FREDDIE ASTBURY

(President, Founder and Executive Member)

(Medicines 'Teratogenic' Regulatory Consultant)

 Thalidomide Disability: Four Limb Deficiency

Freddie is married to Angela and he has one son 'Dean' from a previous relationship.

Freddie founded Thalidomide UK in October 1993, before that he was a Disability Advisor for the Labour Party (Liverpool). He left the Labour party in 2003 and joined the Conservative Party, because he did not like the way the Labour Party treated disabled people in general.

Freddie went on hunger strike on Christmas Eve (1993) to highlight the fight for thalidomiders in the UK and was one of the main players of the final settlement with Diageo.

Freddie's main function with Thalidomide UK is as an Advisory and a Monitoring Group regarding the use of thalidomide and similar drugs.  His main aim is to reduce the likelihood of anymore babies been damaged by the drug thalidomide and other similar medicines being misused, which cause known birth abnormalities.

Through Thalidomide UK Freddie is a (Medicines 'Teratogenic' Regulatory Consultant) and advisors the following government agencies World Health Organisation, European Medicines Agency and other individual European States and Pharmaceutical Companies.

In 2000 Pharmion announced that, they wanted a license for thalidomide in Europe under strict guidelines Freddie put the guidelines to the test and managed to buy the drug easily.

Our president has no voting power, but his views are taken very seriously because of knowledge about the history and Medical issues surrounding thalidomide.

KIM MORTON

(Deputy Chairperson)

Thalidomide Disability: Four Limb Deficiency

Kim has been married twice as three sons, Allan 24, Russell 22 and Marc 18. Allan gave me my 1st grandchild in October 2004!

1976: Semi-Professional singer until I got married in 1980.

1993: .I became involved in Thalidomide UK in December of that year and became very passionate about their campaign,

1996: Wrote ‘Kim a True Story’ and donated all the proceeds from my book to Thalidomide children in Brazil.

1997: Elected onto local government for a four year term, re-elected in 2001 and that same year was elected Mayor of my district Council. I intend to retire from politics in May.

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GWEN ROSS-WILLIAMS

(Scottish Advisor)

 

 Thalidomide Disability: Two Limb Deficiency

Gwen is a very big player in the Scottish National Party working on disability issues, sadly in 2003 Gwen failed to be elected onto the National Council.

 Gwen took the fight for Scottish thalidomide people to Scottish Parliament in 2000.

 

 DARREN MANSELL

(Financial Advisor)

 Thalidomide Disability: Two Upper Limb Deficiency

Darren works for the west midlands police force in the finance department.

He recently married for the second time to a fellow thalidomide survivor Louise Mason, whose father was the main key player in the original settlement from Distillers in the early 70s.

Darren is also a committee member of The Thalidomide Society, which formed in the United Kingdom in 1962 by parents of thalidomide impaired children in order to help and support the affected families and to campaign for public support and recognition of what had happened.

The Society currently supports thalidomide and similarly impaired people by providing advice and information. The organisation is user-led and assists members to meet, exchange information and share experiences. The Society also aims to pass on the practical, social and psychological knowledge and expertise of members to parents of children with similar disabilities, professionals working with similarly impaired young people and adults with similar impairments.
 

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