With our long-serving Chief Executive Hazel Pixley’s time as leader of the Association coming to an end, former UA trustee Don Haines reflects on how far our charity has come with Hazel at the helm. Thank you to Don for writing this piece. And, of course, thank you so much to Hazel (pictured above with Kevin Hodges of the British Healthcare Trades Association) for all her dedication and hard work with, and for, our members throughout the years. You have done us proud!
“At Christmas, we’ll be saying farewell to CEO Hazel Pixley, who for the past 20-plus years has been responsible for upholding the ideals established in 1972 by our founder, Val Kings MBE. Val discovered that there was no UK national organisation in existence solely dedicated to the support of anyone with a urostomy, and set about founding the charity that was to become the Urostomy Association. Fifty-one years later, UA remains the only such national organisation, anywhere in the world.
“In 1992, Hazel took on the role of National Secretary of UA, having previously served as our Female Young Persons Adviser (husband Miles was the male equivalent), and she immediately set about building on the foundations laid by her predecessor, Angela Cooke. Over the past two decades, in an increasingly digital world, Hazel has been influential in helping UA confront the new challenges of the modern age, and has worked hard to ensure the Association has adapted accordingly. She has also ensured that our charity has complied with some increasingly complex legal requirements, not the least of which has been the need for UA and its branches to comply with the demands of data protection legislation.
“The fundamental reason for UA’s existence is the facility for anyone with concerns about their urostomy, or other urinary diversion, to speak to someone who has the same condition, before or after surgery, to obtain reassurance and confidence for their journey. Anyone calling our National Office for help with any aspect of their diversion will have found themselves talking to Hazel, who, if necessary, would then arrange for one of our volunteers to talk to, or even visit them. However, even this important function is just the tip of the iceberg, because Hazel has a myriad of other roles, in addition to the more obvious day-to-day administrative responsibilities.
“Other regular tasks have included organising UA’s national annual general meetings, training volunteers, producing newsletters and writing faulty appliance reports, to name just a few. Integral to all of Hazel’s work has been forging and maintaining important links with the major UK manufacturers and suppliers of urostomy appliances, who have been supportive in so many ways, not least by regularly advertising in our magazine, thereby covering its production costs.
“Equally important has been Hazel’s close involvement with the Association of Stoma Care Nurses, the British Association of Urology Nurses, and the British Healthcare Trades Association. Other work has included participation in lengthy government consultations, in England and separately in Scotland, where numerous efforts have been made to cut the costs to the NHS of providing appliances and ancillaries free of charge to all ostomates.
“The very real threat to the choice of appliances available to our members has been averted on more than one occasion, solely due to Hazel’s representations on behalf of UA. Another important part of Hazel’s job is working with a paid bookkeeper to ensure UA’s accounts are always in good order. Support of the branches has always been vital, but many of them have closed due to lack of volunteers for the key roles, despite every effort by Hazel to keep them viable, and each closure has added to National Office workload.
“All this and more has been successfully accomplished by Hazel with diligence and with an unrivalled professionalism, not to mention a high degree of patience on the part of both her and Miles, concerning the inevitable domestic disruptions caused by running a charity from a home office. That same dedication was in evidence when the couple had to relocate when Miles was offered a new job – finding a new house that was big enough to accommodate the Urostomy Association national office was a priority.
“We owe Hazel an enormous debt of gratitude, and we will miss her, both on a personal and professional level. Good luck and best wishes to you Hazel, in whatever you decide to do next.”
Don Haines
Honorary Lifetime Member of UA