An NHS stalwart from Lancaster has received an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Central Lancashire for her contribution to the health care sector.
Helen Bingley OBE JP DL, who is also the current High Sheriff of Lancashire, has been recognised by the University of Central Lancashire with the accolade as part of their latest graduation ceremonies.
University of Central Lancashire alumna and former staff member Helen rose through the ranks from nurse to executive director, chief executive and non-executive director of several NHS Trusts.
Her passion for access to good healthcare and education led to her establishing the Abaseen Foundation which supports some of the poorest populations in rural North West Pakistan to find a path out of poverty.
This week, 2,400 students have donned their academic caps and gowns across eight graduation ceremonies in the transformed Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre at UCLan’s main Preston campus.
Helen received her OBE in 2018 for voluntary services in the UK and abroad.
Her career in the NHS saw her rise through the ranks from nurse to executive director, chief executive and non-executive director of several NHS trusts in the Northwest, including Calderstones, Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, Guild Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.
Speaking of her accolade, Helen said: ‘’ “I have been involved with the University for 40 years and I’m absolutely amazed that I’m here today.
“I came to this University as a student who would never ever achieve what I’ve achieved today without its widening access. I had no A levels and I couldn’t come on a full-time degree. I had to come in on a part-time degree and the University believed in me all that time ago.
“I did a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies and an MBA and the rest is history. I’m now the High Sheriff of Lancashire and it’s all down to the University of Central Lancashire.”
She more recently worked for NHS England to support NHS trusts with challenges and recently appointed in a voluntary capacity as lead for the VCFSE on the Provider Board of the Integrated Care Board for Lancashire and South Cumbria.
Alongside her professional career Helen has done voluntary work for the likes of Amnesty International, Cumbrian mental health charity Mind in Furness and the Children of Russia Project – for which she received an accolade from President Yeltsin in 1993.
Twenty five years ago, an NHS colleague Dr Mukhtiar Zaman, took her to Shamshatoo, an area just outside Peshawar in Northwest Pakistan and she was deeply moved when she witnessed the plight of these people, living and working on or near the brick kilns in such poverty that their life expectancy was 38 years.
Her compassion inspired her to throw herself into improving their lives, and together she and Mukhtiar set about finding like-minded people in Lancashire and set up the Abaseen Foundation.
The Abaseen Foundation is a charity that for more than 20 years has provided health care and education for people born into a life of extreme poverty with no option but to work in the region's brick kilns. Helen devoted more and more time to the charity's work, eventually stepping back from full time NHS management and in 2017 the charity and the volunteers from across Lancashire and beyond received a Queen's Award for Voluntary Service.
A quarter of a century on from that first trip, she is now the charity's CEO, leading a large group of supporters, volunteers, and trustees, mainly from the Pakistani and Indian diaspora in Lancashire, to support these people in northwest Pakistan.
Helen’s current role of High Sheriff is a ceremonial post dating back to at least the 10th century, and she is the King’s representative in the county for all matters relating to the Judiciary and the maintenance of law and order.
In current times the office of High Sheriff is held for one year. His/her main role is to protect, and assist in upholding, the dignity and well-being of HM Judges, as well as undertaking other public duties, including the support and encouragement of the voluntary sector and the emergency services.
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