GetUp! Founder Hits The Road

The high profile National Director of the grassroots community advocacy organisation GetUp! Simon Sheikh, has announced that he will step down from the top job.

In a letter sent to GetUp! members at the weekend, Sheikh said that the organisation would continue to run under the leadership of new Director Sam McLean who has been with GetUp for over five years and served as Deputy Director for the past two years.

“When I first took on this role in September 2008, many were still wondering whether this movement of ordinary people could continue to make a difference, or whether it would invariably prove a momentary trend; a flash in the political landscape,” Sheikh said.

“Over and over again we've demonstrated unequivocally that all of us working together can change things for the better. It has been an honour to stand alongside you over these last four years.”

Sheikh made the headlines for a different reason last month when he collapsed during the live broadcast of the ABC’s Q&A program.

Sheikh said in a statement the following day that he had been battling the flu for a number of weeks.

“We have a number of important campaigns we are working hard on at GetUp right now and perhaps like a lot of us, I have been burning the candle at both ends,” Sheikh said.

Sheikh said his next plan was to pack up his car and travel Australia with his wife.

GetUp is a Not for Profit organisation and relies on small donations to fund its work and in-kind donations from the Australian public. GetUp says it does not accept donations from political parties or the Government.