John’s background was initially as an industrial microbiologist and then as a director and senior manager in the pharmaceutical and healthcare manufacturing industry with a focus on business development, technical and quality assurance matters. Having served on the Board of a UK listed company for several years, he is now working part time as a consultant.

John has had an ileostomy since 2007. For nine years prior to that he had a colostomy, both conditions as a result of bowel cancer. He has been a member of IA since 2009 and is also actively involved with Bowel Research UK. He sits on their Scientific Advisory Committee and has participated in a number of their sponsored projects.

John is one of Birmingham IA's qualified One2One Supporters.

He is married with 4 children and 7 grandchildren. Pastimes include cooking, Pilates, badminton and rebuilding and maintaining several classic cars

Peggy Costello

Peggy Costello has been the Membership Secretary of Birmingham IA for twenty years.    She joined the group in 1977, two years after having surgery, having suffered from ten years of Ulcerative Colitis.   Peggy is a qualified  One2One Supporter for IA. She undertook voluntary work at a stoma clinic at Dudley Road (City) Hospital for ten years, along with Doreen Harris,  a founder member of Birmingham IA. 

Peggy is married with five children, six grandchildren and two great grandchildren.  She trained at Aston Commercial School and worked as a shorthand typist before starting her family.   When her children started school, she took a job as school cleaner to fit around them and ended up doing the job for 22 years until she retired at the age of sixty.

Miss Melissa Oliveira Cunha, PhD, FRCS . Consultant Colo-rectal surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham

Melissa qualified in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She completed surgical training in the East Midlands. She obtained a PhD in molecular cancer biology from research carried out at The University of Manchester. Her main interests are laparoscopic colorectal surgery, inflammatory bowel disease and medical education.

Mark Barnes

Mark had surgery in 2013 due to ulcerative colitis and joined Birmingham IA in 2015. A couple of years later he was asked to take on the role of  IA Together Co-ordinator, and as such he has organised several social events for members for members. He is also a qualified One2One supporter. 

Mark works as an aftersales manager for an Italian company which manufactures garden machinery and forestry equipment. His role involves sorting out technical issues, customer service and warranty issues for the UK.

Mark is single, lives in Solihull and enjoys being part of Birmingham IA and talking to people who have had or about have to ostomy surgery. He has completed the IA Visitor One2One Supporter training.  Socially, he loves meeting with friends, enjoys the occasional fishing trip (when time allows, (which isn’t very often) and also loves experimenting in the kitchen - he’s not bad, apparently!

Bogusha Bury

Bogusha has been a member of Birmingham IA since 2015. In 2014 she had emergency surgery because of diverticular disease which resulted in a permanent ileostomy. After the initial shock of this unexpected surgery, she joined Birmingham IA, where for the first time she met other people with ileostomies: this helped her a lot with the process of adjusting and healing. In 2019 she joined Birmingham IA Committee and has been responsible for organising displays, keeping and updating information leaflets, brochures and other IA marketing materials. She is also responsible for organising the coffee mornings in Solihull. She is also a qualified IA One2One Supporter.

Bogusha is married with two children, two step children and one step granddaughter. Originally from Poland, she came to the UK in 1990 and in 1999 she became a British Citizen. Initially she graduated in Economics but she retrained and became a teacher. She worked for 26 years for Birmingham City Council’s Language College as a Language teacher and also as a Co-ordinator of Information, Advice and Guidance Office for foreign students. She retired in 2017 and now in her free time she enjoys reading, walking, swimming, baking and travel.

Maggie Butler

Maggie was unexpectedly diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in October 2012, having had no previous health issues, and within a year she needed emergency surgery at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. In 2014 she joined Birmingham IA and found that support from members helped her enormously in coming to terms with the situation. She has since had internal pouch surgery.

Maggie has been a member of Birmingham IA’s Committee since 2016. Her role involves communication with members. She is a qualified IA One2One Supporter. She is also a member of IA National’s Internal Pouch Committee.

Prior to her retirement, Maggie worked in Education.

Andy had  surgery for Ulcerative Colitis in October 1999 and became a member of Birmingham IA in 2000. Andy is a qualified IA One2One Supporter. 

He worked in the Transport industry from 1972, firstly as an apprentice bodybuilder for Midland Red Bus Company then 15 years later going into the sales of Buses. For the last 20 years he enhanced industry experience working as City bus Salesman responsible for England, Wales and Scotland. This took him on the road for an average of 40000 miles a year and he enjoyed every minute. He retired due to redundancy in September 2021, which gave him a lot more time to become active in Birmingham IA and as a result, he was asked to join the committee. Given his past work and sales experience, he took up the role of Engagement Manager for the group.

He has  been with his partner since 1989, and they had a civil partnership in 2006. He enjoys going on cruises and loves visiting Devon and Cornwall. He  also enjoys going to the theatre and listening to music.

Kalpana has had Ulcerative Colitis for 14 years. Unfortunately, this never went into remission which led to a lot of different types of medications and an extremely restrictive diet. She underwent unplanned ileostomy surgery at the end of 2019 with many complications ensuing, meaning a long recovery, though with that came the discovery and support of the Birmingham Ileostomy Association and a better quality of life.

 Subsequently, Kalpana became a committee member in 2021 supporting with social media, coffee mornings, supplier events and presenting to healthcare professionals and the wider IA community. She is also a trained One2One support volunteer providing support to individuals who are considering or who have recently had surgery. 

 Kalpana has worked extensively in education and training over her career and works full time as a People and Organisational Development Consultant in Higher Education alongside her contributions to Birmingham IA.

Kate Pine

Kate is a Yellowbelly (native of Lincolnshire) with a family history of inflammatory bowel conditions and after several years of misdiagnosis was finally diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2002. She underwent colectomy and ileostomy surgery in 2003 aged 30, followed by reversal into an ileoanal (internal) pouch (W type) in 2004. Kate joined IA in 2019 and was recruited onto the Birmingham IA committee in 2020. Her main focus is to report on events and news from the Birmingham group for the IA Journal and Midlands Bulletin and to distribute those magazines to its members. Her interest is in supporting and highlighting the needs and issues of those who have lived with both a stoma and an internal pouch like herself.

In a working life interrupted by ulcerative colitis and recovery from surgery, Kate worked in printing and publishing and adult social care prior to surgery and afterwards worked in various voluntary roles as her health allowed. Later she gained paid employment in specialist education working with disabled young adults.

She is also a member of the Friends of Perry Park and enjoys walking by the Tame Valley Canal, home crafts and visiting heritage sites. She has a partner and a lively border collie cross.