Charity’s founding CEO steps down following cancer surgery

The founding chief executive of Brain Tumour Research is retiring after undergoing surgery for abdominal cancer last year.

Sue Farrington Smith steps down from the role at the charity, which she has led since it launched in 2009.

She will continue to be involved in the charity as a trustee.

“Although I have made a good recovery, I will continue to have scans and it is in the best interest of the charity and its future growth, and for the sake of my family, that I step down,” she said.

“I have always committed 100% of my energies to the success of the charity and our vision of finding a cure for all types of brain tumours but since my phased and now full-time return to work over the last few months, I have realised I no longer have the energy to be able to fulfil this role in the way that I would like and need to.”

Farrington Smith, who has been awarded an MBE, was inspired to launch the charity following the death of her niece from a brain tumour just three weeks before her eighth birthday in 2001.



The charity’s chair Wendy Fulcher added: “Her energy levels have been legendary and her leadership and management of the growth of Brain Tumour Research show just what passion and drive can achieve.

“I am proud of her legacy and her trailblazing work, which will be continued by the charity, but I am also proud to call her my friend and colleague. She is a one-off and the epitome of a brain tumour activist.”

    Share Story:

Recent Stories


Charity Times video Q&A: In conversation with Hilda Hayo, CEO of Dementia UK
Charity Times editor, Lauren Weymouth, is joined by Dementia UK CEO, Hilda Hayo to discuss why the charity receives such high workplace satisfaction results, what a positive working culture looks like and the importance of lived experience among staff. The pair talk about challenges facing the charity, the impact felt by the pandemic and how it's striving to overcome obstacles and continue to be a highly impactful organisation for anybody affected by dementia.
Charity Times Awards 2023

Mitigating risk and reducing claims
The cost-of-living crisis is impacting charities in a number of ways, including the risks they take. Endsleigh Insurance’s* senior risk management consultant Scott Crichton joins Charity Times to discuss the ramifications of prioritising certain types of risk over others, the financial implications risk can have if not managed properly, and tips for charities to help manage those risks.

* Coming soon… Howden, the new name for Endsleigh.