His Mum was a theatre nurse and his Dad a bus driver and that's where our CEO Owen Williams gets his passion for public service from.

He joined CHFT six years ago after a career in local government and healthcare.

Now 50, he has revealed his background and inspirational parents in an article for The Voice  newspaper  in a special edition celebrating the Windrush generation.

He touches on their struggles to settle here back then and also opened up the family album to share this lovely photo.

 We've had issues with the attachment so here's the full version of his story.

Giving the gift of love and respect.

The other day I was asked if I could give the NHS a present on its 70th birthday what would it be.

I replied by saying a nice, neat gift of love and respect. To put this in context over the last six years I have had the great pleasure of being the CEO at CHFT. Like many of my colleagues we have been about providing compassionate care alongside tough financial reality and the (rightly) growing expectations of our patients and their loved ones.

Some people may find the language of compassion, love and respect a bit soft or twee. But if you take a look at the photo you will perhaps understand why in my opinion these emotions should always sit alongside the modern NHS narrative of the KPIs and outcomes.

The picture is 45-years old and if you look to the left and right of this five-year-old (me) you will see my Jamaican-born parents, Laurel and Babes. Both my parents answered the call of the "Mother" country with both of them giving their lives to the public service of others - through bus driving and being an NHS theatre nurse.

Some readers will know life was not plain sailing for people like our parents. They had to deal with the reality of not being able to find rented accommodation because of their skin colour or permanent employment through being accused of taking the jobs off indigenous population at the time.

However they persevered and never gave up on their values and dignity and I believe that same resilience flows through me and countless other colleagues of all colours and backgrounds who work in the NHS today.

So, when we feel personally challenged, or perhaps believe that our paths are being blocked in some way, let's remember, the fortitude and forbearance of the generations that came before us. Let's make sure we follow their example by putting our patients first through providing compassionate care built on the foundations of love and respect.