Tribute to Andrew Chater, outgoing Chair of Trustees

14 November 2023 | Blog, News, Supporters

Brain Tumour Support’s Chair of Trustees, Andrew Chater, stepped down from his role on the Board at the end of October. CEO, Tina Mitchell Skinner, shares her thoughts and pays tribute to a man who has supported the charity’s work since its founding.

As Trustee’s Week has just drawn to a close, I want to officially pay tribute to Andrew to recognise his tireless voluntary work within the brain tumour community in his role as a trustee and Chair for Brain Tumour Support.

There are currently 850 thousand trustees in the UK and out of all of these amazing people, we were lucky enough to strike gold with Andrew and to have his involvement at Brain Tumour Support since the founding of the charity. Having known Andrew for over 25 years, I can only salute him for the way he has shown his care, compassion, love and loyalty not only to me and my late husband Paul but to the charity Brain Tumour Support.

Andrew was Paul’s boss and as accountants, they shared not only a passion of numbers, but also an interest in sport. Following Paul’s brain tumour diagnosis, Andrew visited him during the numerous periods that Paul was in hospital having surgery, undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment. He supported Paul in his return to work and generally showed huge kindness to all our family during this terrible time.

After Paul died, Andrew and his wife Beth wasted no time in supporting and comforting me in my loss. For the first few years after the founding of the charity, they supported our events and fundraising and when I was looking for trustees, Andrew didn’t hesitate in coming forward to offer guidance and financial expertise – for no personal gain, or to look good on his CV, but purely to offer his support.

In 2007, Andrew took up the position of Vice Chair before becoming Chair five years later. Throughout all those years he committed to regular board meetings, away days, time spent finalising accounts, attending charity conferences, supporting our fundraising, meeting with families, mentoring me and leading the other trustees in the growth of the charity. Although trustees are eligible for travel expenses, neither Andrew, nor any of our trustees, have ever claimed anything, and this is a testament to their passion for the cause and the work we do.

Andrew and Beth Chater with Tina at Penny Dommett’s Open Garden fundraiser, July 2023

With family circumstances necessitating a move back to his homeland of Australia, Andrew’s departure from the Board is a great sadness and loss to both the charity and me personally. His presence and his counsel throughout my brain tumour journey, with and then beyond Paul’s death, has been steadfast and highly valued. It has been a privilege to have such a watchful and compassionate guiding hand for our charity, a constant through its development and into this our 20th anniversary year.

Andrew, I thank you for everything, from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of everyone whose lives have been touched by your commitment to our work.

Tina Mitchell Skinner
14th November 2023