving challenges.
Elaine has worked extensively in the NHS and with its partners, originally as a Registered Nurse and subsequently as a senior NHS manager/leader in the south west region and nationally for 33 years. Now retired, Elaine has also run her own business, working within the care sector, helping individuals and organisations to develop. Elaine’s particular interests include quality improvement, public/patient involvement and strategic development. Elaine is also a Trustee working with Improving Lives Plymouth and C2NN (Connecting Communities National Network).
Ms Frances Luff
Frances is a senior government affairs professional with over 25 years’ experience, gained in political consultancy, in-house corporate roles in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors and at a senior level in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. She currently heads up the Government Affairs division for an innovative bio-pharmaceutical company. Frances has been a Trustee since September 2017, having become involved with the Society following her mother’s diagnosis of Wet AMD, and is keen to help others adjust to living with sight loss.
Mr James Potter LL.M.
I am visually impaired retired solicitor. I enjoyed studying law, the teaching methods of reading, lectures and tutorials in suited me well. I studied law in England and Ontario before moving to Vancouver where I was called to the Bar. Somehow, I was sent to an eye specialist around 1996 and the condition was considered benign and forgotten about. Some years later in 2013, now a solicitor in England, I began having lots problems with work and driving. Attending a routine eye test I found that I had lost the centre vision in my right eye. I think this had been my dominant eye, it certainly disturbed many aspects of my life, and in addition to problems with vision my previously hidden dyslexia came to the fore. So, feeling unable to continue in a senior legal role, I stepped down to a part time role which continued until 2020. I am now retired and wanting to help other to adjust to visual impairment.
Mrs Jayne George
Jayne is the Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Media at RNLI
Previously Jayne has been Director of Fundraising and Communications at Guide Dogs. Her achievements there have been to build a hugely successful senior team which achieved transformational and sustainable growth in voluntary and legacy income. Jayne has also worked internationally to advise charities and NGO’s on fundraising, marketing and campaign strategies.
Jayne is an experienced and successful charity leader in the UK and has held senior positions at Save the Children, The Children’s Society as well as here at the RNLI and at Guide Dogs. She volunteers as the Chair of Trustees for The Murray Parish Trust, a successful, small charity that has just closed its £2m appeal to build a new paediatric intensive care unit at Southampton Hospital. She also serves on the board of the Weldmar Hospice based in Dorchester.
Jayne is currently collaborating with senior fundraisers globally to design an international leadership programme specifically aimed at growing both the number of, and the capability of senior fundraisers, across the world.
She is an active and passionate volunteer and campaigner. She supports causes close to her heart and has completed several challenges to raise money and inspire others to do the same.
Jayne lives with her husband, son and two teenage daughters in Bere Regis. To relax she sings, walks and practices yoga.
Squadron Leader PJR Pat McGeoughIEng MIIE (Mech) RAF Rtd
Pat served as a mechanical engineer the Royal Air Force, for 32 years in many parts of the world. His service was followed as Director of Operations for a Land Rover refurbishment company and latterly as an Engineering Advisor to the Air Cadet Organisation.
Pat has dry AMD and has been a member of the Macular Society for 20 years. Following retirement, he took up his first volunteer role for the Society some 12 years ago and now carries out a number of volunteer roles for the Society and is Vice Chair of the Lincoln Support Group. He was awarded the Society’s Volunteer of the Year 2018 for his work. He works and liaises with other sight loss organisations in Lincolnshire. He also helped the Royal Holloway University of London in the development of the MD ereader and web platform on behalf of the Macular Society. Pat is a great believer in helping and guiding people throughout their sight loss journey. Pat became a Trustee of the Society in 2020.
Mr Robin Hamilton MB BS DM(dist) FRCOphth
Robin Hamilton is a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Ophthalmology, London. He has been the Director of Moorfields medical retina service since 2016 and is also Clinical lead for Moorfields age-related macular degeneration service and Chair of the Laser Safety Committee since 2008. He was the clinical lead for the diabetic eye screening program for north west London for three years and has run multiple service delivery training programmes for injection and medical retina services nationally and internationally.
His research interests include lasers for retinal disease, novel laser therapies, novel therapies for age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and venous occlusive disease, service delivery and innovations in clinical pathways.
He has been trustee for the Macular Society since September 2019.
Ms Sheena George MBBS, DO, FRCOphth
Ms Sheena George is a Medical Retinal Consultant Ophthalmologist, at Hillingdon Hospital in West London. Her special interests include Diabetic Retinopathy, AMD, Retinal Vein Occlusions and Cataract surgery. She leads an active Clinical trials Unit within her department, conducting numerous commercial and NIHR sponsored multicentred clinical trials. She has won local and national patient nominated awards for clinical excellence in providing an efficient and patient-centred Medical Retinal service. She is also the Clinical Lead for the North West London Diabetic Eye Screening Programme, the largest in London.
Professor Sobha Sivaprasad DM, FRCS, FRCOphth
Professor Sobha Sivaprasad is a Medical Retina Consultant Ophthalmologist in Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and a Professor in Retinal Clinical Research in University College London. She received the Macular Society Rising Star Award in 2017 and she was named the NIHR RCOphth Researcher of the year in 2017. She specialises in medical retina conditions such as AMD, diabetes and other macular conditions. Her main research interests are clinical trials, imaging and risk prediction. She works collaboratively with a large number of institutions both in the UK and globally. She has been a Trustee of the Macular Society since April 2019.
Mr Stephen Stacey MA DPhil
Stephen has been an archivist, university researcher and lecturer, public affairs consultant, a senior executive with Toyota and with Hyundai in Brussels, and the managing director of a European road safety charity. He is a trustee of The Ehlers-Danlos Support UK. Family members have had eye sight conditions and he is keen to work with others committed to overcome the challenges these present.