MS Auckland Region > Committee Members

Neil Woodhams

President

Neil was a Board Member of the MS Auckland Committee from 2003, was elected MS Auckland Committee President in 2007 and MS Auckland Region Committee President in 2008.

Neil is a qualified Chartered Accountant and is currently a self-employed health management consultant. Prior to that he held senior management positions in finance, investment banking and the stock and station industries.

His health and disability experience includes the following roles:

General Manager, Hospital and Specialist Services, Midland RHA
Consultant to Ministry of Health on the Waiting Times Project
Member of Minister of Health's Advisory Committee on Waiting Times
General Manager, Business Development, Auckland DHB
General Manager, Starship Hospital
General Manager, National Women's Hospital
Chief Operating Officer, Auckland District Health Board

Neil is married to Erin, a previous Committee member and person with MS.

Graham Wear

Vice President

Graham has been a Board Member of the North Shore MS Society Committee since 2000, was elected President of the North Shore MS Society in 2003 and Vice President of MS Auckland Region Committee in 2008.

Bruce Cameron

Secretary

Bruce served as a Member of the MS Auckland Committee from 2001 and was elected as Secretary to the MS Auckland Committee in 2004. Following amalgamation of the Auckland and North Shore MS Societies in 2008 he was elected as Secretary to the MS Auckland Region Committee.

Bruce is a Food Technologist and lives in Howick with his wife Margaret, who has MS. They have two grown children and one granddaughter.

Amongst Bruce’s many interests are Kiwanis (a service Club focusing on raising funds to assist with childcare and development), assisting with the operational requirements of the Coastguards as a volunteer, sailing, and playing the clarinet.

John Watts

Treasurer

After 22 years working in the world of Corporate and Commercial banking in London, John and his family moved to New Zealand for a more relaxed lifestyle. Born and bred in a farming community in Wales, John continues to play rugby (much against the advice of his wife!!) and also enjoys fishing and the overall lifestyle New Zealand has to offer.

John has a BSc (Hons) Banking & Finance from the University of Manchester, UK and currently works as a Relationship Executive for ASB Corporate Banking.

Nelson Allen

Most of Nelson’s working life has been spent in management in the Fire Insurance industry. He retrained in his mid forties to teach English Literature, Drama and History. Nelson was very actively involved in sports until his MS Diagnosis in 1982, and has also worked in the dramatic arts, acting on stage, screen and television.

Nelson is married to Lita and lives in Onehunga. He has three adult children and two grandchildren.

Michael Cole

Michael was with law firm Simpson Grierson for 43 years and at the time of his retirement in December 2006, he was the firm’s most senior litigation partner. Michael is now in practice as a barrister specializing in civil litigation.

Michael has worked on numerous cases in his profession involving different areas of practice, and has acted for and against health professionals. He also has an interest in mediation.

Michael and his wife have between them seven sons, one daughter and eleven grandchildren. His children have moved to various locations around the world including California, Paris and Ireland.

Jo Smith

Jo was diagnosed with MS over thirty years ago when she was living in the United States.
Jo’s working background is as a laboratory technologist and she is married with 3 grown children, all now living overseas.

Jo drives a car with hand controls, which is essential for her freedom. She also swims 1km three times a week and does yoga to maintain fitness. She plays bridge and teaches English as a Second Language to keep the neurons sparking and she says that "life is a breeze, but you have to work at it".

Brian Stevens

Prior to the amalgamation of the North Shore and Auckland MS Societies I was a Committee Member for North Shore for about 10 years. I also served as their National Councillor and represented our region at the annual AGM in Wellington.

For about 7 of those 10 years I was a regular visitor to Wellington in this role. I was also one of the Board Members for MSSNZ and attended meetings there every second month. It was a rewarding experience to be a part of creating the national MS Society that we have today.

This year I represented the amalgamated MS Auckland Region Society at the AGM as our National Councillor. I'm also one of the team of volunteers that help the office staff when an extra pair of hands are needed for fundraising events like the annual Art Exhibition or when there’s a mail out to do to members and supporters. Whatever needs doing, if I’m available, I’ll help out. It’s a real pleasure to be part of the newly amalgamated society that now functions so well.

Joan Thomson

Hi everyone, my name is Joan Thomson, and I am one of your Committee Members.

My involvement with MS Auckland Region began several years ago after my late husband Bruce was diagnosed with MS and we turned to the Society for guidance and support.

I have been a Committee Member since 2001 and enjoy my involvement with the range interesting people and projects that it brings.

I find myself in the office quite often, especially when it is posting-out time for whatever Gary or Nicola have cooked up, which is okay as long as it doesn't interfere with my tennis!

May see you in there one day.

Fran Watts

Fran is originally from the UK and immigrated to New Zealand more than 6 years ago. She was diagnosed with MS after she had settled in New Zealand. Fran is married to John, who is also on our committee, and they have two children.

Fran and John visited the Gawler Foundation in Melbourne in 2005, and since then Fran has adopted the lifestyle changes promoted by George Jelinek.