WellChild, the national charity for seriously ill children, has welcomed Amy Mitchell as its new director of Programmes based at the Cheltenham headquarters.

Over the last 11 years, Amy Mitchell has worked for the NHS and various other charity organisations with a focus on delivering services which benefit those who are most vulnerable in society.

While working for the British Red Cross, she managed support services within North and South London hospitals and gained valuable insight into the challenges faced by older people remaining independent at home. She worked alongside NHS leaders, to ensure that hospital discharge was safe, and considerate of both health and social care needs.

She has also led on the implementation of programmes from the UK to Australia and East Africa, predominantly to improve access to medical facilities. These programmes have benefitted children with blood cancer diagnoses, women with gynaecological health concerns and those who live hundreds of miles from health care facilities.

After developing a keen interest in safeguarding vulnerable people, she took over managing domestic and sexual abuse services in Warwickshire and Wiltshire. As part of the senior management team for First Light South West, she led on forensic and medical accreditations and became competent in her knowledge around civil and criminal remedies available to survivors.

Ms Mitchell said: "I am passionate about ensuring vulnerable communities are enabled to thrive in the context of complex care and support systems and I'm excited to be joining WellChild, who embody this as their mission, enabling families to thrive via WellChild's charitable programmes.

"I am excited by the ambition of the WellChild Programmes, and I look forward to working with the teams to maximise impact and shape the future of the organisation with beneficiaries at the centre."

Matt James, interim chief executive at WellChild, said: "We are delighted to welcome Amy to the team at WellChild and we know her wealth of experience in the health and charity sectors will be a huge asset to us as we develop our new five year strategy for the charity, aiming to support even more young people with complex needs and their families across the UK."

WellChild provides essential and practical support to ensure that the increasing number of seriously ill children and young people in the UK have the best chance to thrive - properly supported at home with their families.

The charity, which has The Duke of Sussex as its Patron, provides a national network of children's nurses, who work with families to ensure that children with complex care needs can leave hospital and return home and, through its Helping Hands scheme, WellChild enlists the support of volunteers to tackle practical projects in the homes of children with serious health needs.