The Faces Behind the Fund

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Tim Hudson is a member of the Richard III Society and the Official Elvis Presley Fan Club. He is a devoted follower of Fulham FC, and designated dog walker to a golden cocker spaniel called Dougal, whom he delights with recitals of Tennyson on muddy walks in the Chilterns. He is a busy London and Heart of England Blue Badge guide, except when pursuing his other career as an actor on stage, radio, tv, and film. He spent 4 years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, played Officer Krupke in West Side Story in the West End, and starred as Toad in Wind in the Willows at the Old Vic. Veteran of 23 pantomimes, playing an assortment of dames, ugly sisters, villains and silly kings, he occasionally gets the chance to portray historical figures, including Hitler and Boris Johnson, and appears as Winston Churchill in the films De Gaulle, Sardar Udham and Bonhoeffer. He  has just reprised the role of WSC on stage in The Lion and the Unicorn. This year he was delighted to assume the role of Chairman of the Guides Benevolent Fund. .

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He is from County Mayo Ireland and qualified in medicine at the University College Cork, Ireland in 1981. He specialised in medical microbiology first at St Mary’s Hospital Paddington and then at the John Radcliffe Hospital Oxford. He worked as a Consultant in Public Health in London for 24 years before retiring in 2015.

 

He has a BA in History of Art (Birkbeck 1988) and completed an MA in Persian Art at the Courtauld Institute in 2020. He won the Osler Gold Medal in Medical History at the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries in 1991. He has worked as a professional Blue Badge tour guide in London since 2000 specialising in medical history. He guides and lectures on Asian art history and specialises in tours at the Victoria and Albert Museum and British Museum. He joined the Benevolent Fund in 2012 and was nominated a Trustee in 2016. He has supported pro-active work of the Committee on Mental Health and Wellbeing initiatives for guides from 2019 and through the COVID Pandemic 2020/1.

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Jane grew up in Dublin, Ireland where her father had a hotel business, moving to London after graduating from university.  Despite early attempts to branch out, she has consistently returned to the hospitality sector in various guises. She qualified as a chartered accountant with Coopers & Lybrand (now PWC), where one of her clients was the InterContinental Hotel Group and subsequently worked in the PWC consultancy arm looking at investment opportunities in the tourism and leisure sector.  Following a career break during which she raised her 3, now grown up children, she qualified as a London Blue Badge guide in 2011. She has since worked across the sector, both guiding clients and as a tutor on the London course. She was Treasurer of the Guild from 2013 to 2016 and joined the Benevolent Fund as Treasurer in 2020. She brings her financial skills to the Benevolent Fund as well as a sympathetic ear and looks forward to helping as many guides as possible.

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The Ben Fund is such a valuable part of the Blue Badge guiding world and I am happy to be on the committee doing what I can to help.

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Emily grew up enjoying the sound of the sea on the Isle of Wight. but it wasn't long before London came calling.

She felt very quickly at home in the capital and immersed herself into London's rich history, this set her onto a  pathway in tourism, which quickly moved into a guiding career. 

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Emily received her accredited Blue Badge in 2018 and adores telling the City's incredible stories. When she's not guiding, she can often be found with a paint brush in her hand, as she enjoys to sketch her most favoured sites. 

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Emily recently joined the committee at the start of 2021 and is really looking forward to help in any way she can. 

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Angela worked in local government and social housing for 30 years before launching into the world of guiding. During her career she often encountered situations that required her understanding, empathy, fairness and compassion. She believes that it is important that anyone experiencing problems should feel that they are heard, respected and where appropriate signposted to others who can offer the help they need.

 

"In moments dark, when hope seems lost, A steady flame, no matter the cost, With words like petals, soft and true, They lift each other, see each new hue" (Anon.)

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Amber is a born and bred Londoner and self-professed history nerd. After a lifelong interest in the subject, she did her undergraduate degree in History at Oxford (having decided aged 10 or 11 that she wanted to go there!). She has lived abroad in Australia and Germany and is now following in her grandmother's footsteps as a Blue Badge guide, having qualified in 2020. 

In her free time, she enjoys the theatre, reading, bouldering and travelling (as well as plenty of cuddles with her gorgeous cat, Artemis). 

Amber is thrilled to be part of the Benevolent Fund and continuing the important work that they do!