Children’s hospice at home charity Jessie May are delighted to announce their new CEO will be Daniel Cheesman.

Daniel joins Jessie May following 3 years at disability charity Paul’s Place, stepping into the role after current CEO, Chris Roys, announced his intentions to retire after 17 years at the helm.

Daniel is relishing the opportunity to take on a new challenge; “Jessie May has been providing children and families with vital emotional support, end of life care and bereavement support for over 25 years and the work of the trust is as important now as it has always been.

I am excited to be starting as Jessie May’s CEO, taking over from Chris Roys who has faithfully led the charity for 17 years. I am honoured to be joining a committed and passionate team and look forward to working to fulfil the charities strategy over the next few years - supporting more families, through innovative new projects and expanding the geographical reach of the trust.”

The decision of appointing a new CEO to lead Jessie May was not an easy one.

Tiggy Atkinson, Chair of Trustees, was a key part of the process; “Whilst we are all so sad to see Chris go, he has devotedly led the team for the last 17 years and we wish him well in his retirement. We are incredibly excited to welcome Daniel to Jessie May and have him hit the ground running implementing our new strategy over the coming years. During the interview process Daniel brought such passion for the work of our Jessie May nurses, and we look forward to seeing that enthusiasm shine through when he joins us in August.”

Daniel will be joining Jessie May in August, closely supported by the entire team and Board of Directors as he settles in his new role.

About Jessie May

Jessie May is a Bristol-based charity that provides specialist palliative care to children with terminal and life-shortening conditions, and their families, in the South West.

The charity provides hospice at home care for terminally ill children. It was set up by the parents of Jessica May Purrington, a little girl who died at home aged 4 months, surrounded by her family and her nurses.

Jessie May has a team of dedicated nurses who provide palliative care during a child’s life, and provide bereavement care for families after a child's death.

It costs around £1,300,000 to provide this care for each child, and the charity is almost entirely dependent on voluntary donations.

For more information about Jessie May, visit www.jessiemay.org.uk.

About Daniel Cheeseman

Daniel has over twenty years’ experience of management and leadership in the charity sector and in local government. As commissioning manager for children with special educational needs and disabilities in Sussex he worked in coproduction with children and families through the aiming high for disabled children programme to design and commission services that provided short breaks and support for families. As a charity CEO, Daniel first led Switchboard, Brighton’s oldest LGBTQ charity, before moving onto disability charity Paul’s Place in 2019. There Daniel led the charity through the pandemic setting up Paul’s Place at Home which proved to be lifeline for many disabled adults in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and North Somerset during various lockdowns. Jessie May will be Daniels third charity CEO appointment. Outside of work Daniel lives in Bristol with his partner and two rescue dogs and is a Trustee of Curzon Cinema and Clevedon Community Centre for the Arts.

For more details on this press release, please contact our PR Officer, Andrea Sexton 07887997922 media.team@jessiemay.org.uk

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Company number: 04118341

Registered charity number 1086048