Lynda Thomas, Chief Executive of Macmillan Cancer Support talks about her passion for running, missing watching her Mighty Arsenal and overcoming life obstacles.
05/05/20 • 51 min
In this ninth episode of the season of the Her Spirit podcast BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin and BBC Triathlon presenter Annie Emmerson talk to Chief Executive of Macmillan Cancer Support Lynda Thomas.
After starting a family at twenty-eight, she decided to shift direction and volunteered with NCH Action for Children. This led to a full-time position and launched her career in the third sector.
She joined Macmillan as joint Head of Media in 2001 and became Director of External Affairs in 2007, playing a significant role in transforming Macmillan into one of the UK’s most trusted charities. In 2011 Lynda became Director of Fundraising, overseeing the launch of successful new fundraising events and a significant growth in donations.
Lynda became Chief Executive of Macmillan in 2015, 14 years after she first joined Macmillan.
Her biggest challenge at Macmillan is now and the significant affects of COVID19 to the organisation. As head of an organisation, Macmillan will have a shortfall of income up to £100 million in 2020. The cancellation of London Marathon in 2020 alone has meant a loss of fundraising up to £2 million.
Lynda knows that people are at the heart of Macmillan and you should never forget the power of volunteers. She never does and makes sure the 22,000 volunteers are always thanked the supported.
As a mum of three she talks openly about her daughter Bella's battle with food and her eating disorder. The impact within the family unit was complicated and she acknowledges that this is the hardest thing she has ever had to overcome.
She loves exercise and running especially, and how if it was bottled it would be a "wonder drug". She is a massive Arsenal (Gooner) supporter and misses Saturdays on the stands with her husband.
Let the hero leaders... be the hero leaders.. Lynda knows that other people are what makes you great and surrounding herself with a great team. She loves being part of a team and when asked what she would tell her younger self, she said "Take the opportunities presented to you, don't take yourself seriously and ask for the support you need".
These podcasts have been made possible through the support of Medichecks www.medichecks.com and Sport England www.sportengland.org
For more information on Her Spirit go to www.herspirit.co.uk
At Her Spirit, we’re building a FREE global community designed exclusively for women’s activity.
Join us to connect with like-minded women, discover events, and find local groups that inspire you to move more.
✨ Find your tribe. Achieve your goals. Thrive together.
👉 Join the movement at https://www.herspirit.co.uk/
It’s time for You
Join us at herspirit.co.uk | Instagram | Facebook | Get the Her Spirit App
In this ninth episode of the season of the Her Spirit podcast BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin and BBC Triathlon presenter Annie Emmerson talk to Chief Executive of Macmillan Cancer Support Lynda Thomas.
After starting a family at twenty-eight, she decided to shift direction and volunteered with NCH Action for Children. This led to a full-time position and launched her career in the third sector.
She joined Macmillan as joint Head of Media in 2001 and became Director of External Affairs in 2007, playing a significant role in transforming Macmillan into one of the UK’s most trusted charities. In 2011 Lynda became Director of Fundraising, overseeing the launch of successful new fundraising events and a significant growth in donations.
Lynda became Chief Executive of Macmillan in 2015, 14 years after she first joined Macmillan.
Her biggest challenge at Macmillan is now and the significant affects of COVID19 to the organisation. As head of an organisation, Macmillan will have a shortfall of income up to £100 million in 2020. The cancellation of London Marathon in 2020 alone has meant a loss of fundraising up to £2 million.
Lynda knows that people are at the heart of Macmillan and you should never forget the power of volunteers. She never does and makes sure the 22,000 volunteers are always thanked the supported.
As a mum of three she talks openly about her daughter Bella's battle with food and her eating disorder. The impact within the family unit was complicated and she acknowledges that this is the hardest thing she has ever had to overcome.
She loves exercise and running especially, and how if it was bottled it would be a "wonder drug". She is a massive Arsenal (Gooner) supporter and misses Saturdays on the stands with her husband.
Let the hero leaders... be the hero leaders.. Lynda knows that other people are what makes you great and surrounding herself with a great team. She loves being part of a team and when asked what she would tell her younger self, she said "Take the opportunities presented to you, don't take yourself seriously and ask for the support you need".
These podcasts have been made possible through the support of Medichecks www.medichecks.com and Sport England www.sportengland.org
For more information on Her Spirit go to www.herspirit.co.uk
At Her Spirit, we’re building a FREE global community designed exclusively for women’s activity.
Join us to connect with like-minded women, discover events, and find local groups that inspire you to move more.
✨ Find your tribe. Achieve your goals. Thrive together.
