The chief executive of the Stroke Association, Jon Barrick, has announced that he will step down in 2016 after 12 years in the role.

Barrick, who started at the charity in 2004, said this week: ‘After 11 challenging, happy and successful years working with many dedicated colleagues, trustees, volunteers and others in the world of Stroke, I feel that the time has come for me to hand the baton on to a new CEO.

“I have been very privileged to have been in this exciting and inspiring role for the time that I have, but it is all consuming and has required me to operate at a high level of intensity over many years. For this reason I have decided that it is now time to let someone else take over and for me to recharge my batteries.”

Barrick said that on leaving the Stroke Association, he will continue to work “for and within the voluntary sector, in ways yet to be determined, but not in a full time capacity”.

He said: “I am sure there are still many ways I can make a contribution.”

The charity has not yet commenced the process of finding a successor, although it says that a planned timetable of transition is in preparation. It expects this will begin in late summer or early autumn.

The charity’s income has grown in the last few years, from £28.6m in 2010 to £33.5m in 2014.