Tony Kennan
Tony Kennan, chair of the MS Society, tells Andy Ricketts you have to meet the challenges head-on
Tony Kennan got involved with the MS Society because his wife 'volunteered' him. He has been involved with the society "for 30-something years" since that day, and has been chair of the charity for the past five.
His initial connection with the charity came when his brother-in-law was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and Kennan and family contacted the organisation to find out more about the disease.
His wife subsequently attended a meeting to discuss setting up an MS Society branch in Darlington. "She came home and said: 'I've volunteered you to become the secretary.'"
Kennan has had a lot on his plate over the past year because the charity has gone through a strategic review that resulted in the board recommending that it stop operating its four respite care centres - in the face of opposition from some of the society's members and with the possible loss of 380 jobs. The society plans to use the £2.1m it will save to provide more personalised support for people with MS.
"The society needed a five-year strategy that reflected what people with MS want out of the society," he says. "Respite care is different for everybody. If 65 per cent of people tell us they want personalised support, then we have to respond to that."
The charity's annual general meeting will take place in September and mutinous resolutions have been put forward by members unhappy with the manner in which the decision to end respite care was taken.
Kennan says he will meet any such action head on. "We had a vote of no confidence in the board at a Scottish conference last year. I believed it was my responsibility to respond to that." He says he responded to the motion by addressing the meeting and explaining the board's position. The resolution was defeated.
Kennan, who is retired after a career in bus and coach companies, became a trustee in 1999, was chosen as vice-chair in 2003 and elected chair in 2005. He says one of the next big steps for the charity is, surprisingly for a charity of its size, incorporation. "We are probably one of the biggest charities that is not incorporated," he says.
Trustee payment is one issue the sector should look at, he says, partly as a way of bringing more diversity into existing boards.
"My personal view is that some form of remuneration for trustees should be looked at," he says. " I'm not saying there's an easy answer, but there is an issue about how we can attract people in their 30s and 40s to be trustees. I do not like the idea that trustees come out of a group of early retirees who are financially secure."
He says a crucial part of his role is making sure the board works as a team. "People have to have an opportunity to have their say," he says. "That is really important - you have got to make sure that everybody plays their full part."
As the controversy over the respite care centres rumbles on, that is likely to become an even more vital part of his job.