👉 Join the movement at https://www.herspirit.co.uk/
It’s time for You
Join us at herspirit.co.uk | Instagram | Facebook | Get the Her Spirit App
Previous Episode
Helen Jenkins MBE is two-time triathlon world champion (2008 & 2011) and three time Olympian. She loves life as a mum of two, wife to Marc and having a real balance in life. She know being outdoors make her feel alive and a better me.
In this eighth episode of the season of the Her Spirit podcast BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin and BBC Triathlon presenter Annie Emmerson talk to Helen Jenkins MBE.
Helen is two-time triathlon world champion (2008 & 2011), one of Britain’s most celebrated triathletes having represented Team GB at the Olympic Games (2008, 2012 & 2016) and Wales at the Commonwealth Games (2006).
Helen won her first senior world championships in Vancouver in 2008 and went on to place 21st in Beijing on Olympic debut. After reclaiming the world title in 2011, in a summer which included a commanding victory in the London Olympic test event, Helen then overcame injury to place fifth at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Her mantra has seen her through all of her key life moments "You've got to just concentrate on doing what you can do". This mantra helped her get through the 2012 Olympics having not been able to run for three months prior to the games.
Another memorable triumph on Gold Coast in 2016 confirmed Helen’s qualification for a third Olympic appearance in Rio, where she finished 19th.
Following the birth of her second child, Helen had a lower back fusion surgery in 2018 and has six screws and plates in her spine. This surgery stopped her competing for three years, but Helen was determined to return to professional racing and compete at the highest level. Early this year she came back to triathlon with her first Half Ironman/70.3 distance
Finding your WHY? Is so important to Helen, and Helen knows being active is really important and how it makes her feel. She knows being active makes her a better mum, wife and person.
Helen was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to triathlon.
These podcasts have been made possible through the support of Medichecks www.medichecks.com and Sport England www.sportengland.org.
For more information on Her Spirit go to www.herspirit.co.uk
At Her Spirit, we’re building a FREE global community designed exclusively for women’s activity.
Join us to connect with like-minded women, discover events, and find local groups that inspire you to move more.
✨ Find your tribe. Achieve your goals. Thrive together.
👉 Join the movement at https://www.herspirit.co.uk/
It’s time for You
Join us at herspirit.co.uk | Instagram | Facebook | Get the Her Spirit App
Next Episode
Sophie Radcliffe talks about her passion for adventure . The night before she decided to quit her job at the age of 27 at a tech start up, a friend said to her: "A ship in a harbour is safe, but that's not what the ship was built for. Go Sailing."
In this tenth episode of the season of the Her Spirit podcast BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin and BBC Triathlon presenter Annie Emmerson talk to Endurance athlete, blogger and speaker Sophie Radcliffe.
She is the only person in history to have climbed the highest mountains in the eight Alpine countries and cycled between them, climbing five times the height of Mount Everest in 32 days. She has cycled 300km from London to Paris in 24 hours on nine occasions, completed multi-sport adventure races around the world, raced her bike coast to coast across the USA, completed 100km ultra-marathons, and she is a two-time Ironman finisher.
In January 2013 she gave it all up to create a new story. She was 27 and running the commercial division at one the UK's fastest growing technology startup. She had everything society told her she should need to feel happy, but she was restless.
The night before she decided to quit her job, a friend said to her:
"A ship in a harbour is safe, but that's not what the ship was built for. Go Sailing."
Making the decision to forge a new trail where there was no set path, was one of her toughest decisions, but it led to her being who she is today.
She believes that through challenging ourselves that we stretch our limits, break down barriers and realise we can achieve far more than we think.
Her mission is to empower you to feel invincible and as though you can do the most badass, inspiring and challenging things that scare and excite you in equal measure. To explore what your body and mind can do through the world of adventure and endurance sport.
Sophie believes that fitness is about what your body can do, not what it looks like. She focuses on functionality rather than aesthetics, on developing a strong mind instead of focusing on negatives.
These podcasts have been made possible through the support of Medichecks www.medichecks.com and Sport England www.sportengland.org.
For more information on Her Spirit go to www.herspirit.co.uk
At Her Spirit, we’re building a FREE global community designed exclusively for women’s activity.
Join us to connect with like-minded women, discover events, and find local groups that inspire you to move more.
✨ Find your tribe. Achieve your goals. Thrive together.
👉 Join the movement at https://www.herspirit.co.uk/
It’s time for You
Join us at herspirit.co.uk | Instagram | Facebook | Get the Her Spirit App
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/her-spirit-5050-what-is-possible-podcast-155822/lynda-thomas-chief-executive-of-macmillan-cancer-support-talks-about-h-8427861"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to lynda thomas, chief executive of macmillan cancer support talks about her passion for running, missing watching her mighty arsenal and overcoming life obstacles. on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy