Founded Pepper in 1989. The Pepper Foundation is now a charity committed to funding and supporting hospice at home care for children, raising funds through high quality musical events involving children and young people and a whole range of year-round fundraising activities. The Pepper Foundation, now in its 25th year, generates annual income of up to £380,000 and has given a rolling commitment to provide most of the funding for the Pepper Children’s Nurses and Family Support Team employed by… Show more Founded Pepper in 1989. The Pepper Foundation is now a charity committed to funding and supporting hospice at home care for children, raising funds through high quality musical events involving children and young people and a whole range of year-round fundraising activities. The Pepper Foundation, now in its 25th year, generates annual income of up to £380,000 and has given a rolling commitment to provide most of the funding for the Pepper Children’s Nurses and Family Support Team employed by the Iain Rennie Grove House Hospice Care.Ali Robertson (who worked on the first Pepper show in 1989) writes:To me Robert is Sgt. Pepper. He is the genius behind the first Sgt Pepper Concert and the driving force behind each successive year. He has maintained a calm steadying influence throughout the dramas and calamities which inevitably occur when organising such a complex event, involving so many people. His musical ability is legendary and more importantly his knack of imparting his love and expertise of music has produced many fabulous shows. His vision never fails. To me Robert Breakwell is and hopefully always will be, Mr Pepper. Show less

The Centre provides therapies and treatments for around 450 people with Multiple Sclerosis in Bucks and its adjoining counties. Since I joined, the Centre has seen significant increases in income (up 47% in 2014) due to investment in a professional fundraising team. In the same time, patient numbers have doubled and the breadth of services provided to help people with MS is now believed to be the widest in the UK.

The Centre provides therapies and treatments for around 300 people with Multiple Sclerosis in Bucks and its adjoining counties each week.

Joined the board of trustees as a volunteer to guide the strategy of MSNTC which is an umbrella charity that supports MS therapy Centres in the UK, Channel Islands and Gibraltar.

Responsible for identifying and developing new, additional sources of sustainable income by developing new commercial business opportunities with all profits supporting care for more patients and families. Managed the establishment of a new care agency business, Shine Homecare, and successfully negotiated with two neighbouring hospice charities to make this a collaborative venture thereby sharing investment cost and minimising risk. Project-managed the pre-operational phase of… Show more Responsible for identifying and developing new, additional sources of sustainable income by developing new commercial business opportunities with all profits supporting care for more patients and families. Managed the establishment of a new care agency business, Shine Homecare, and successfully negotiated with two neighbouring hospice charities to make this a collaborative venture thereby sharing investment cost and minimising risk. Project-managed the pre-operational phase of the business set up. This included further business planning, marketing and communications, branding, policies and recruitment of key staff. The business started trading in November 2012.I had several other business ideas in hand and also served as a board director of the Hospice Lottery Partnership and managed the relationship between IRGH and major supporter, The Pepper Foundation.Left Rennie Grove Hospice Care following redundancy due to cost saving. Show less

The increasing working proximity of the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home and Grove House led to proposals to merge in Autumn 2010 and I worked closely with the IRHH chairman of trustees to ensure that due diligence and the merger process ran smoothly and received a unanimous vote in favour of merger from Members. I was appointed as Chief Executive of the new, merged charity, Iain Rennie Grove House Hospice Care and established the new senior management team.Throughout the clinical… Show more The increasing working proximity of the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home and Grove House led to proposals to merge in Autumn 2010 and I worked closely with the IRHH chairman of trustees to ensure that due diligence and the merger process ran smoothly and received a unanimous vote in favour of merger from Members. I was appointed as Chief Executive of the new, merged charity, Iain Rennie Grove House Hospice Care and established the new senior management team.Throughout the clinical integration and merger process, patient services were sustained and, indeed, saw considerable growth. Show less

Established and wrote the original business plan for The Hospice Lottery Partnership (HLP) a social enterprise company which now delivers over £750,000 in annual profits to seven hospice partners including Iain Rennie Hospice at Home and Grove House. I was a main Board director and chairman of the Operations Committee which oversaw sales and marketing.

Shine Homecare offers a wide range of quality care and support services to enable its clients to live independently at home. Services are professional, confidential and flexible and include personal care, shopping, food preparation, help with medication and anything else that makes its clients' lives easier and more enjoyable.I served as a non executive main board director during the set up and early trading periods of the company.

IRHS is a wholly owned trading subsidiary of the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home.

Led development process for an ambitious ground-breaking strategic plan, "Better Care For More People". This included fully-costed options which addressed the need for growth in services, the likely shortage of statutory funding and changes in commissioning and refocused the charity on the core business of supporting patients at home. Much of the strategic direction instigated remains in the merged charity’s current strategic plan.Put forward a case to trustees that the IRHH’s… Show more Led development process for an ambitious ground-breaking strategic plan, "Better Care For More People". This included fully-costed options which addressed the need for growth in services, the likely shortage of statutory funding and changes in commissioning and refocused the charity on the core business of supporting patients at home. Much of the strategic direction instigated remains in the merged charity’s current strategic plan.Put forward a case to trustees that the IRHH’s long standing relationship with Grove House be strengthened and formalised. Working with the Grove House Chief Executive, I proposed a complete integration of all clinical services under a single director across the two charities. This was completed successfully in April 2010 and delivered savings of £100,000. Show less

Increased levels of voluntary income from £80,000 to £2.5million per annum..Implemented a robust communications strategy based on “connecting” supporters with hospice patients to underpin organisational objectives and support significant growth in income generation.IRHH’s IT Strategic Lead from 2002 implementing server-based systems connecting three offices and commissioning the deployment of laptops providing community-based nurses with secure, real time information about… Show more Increased levels of voluntary income from £80,000 to £2.5million per annum..Implemented a robust communications strategy based on “connecting” supporters with hospice patients to underpin organisational objectives and support significant growth in income generation.IRHH’s IT Strategic Lead from 2002 implementing server-based systems connecting three offices and commissioning the deployment of laptops providing community-based nurses with secure, real time information about patients with funding from grant making trusts.Established and wrote the start up business plan for The Hospice Lottery Partnership (HLP) which now delivers over £750,000 in annual profits to seven hospice partners including IRGH. Introduced an integrated approach to fundraising which successfully enables all staff to contribute to raising the charity’s income and profile.Delivered increased income from community fundraising activity through the introduction of innovative mass participation events and by providing first class support for external fundraising activities at minimal cost.Masterminded the introduction of a Donor Journey, delivering high levels of new donors and supporters with excellent retention levels whilst maintaining a personal approach. Show less