Our Chief Executive Chris Askew OBE is stepping down after eight years with Diabetes UK. Mr Askew will leave in September 2023 to take on the role of Chief Executive at the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Mr Askew joined Diabetes UK from Breakthrough Breast Cancer in 2015, having previously held senior fundraising positions at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), Crisis and Action for Children.
In 2020 he was awarded in the Queen’s 2020 Birthday honours list for services to people with diabetes.
His time here has been marked by several significant developments for people with diabetes, including a new partnership between Diabetes UK, the Steve Morgan Foundation and JDRF to transform the lives of people with type 1 diabetes.
During his eight years with Diabetes UK there have been meaningful development in the prevention and remission of type 2 diabetes, including results from our DiRECT study last month that revealed for some people living with type 2 diabetes it’s possible to stay in remission for at least five years.
It has also been a time in which we as a charity have evolved, particularly in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which increased the challenges facing people living with diabetes. Throughout the pandemic we used your experiences to campaign to make work safer for people with diabetes.
Chris Askew said:
“It has been an honour and a privilege to lead Diabetes UK for the past eight years, during which time people with and affected by diabetes have needed a voice and positive change more than ever before, and the charity has sought to highlight the seriousness of diabetes as a condition affecting over five million people in the UK. I hope in my time here we have risen to those twin challenges.
“In truth, none of what we have achieved as a charity during my tenure would have been possible without the dedication of all my colleagues working hard across the UK, without the support of our Trustees, and – most importantly of all – the passion and involvement of our community of volunteers, supporters and partners who, together, are our greatest strength.
“I am looking forward enormously to leading and working alongside the brilliant team at RCGP to deliver excellence in General Practice, advocate for patients, and give voice to the expert clinicians at the heart of our health service.”
Dr. Carol Homden CBE is Chair of Trustees for Diabetes UK. She said:
“On behalf of the Diabetes UK Board of Trustees, I would like to offer my sincerest and heartfelt thanks to Chris for the integrity, dedication and passion with which he’s led this organisation for the last eight years.
“Recent years have demanded much of Diabetes UK and its team, presenting challenges for the communities we serve that Chris has led his excellent, hard-working team to meet head on. I know from experience the esteem and admiration in which Chris is held by his colleagues here, who will miss him even as they wish him well.”
