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Published 21st January 2025

SUDEP Action delighted to welcome Dan as Interim CEO

Dan joins the team as cover for Sammy Ashby, who will go on maternity leave in February.

SUDEP Action is delighted to welcome Dan Freshwater as Interim Chief Executive Officer.

Dan joins the team as cover for Sammy Ashby, who will go on maternity leave in February.

Sammy insists it’ll be business as usual for the charity, with Tracy Cowdry continuing in her role as Deputy Chief Executive Officer, backed up by an experienced senior management team that will shortly welcome back Fundraising Manager Katie Gregory (nee Vale), also from maternity leave.

Sammy said: “SUDEP Action has never been busier in its work to prevent epilepsy deaths and provide the UK’s only epilepsy bereavement support services. We have ambitious plans going forward, so I’m really pleased Dan has joined us temporarily as interim CEO to support the team while I’m away on maternity leave.

“Even though I’ll be kept busy over the coming months with our new arrival, SUDEP Action is a charity that gets under your skin. So, I’ll be watching from afar the fantastic things the team and our wonderful supporters continue to do to help raise vital awareness of epilepsy risks.”

Dan brings many skills and broad leadership experience in the charitable and social care sectors.

He said: “I like to work for organisations that take positive steps to change things for the better in our world and am therefore delighted to be joining SUDEP Action throughout 2025 in Sammy’s absence.


“I’ve worked for various charities involved with important life-changing work and issues, including tackling long-term unemployment, delivering social care and providing accessible counselling services. During my twenty years in the voluntary sector, however, I’ve rarely seen such a committed supporter base and expert staff team as that of SUDEP Action. Everyone is focused on the same challenge, and I feel privileged to be able to contribute this year to the vital mission of stopping preventable deaths from epilepsy.”

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