Lydia Brown elected new VBF President

At its meeting on 13 July 2006, the Board of the Veterinary Benevolent Fund elected Dr Lydia Brown FRCVS as its new president.

Lydia (pictured right) became a director of the Veterinary Benevolent Fund (VBF) following the merger of the Fund with the Vet Helpline (VHL) and the Veterinary Surgeons' Health Support Programme (VSHSP) in January 2005.

A past-president and current council member of the RCVS, and former chairman of the RCVS Trust, Lydia was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the VSHSP in 1999 in response to the perceived need for a confidential service to treat veterinary surgeons with a wide variety of addictive diseases.

Since then, more than 250 veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses have been helped to recover from all forms of addictive conditions and health problems.

Lydia said: "I am delighted and privileged to have been elected President of the new VBF at this crucial time. The need to provide support for deserving veterinary surgeons and assist young graduates who seek help on health and social problems in order to allow them to continue with their professional duties and safeguard the public interest has never been greater.

"My predecessor Brian Hoskin has done a tremendous job in overseeing the transformation of the Fund into a single veterinary charity, but there is still much to do.

"I urge all members of the profession to support the VBF by donations and legacies and in whatever way they can to enable the fund to continue its essential work.

"If any member of the profession would like to discuss any aspect of VBF's work, please contact me through the VBF office."