Our Board of 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.

Chair

Mrs Cecilia Bufton BSc(Hons), MBA

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.

Vice Chair (Optometry)

Mrs Alison Guthrie BSc(Hons) MCOptom FBDO

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.

Honorary Treasurer

Mrs Louise Perry MA (Oxon) ACA

Louise is a chartered accountant who worked for PwC for many years where she had several charity clients and gained a broad financial knowledge covering audit, accounting and tax. More recently she developed her financial and commercial experience in the healthcare sector as head of tax at BTG limited, a listed healthcare company.

Louise has a keen interest in the voluntary sector and was previously trustee treasurer at Chain of Hope, a charity helping children with heart disease in developing countries. She also teaches English to women recently arrived in the UK, who are unable to access English classes, and volunteers at her local art gallery.

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 and tax matters, as well as regulatory affairs. Amanda 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.

Mr James Potter LL.M.

James is a visually impaired retired solicitor. He studied law in England and Ontario before moving to Vancouver where he was called to the Bar. James was sent to an eye specialist around 1996 and his eye condition was considered benign and forgotten about. Some years later in 2013, and now a solicitor in England, he began having lots of problems with work and driving.

On attending a routine eye test, James found that he had lost the central vision in his right eye. James felt that this was his dominant eye and it disturbed many aspects of his life. While trying to adjust to the diagnosis his previously hidden dyslexia came to the fore too. Feeling unable to continue in a senior legal role, James stepped down to a part-time position, which continued until 2020. James is now retired and keen to help others to adjust to visual impairment.

Ms Jennifer Wall

Jenny is a chartered accountant and a chartered tax advisor, with over 15 years of experience working in large accountancy firms. She is currently a tax partner at BDO. Her experience brings executive level skills such as decision making, design and implementation of strategy, commerciality and business acumen.

Contributing to the charity sector is important to her - she is also a trustee for a charity providing support to people in rented accommodation, and finds the experience valuable and rewarding.

Jenny's family have a history of macular degeneration and she is passionate about contributing the charity's work, especially what we can do to support the day to day challenges the condition brings, as well as driving towards the longer term strategic aim of beating the disease altogether.

Mr Neal Trup

Neal is a chartered accountant and sole practitioner who specialises in small charities, social enterprises and community assets. Before setting up on his own, he previously worked for Locality, City & Guilds and the British Film Institute. Neal is also a member of the Charities SORP Committee with a particular responsibility for the interests of smaller charities.

Neal has myopic macular degeneration (MMD) since his early twenties and been a member of the Society since the 1990’s. He has attended many group meetings, conferences and events.

Former president

Mr Timothy ffytche LVO, FRCS, FRCOphth

Timothy sadly passed away in May 2026. He was President of the Macular Society from February 2021 until his passing, having previously served for many years as a member of its Council and as a Trustee. He was a founding member of the Society, having been approached by Elizabeth Thomas, he also gave the opening lecture at its inaugural meeting in October 1987. We are deeply grateful for Timothy’s longstanding dedication, support and contribution to the Society and to everyone affected by macular disease.

Timothy was 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.