Debbie first joined the MDS UK team as Operations Manager in July 2022.
She became Acting CEO in May 2023 and spent two years restructuring and future-proofing the charity, before handing over the reins in May 2025 to new CEO, Blossom Bell.
Debbie was born in Coventry but grew up in Sunderland, and moved south in 1986 to work at Kent University.
After nearly four decades as a business manager and company director, mostly in the bookselling and artisan food sectors, and several years managing a national charity, she rashly embarked on a writing degree as a mature student in 2018.
Debbie Hickman
Debbie says,
'I first came across MDS UK when my husband Neil was diagnosed just before the first lockdown in February 2020. Strangely, it wasn’t our first encounter with the disease - my mum had also been diagnosed with MDS a few years before. Mum’s was low-risk, single-line and successfully managed with EPO injections, but Neil’s was a lot more complex and aggressive. Tragically, we lost them both on the same day in August 2021.
I feel privileged to have led MDS UK for the last two years, steering it through some big changes whilst never losing sight of why we do what we do. Being a voice for MDS and CMML in the wider cancer community, and providing support to those affected by it, are causes very close to my heart.'
Debbie is looking forward to semi-retirement — to revisiting the writing projects she began in her pre-MDS days, supporting her daughter Claire (who has recently become a foster carer), and enjoying beach walks with the her adopted dogs, Peggy and Winston.
She is, however, delighted to be staying on part-time, continuing to contribute to support meetings, website content, and publications, and remaining a part of the incredible, small-but-mighty MDS UK team.
Debbie has now passed the CEO baton on to Blossom, confident that the role could not be in better hands.
Debbie's family’s MDS story, written during her time with the organisation, can be found here:
https://mdspatientsupport.org.uk/mds-stories/mds-awareness-day-2021-our-story-by-debbie-hickman/
