Linda takes the helm at St Nic’s

We’re pleased to have welcomed our new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Linda McEnhill.

With degrees in Theology, Social Work and Hospice Leadership, Linda, who has been involved in palliative care for almost 30 years, joined us from Ardgowan Hospice in Scotland, where she has been CEO since 2018, on December 13.

Charles Simpson, the then Chair of St Nicholas Hospice Care’s Board of Trustees (stepped down November 2023), said: “We are very excited to be welcoming Linda to our Hospice family. She will be a great asset to the organisation and will help us move forward with our strategy and develop our services while upholding our vision for everyone to matter in life and death.”

Linda isn’t a stranger to St Nic’s, having previously been the charity’s Head of Family Support some 20 years ago.  With her career seeing her work in both England and Scotland in a range of settings as a practitioner, manager, director and lecturer, we’re pleased to be welcoming her knowledge, expertise and experience to the organisation.

Linda shares: “I am excited to be returning to St Nicholas Hospice Care, and I am most looking forward to meeting staff and volunteers, as well as the Hospice’s supporters.

“Many hospices are facing service delivery and funding challenges, and the St Nic’s approach has been breathtakingly different. It has tried to say let’s look at this, and ask how to use its services to best effect. There is a wee wait to know what this looks like, but it is an exciting time to be joining.

“Building on the relationships Barbara has held in the community, we have so many opportunities to work with local healthcare partners and colleagues.”

Having supported Hospice UK as Widening Access Manager, Linda’s desire for all people to have access to high-quality end-of-life care led her in 1998 to establish the National Network for Palliative Care of People with Learning Disabilities (pcpld.org).

This network, which raises awareness for the palliative care needs of people with learning disabilities and shares and promotes best practice was recognised in 2003 when (while at St Nic’s) Linda was awarded the first Hambro Macmillan Associate Fellowship.

An award was later created in her name to recognise organisations and individuals who have made a significant difference to the end-of-life care of people with learning disabilities.

Also a qualified Clinical Hypnotherapist, Linda was born in Glasgow and lives with her husband of 41 years, Peter.