I have just stepped down as a trustee from Headway Cambridgeshire after six years – four-and-a-half years as its chair – and am already feeling withdrawal symptoms, missing the many friends I have made there.

I do think you can stay in a position too long and that there is always a right time to move on so fresh blood can reinvigorate and bring different dynamics and insights to the board. With many other pressing commitments, I felt this was the right time for me to step down and hand over to James Berry, a retired financial director who will now steer our Headway group and its wonderful work providing rehabilitation for adults with an acquired injury, into a new era as it expands throughout the county.

I feel privileged to have been a part of it for so long. It was a steep learning curve too when I was first appointed as the chair and had to build up a new board from scratch. We all evolved together, and the greatest compliment anyone could have paid was when our former CEO who now works with another charity told me that he had recommended some of my innovative ideas to his chair of trustees.

I would like to thank my fellow trustees for their support over the years and for these lovely flowers. I was also presented with a beautiful orchid by staff, and a photo montage of them all, after I called in to say goodbye today, and I couldn’t leave without seeing our clients, always a poignant reminder of why Headway’s work makes such an important difference to people’s lives. A head injury is the kind of accident that could happen to anyone on any day without warning, changing their lives for ever.

I hope everyone realises this is not goodbye, I am a Headway friend forever…