Royal Free Charity chair awarded MBE for services to the NHS

At the Royal Free Charity, she built and leads a high-performing team drawn from inside and outside the charity sector, combining financial discipline with lived experience as a long-term patient navigating the NHS.

Judy said: ​“I’m honoured and humbled to receive this award. Being a patient has shaped everything I do. I understand the uncertainty that comes with finding out you have a serious illness; my myeloma diagnosis changed my life and I’ve spent three decades navigating the NHS with an incurable cancer.

“I believe in using that experience to help others who find themselves on this daunting journey. My motivation has always been simple: to help make the experience better and more hopeful for the next person coming through the door. 

“It’s heartening to be recognised for the impact I’ve had on the NHS. I couldn’t have done it without the fantastic teams I work with at the Royal Free Charity and Myeloma UK. 

“There’s still so much more we can achieve for our NHS and I’m optimistic about that because of the commitment, ingenuity and compassion I see every day from the people working within it.”

Working in close partnership with the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust (RFL) – one of the UK’s largest NHS trusts, serving two million patients across four hospitals – Judy has helped ensure charitable funding is directed where it can most directly benefit patients and the staff who care for them.

Her achievements at the helm of the Royal Free Charity include:

• leading the delivery of a project to build a bespoke £60m research centre at the Royal Free Hospital, housing UCL’s Institute of Immunity and Transplantation
• seed-funding a clinical research facility that leveraged further substantial investment to enable first-in-human trials
• acquiring the NHS’s first total-body PET-CT scanner for the Royal Free Hospital, helping patients receive quicker diagnoses and access to new clinical trials
• raising £2m to fund a surgical robot, improving precision and recovery for patients.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Judy led an emergency appeal that raised £2.2m in just a few months, to support RFL staff and patients, funding rest spaces, psychological support, iPads for isolated patients and practical help for frontline teams. 

Judy was appointed chair of the Royal Free Charity in May 2019. Before that, she served as the lead governor at the RFL. 

Jon Spiers, chief executive of the Royal Free Charity, said: ​“Judy’s leadership is grounded in an unwavering focus on patients and deep respect for NHS staff. She combines personal insight as a long-term patient with financial and strategic rigour, ensuring charitable investment is directed where it delivers the greatest benefit for patients and those who care for them. This recognition reflects both the scale of her contribution and the values that underpin everything she does.”

Peter Landstrom, group chief executive of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, said ​“As our lead governor and now chair of the Royal Free Charity, Judy has been a true champion of the NHS, of its dedicated staff and, most of all, of the patients we care for. We’re delighted to see her incredible contribution recognised nationally.”

Alongside her role at the Royal Free Charity, Judy also serves as president of Myeloma UK. She advocates nationally for people living with the condition and supports newly diagnosed patients, drawing directly on her own experience.