Marcus Richards
Thyroid UK is a charitable company working primarily within the United Kingdom.
The provision of quality information for people with both diagnosed and undiagnosed thyroid disorders is the primary concern of Thyroid UK, and we work effectively in this field through dialogue with NHS departments, networking with other voluntary organisations, and providing services direct to patients.
Our Mission Statement is…
“Providing information and resources to promote effective diagnosis and appropriate treatment for people with thyroid disorders in the UK”
Tell us about yourself?
I worked for solicitors and a probation office as a secretary for years and then, due to illness, I trained to become a teacher teaching English for students of other languages.
I was ill for 15 years with no diagnosis and then finally was diagnosed with hypothroidism after a thyroidectomy due to a lump in my thyroid. I set up Thyroid UK because I didn’t want other people to go through what I did.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Don’t worry that you don’t have a business degree, you are doing fine!
What problem does your business solve?
We help people to understand their thyroid condition and take control of their thyroid health so that they can monitor their condition.
We give them the information they need so that they can recognise symptoms in their family and friends.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
I don’t want people to be ill for years as I was. I want them to be able to have a full discussion with their doctor and understand what is being said. I also want there to be much more awareness of thyroid conditions so that people realise they need to eat healthily to keep their thyroid happy and also in order to get a quick diagnosis.
What is your magic sauce?
We go into more depth about thyroid conditions and give information about alternative medications that people don’t know about and that many people find so much better than the usual medication offered for these conditions.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
We need a proper office that can not only house current employees but that will enable us to employ more staff so that we can work harder to make things better for patients with thyroid disease. We want to be involved in more research into thyroid diagnosis and treatment.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
The biggest challenge was to make the medical profession understand that so many people still have symptoms on the usual treatment, levothyroxine.
We knew that other treatments, liothyronine and natural desiccated thyroid, resolved more symptoms so we continued to give out this information until, finally, some doctors listened and started to treat patients with these medications.
This encouraged more research, which is still ongoing.
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
We need more trustees with particular skills i.e. fundraising; marketing and media to help us expand. We also need funding for a new office and campaigns.
You can contact us by writing to the CEO: [email protected]
