Yorkshire charity Martin House Children’s Hospice has appointed Clair Holdsworth as its
new chief executive.
Clair, who has been acting as interim chief executive since July 2020, has worked at Martin
House for nearly five years, and was previously its director of clinical services.
She said: “It is an amazing team and organisation to be part of, but to lead that team and to
lead Martin House into the future is a real privilege.
“I’m really excited about taking forward our ambitious plans to continue delivering the highest
quality care while reaching even more families who could benefit from our support.
Alongside this is delivering our equally ambitious voluntary income growth plans to ensure
Martin House is here for families when they need us most in years to come.
“I love being part of a team that really does make a difference, I’m excited about what the
future holds as we continue to grow our services and our reach, while we develop and invest
in all those people who make it happen. I genuinely don’t think work gets much better than
this!”
Clair began her career as a physiotherapist, and took on her first leadership role in 2008,
managing a multidisciplinary team at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust, before moving into
children’s palliative care in 2013. She replaces previous Martin House chief executive Martin
Warhurst.
Martin House cares for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions from
across West, North and East Yorkshire. Its care includes planned respite, emergency care,
symptom control and end of life care, as well as supporting bereaved families.
Tim Halstead, chair of trustees at Martin House, said: “Over the last nine months, Clair has
done an outstanding job as interim chief executive, in circumstances that have almost
certainly been more challenging than any Martin House has faced since it was founded.
“The other trustees and I are very much looking forward to continuing to work with Clair and
together taking our wonderful organisation on to even greater things.
“It is clear that Clair has the strong support of her colleagues and we feel that with Clair at its
head, Martin House is in a really strong position, which is a testament to the way that Clair
has taken on the challenges of the last year.”
For more information about Martin House, visit http://www.martinhouse.org.uk.
About Martin House:
Martin House has been providing family-led care and support for babies, children and young
people with life-limiting conditions for more than 30 years (life-limiting means the child or
young person is not expected to live beyond young adulthood).
Every year they support over 420 children and young people, and their families plus more
than 150 bereaved families across West, North and East Yorkshire, at our hospice, in
hospitals and in families’ own homes.
The hospice, based in Boston Spa, has nine bedrooms in Martin House, and six in Whitby
Lodge, which cares for teenagers and young people. Their services include respite stays,
symptom control, emergency care, community care and end of life care.
Bereavement support is offered to families, often for two to three years after their child’s
death. We also offer bereavement support to families whose child had a life-limiting condition
but did not have the opportunity to use the hospice, or following a sudden death.
Martin House hosts one of only three specialist training places in the UK for consultants in
paediatric palliative medicine, alongside placements in London (Great Ormond Street
Hospital) and Cardiff.
There is no cost to any of the families using our services. It costs nearly £9 million a year to
provide this care, the majority of which comes from voluntary donations and fundraising.
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