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Learn more about our specialist cancer support services for businesses.

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Ongoing support for your 
business and your people

Learn more about our specialist cancer support services for businesses.

Download brochure
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Report: Living & Working With Cancer

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Dame Ann profile

Dame Ann Heron Gloag DBE

Founder

About Dame Ann

Dame Ann Heron Gloag DBE is a Scottish businesswoman, former nurse, and lifelong campaigner for charitable causes. Best known as the co-founder of the international transport company Stagecoach Group, Ann Gloag began her professional life as a nurse, dedicating 20 years to healthcare before venturing into the business world. In 1980, she and her brother Brian Souter launched Stagecoach with just two second-hand buses, purchased with redundancy money from their father. From these modest beginnings, the business grew into a global transport empire carrying over 3 million passengers daily, with operations in the UK, Europe, and Africa.

Ann Gloag’s leadership at Stagecoach helped build a company with an annual turnover of more than £3 billion. In addition to her 40-year tenure on the board—stepping down in 2019 and selling her stake in 2022—Ann Gloag has supported a number of business ventures across the UK. Through her company, Gloag Investments, she continues to invest in sectors such as healthcare, technology, and property, helping to generate employment and economic opportunity. Her passion for supporting young businesspeople is evident through her work with Entrepreneurial Scotland and Entrepreneurial Spark, where Ann Gloag has mentored and invested in emerging Scottish entrepreneurs.

dame ann

Philanthropic work

Ann Gloag has helped over 200,000 women and children across Africa through her Gloag Foundation, Freedom From Fistula (FFF), and Kenya Children’s Homes. She established and supports clinics, schools, orphanages, and rescue centres in countries including Kenya, Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Madagascar.

In 2002, Ann Gloag founded the Jonathan Gloag Academy in Nairobi—a fee-paying school that helps fund local charitable projects while providing education to orphaned and vulnerable children. Her Freedom From Fistula charity, founded in 2008, has treated tens of thousands of women suffering from birth injuries, while offering maternal healthcare and education. The Aberdeen Women’s Centre in Sierra Leone, one of FFF’s key projects, treats over 22,000 children annually and is the second busiest maternity unit in the country. In Malawi, Ann Gloag has funded a burns unit and supported nurse midwife training in partnership with Rotary International. Ann Gloag also founded a Fistula Care Centre in Madagascar in 2016.

A Board Member of Mercy Ships International, Ann Gloag was instrumental in converting a Danish ferry into the Africa Mercy—the world’s largest charity hospital ship. She continues to serve on the charity’s international board. In the UK, Ann Gloag has supported projects at Dundee University, the Maggie Centre at Ninewells Hospital, and many educational institutions. Her contributions have earned her numerous accolades, including a Damehood, an OBE, and Sierra Leone’s highest civilian honour.

Why she founded Reframe

Ann Gloag founded Reframe following a close friend’s cancer diagnosis. Witnessing firsthand the lack of emotional, logistical, and practical support for those undergoing treatment, Ann Gloag was inspired to build a service that could bridge those gaps. Her mission was to ensure that no one faces cancer alone, creating a service that offers tailored support across the UK for people at all stages of their cancer journey.

Reframe reflects Ann Gloag’s lifelong belief in compassionate, holistic care. Drawing on her nursing background and deep understanding of patient needs, Ann Gloag created a model that supports not just patients but also their families and carers. Reframe brings together clinical guidance, emotional support, and administrative assistance to make an overwhelming experience more manageable.