Board of Trustees

Simon Fuller is a Founding Trustee of The Fred Hollows Foundation (UK) and is dedicated to raising awareness of the work of the late Professor Fred Hollows and to building The Foundation's local arm.

Simon was introduced to the work of The Foundation by Mr Mike Lynskey, a personal friend and former CEO of The Foundation in Australia. He was also inspired by Professor David Easty of the Department of Ophthalmology, Bristol Eye Hospital, who had known Fred Hollows since their time at Cardiff Royal Infirmary in the 1960's.

Born in Birmingham in 1953, Simon began his career with Wolseley Hughes PLC, manufacturers of agricultural equipment, rising quickly to Sales and Marketing Manager. He then progressed through various sales and marketing roles in the beverages industry, firstly with W.M. Grants and Sons Whisky Distillers and more recently as Sales and Marketing Director of the Off Trade division for Allied Domecq. In 1979 he married Joanna and they have three children, Emilia, Chloe and Thomas.

Simon is currently on the fundraising committee of Young Bristol, a charity supporting youth work within Bristol.

Philip Brown is a Founding Trustee of The Fred Hollows Foundation (UK) and enjoyed a personal friendship with the late Professor Fred Hollows.

Phil is a successful entrepreneur having built from scratch a chain of ‘blue ribbon' Italianate sandwich bars, called Philpotts, that realised an annual turnover of £7 million and employed 200 people.

In 2006, Phil sold the business, with his success honoured by the industry's trade association that same year. Phil was presented with The BSA Award, given annually to a single individual for innovation and achievement.

Born in 1949, Phil was educated in Scotland under the Outward Bound philosophy of combining rigorous academic learning with real life experiences and community service. Phil began is working life as a journalist before embarking on seven years of travel which inevitably brought him to Australia. There he met Fred Hollows in 1976.

"Fred taught me how to relax and enjoy myself, Australian style, but more importantly he politicised me. His winning humour and persuasive logic were irresistible even though we remained firmly at opposite ends of the political spectrum. But we shared a love of buildings, funny stories, making things and open air adventure".

In 2004, Phil led an expedition to Nepal that raised nearly £30,000 for The Foundation (UK). Phil persuaded seven "less than healthy" friends to join him on a 12 day trek to Lo Manthang, the capital of Upper Mustang (The Kingdom in the Clouds) which borders Tibet. They walked for up to ten hours a day at altitudes from 10,000 to 14,000 feet, over steep passes and through deep ravines. The group were honoured to meet with the King and Queen of Nepal in their medieval palace.  

Phil lives with his wife Ingrid, whom he met through Fred in 1989. They have two children, James and Rose. The family lives in a 19th century watermill in North Wales.

Nick Crane joined The Foundation as a Trustee in 2007, combining his entrepreneurial flair with his passion to help others.

Born in London in 1951, Nick grew up in the Reading area of England, later moving to London to study business and languages.

In 1973, he set off to discover the world and do something "unusual". He spent six months travelling across Africa, ending his journey in Ethiopia where he found himself running the Children's Feeding Program, a joint venture of Oxfam and UNICEF. Nick drove the logistics of delivering sacks of corn and soya milk to thousands of children in desperate need in villages throughout the north of the country.

Nick later returned to the UK and built his own industrial distribution business. After 23 years, Nick sold the company in 1999 and decided to once again focus his attention on helping people in developing countries.

His dedication led him back to Ethiopia where he started a teaching program using overhead projectors in secondary schools in the state of Amhara. Nick is persuing his latest venture - building a lodge in the Simien Mountains in northern Ethiopia.

Nick married his wife Joyce in 1977 and has two children, both studying at university. Nick and Joyce live in a farmhouse in South East France, where Nick pursues his other passions: flying, mountain climbing and skiing.

Howard Davies joined The Fred Hollows Foundation (UK) as a Trustee in 2007, after being involved in The Fred Hollows Foundation in Australia for many years.

Howard first became involved with The Fred Hollows Foundation in Australia in 1995 when he was invited to be a member of the Business Forum Executive Committee and then the coordinator of the Business Forum campaign, which encouraged corporate involvement in the work of The Foundation.

In Australia, Howard is Treasurer of the Board of The Foundation, Chair of the Finance and Governance Committee and a member of the Nominations Committee.

Howard began his career in 1965, operating in the United Kingdom with the Hogg Robinson Group specialising in credit and political risk insurance broking. Howard's career developed into senior management positions, which culminated in the Chairmanship of the UK Retail Insurance Broking Division of the Hogg Robinson Group, the UK's third largest insurance broker. This appointment extended to involve running the groups investments in more than 40 countries around the world.

Howard's 32 years with Hogg Robinson also saw him heading the International Division of the Group before moving to Australia in 1988, to found the Asia Pacific Region and head the Australian Group.

In 1996 Howard resigned from Hogg Robinson and formed his own specialist extended warranty insurance broking business in Australia - IMC Associates Pty Ltd - the only business of its kind in Australasia.

Since then Howard has built a portfolio of Non-Executive Chairmanships and Directorships which have included companies such as AT&T, Safetrade Limited, Newcastle Port Corporation and, currently, GAB Robins - Australia's largest firm of Loss Adjusters. He is also on the Board of the Government owned Export Finance and Insurance Corporation and has also formed an insurance broking business in Guam and the Federated States of Micronesia.