I am writing to you today to inform you of my intent to retire at the end of this year from my position as CEO of Cystic Fibrosis WA (CFWA).
As a member and supporter of CFWA, I wanted to write to you personally before news of my retirement goes public and the position is advertised over the weekend.
My wife Wendy and I will both be retiring at the same time, Wendy after over 30 years as a nurse at Royal Perth Hospital and myself after just over 13 years as your CEO.
Over that time, I am proud to have led a truly exceptional team of people who have worked together to grow the organisation’s turn over from $900K to $2.6m and increase members’ equity from $600K to $1.7m. This will provide the incoming CEO a sound financial platform capable of embracing risk and fund the future growth of CFWA, notwithstanding the uncertain times ahead.
The success of CFWA however, should not be measured in dollars alone.
During my tenure, I have been lucky to oversee a significant expansion in our home care, other support services and subsidies, making a real difference to lives of people living with CF here in WA.
CFWA has also become the major provider of collateral to our sister organisations in other States and Territories, producing world class resources in the form of 51 fact sheets, videos, blogs and on-line webinars.
I am particularly proud of our CF Smart school’s education program which has now been adopted throughout the CF Federation and in 10 countries around the world.
CFWA’s success was recognised publicly in 2016, when CFWA became the inaugural winner of the prestigious Telstra Business Award for Western Australia charity section.
Recently we have leveraged technology in our service provision and fundraising to cope with the challenges brought upon us by the COVID Pandemic. This work is also an investment in our future and will position the organisation well in a post COVID world.
During my time, CFWA have grown to become the major funder of CF research within the federation and continue to punch well above our weight. The total amount funded by CFWA since 2008 has now exceeded $3m.
I have also been privileged to witness the first drugs to treat the underlying cause of the disease come onto the market which will transform models of care in the future.
All this would not have been possible without a supportive State Government, successive Health Ministers and their departments and the Board of CFWA which has consistently supported myself as the CEO.
Special mention must also be made of our loyal sponsors, hundreds of volunteers, you the members, volunteer committees like the Golf Committee, the Ball Committee (latterly Conquer CF) the Red Tie Dinner dance committee and all of our community fundraisers, too many to mention here.
Last but not least, I would like to record my appreciation for the support of two special people; John Rothwell our Patron, and the late Stan Perron. John and Stan have not always been visible to members but their statesmanship, sound advice, leadership and mentorship has contributed significantly to my role and the overall success of the organisation.
Together our supporters are an exceptional bunch and I will miss you all terribly.
As Wendy and I look forward to retirement, I can see a wonderful future for CFWA to expand its services still further and I will keep an eye on your progress from afar. CF is in my blood now, figuratively in any case and will always be a part of me.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to make a positive difference to the world in which we live and the lives of people living with CF. It is a privilege which few people will ever have in their careers and I for one, do not take it lightly.
Nigel M Barker
CEO
Cystic Fibrosis WA