Meet the Candlelighters family
Keith became Chair in June 2020, taking over from Stephen, after a fantastic six years. Keith’s son Harry was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of three in 2006. Whilst Harry continues with long term follow-up appointments after undergoing treatment at St. James’s Hospital we are glad to have Keith on our board.
Mike Richards was appointed to his current post of Consultant Paediatric Haematologist at St James’s’ Hospital in 1998. He underwent undergraduate training in Oxford and was trained in Haematology in Cambridge and Sheffield before arriving in Leeds. He received his Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Oxford.
Martin was appointed as a consultant in Paediatric Oncology and simultaneously as a Candlelighters Trustee in 2005. He loves being involved in decisions regarding which projects are funded, making sure that fundraisers’ hard efforts always benefit patients and families as much as possible.
John has been a consultant neurosurgeon in Leeds since 2010, joining Candlelighters as a Medical Trustee in 2018. Operating on children and adults with brain tumours is a major part of his daily job. He particularly enjoys collaborating and teamwork to help achieve the best outcomes for the children under his care. He joined Candlelighters to bring his experience to help improve care and support for children and their families.
Sue is not only a trustee she is also the chair of the Harrogate Candlelighters, a group who raise upwards of £50,000 each year to support research into children’s cancer. Sue’s background is firmly rooted in business and offers a commercial eye to the board of trustees.
Chiara is the Director of Support and Influencing at Prostate Cancer UK and oversees all the charity activity for direct services to men and their families and the clinical community; Health information, clinical education, policy and health influencing, peer support, specialist nurses and cancer data specialists. Before joining PCUK, Chiara was Director of Patient Services at Anthony Nolan, Manager of a Macmillan Support Centre and as a clinician, was a specialist physiotherapist in Cancer and Palliative Care.
In June 2018, Greg’s then three year old daughter Sophia was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia and Candlelighters have supported him and his family ever since. Greg has been a company director for several years and his background is in marketing. Greg became a Candlelighters trustee in September 2020.
Julie has been a registered Children’s Nurse for almost 30 years, qualifying at Leeds College of Health in 1993. She qualified as a Community Children’s Nurse in 2005 and spent 8 years working across numerous communities in Yorkshire. Julie’s passion is her work with children, teenagers with cancer and their families and with 22 years’ experience, is now Candlelighters Lead nurse for Children and Teenage Cancer at Leeds Principal Centre and the Yorkshire & Humber Children’s Teenage & Young Adult Cancer Operational Delivery Network. Julie wonders whether her love of music and hidden talents of singing, dancing, walking, boxercise may be put to good use on the trustee board!
Mark joined the trustee board in 2022, having experienced Candlelighters’ support through his daughter’s diagnosis of juvenile myelomonocytic leukaemia. As a bereaved parent, Mark feels he can make a huge contribution on the board, particularly in helping to develop emotional and practical support for families. Mark’s professional skills have seen him progress into diverse youth and community work roles and he is enthusiastic about helping represent young people and ensuring they help shape the charity.
Simone trained at Cambridge University and qualified as a doctor in 1997. She is a consultant in Paediatric and Teenage and Young Adult (TYA) Oncology, treats patients between the ages of 0-25 years and has worked in Leeds since 2010. She has a special interest in brain and CNS tumours and has responsibility for the TYA Neuro-oncology service in Leeds. She also has a special interest in palliative care. She joined as a medical trustee in 2021 and wanted to offer her medical expertise to the charity after seeing first-hand the benefits it brings to the patients.
Emily joined Candlelighters in her new role as Chief Executive Officer in June 2018 and had previously been Deputy Director of the Charity; she is passionate about ensuring we provide the best possible services to meet the needs of our families. Emily is responsible for the overall management of the Charity and for implementing our plans for the future.
Lucy has been working with Candlelighters since early 2014. She is responsible for all aspects of People including recruitment, learning and development, benefits, payroll, pensions and our volunteers. Lucy is also the Company Secretary for the Charity ensuring we are compliant with statutory and regulatory requirements.
Lawrence joined the team in May 2019 as Head of Finance and Corporate Services. He is responsible for all aspects of the Charity’s finances including looking after all the amazing donations we receive and how we budget for and spend that money. Lawrence is also responsible for Corporate Services so helping to ensure the smooth running of the facilities and operations of the charity.
Helen joined the team in February 2019. Her responsibilities include banking and processing all the amazing donations we receive and, as Team Leader, she helps co-ordinate the activities of the Finance and Corporate Services team. Her working days are Tuesday to Friday.
Corinne joined Candlelighters in January 2018. She looks after the whole on-boarding process for staff and volunteers, staff benefits, payroll, pensions, training, development of our policies and procedures, people recognition programmes and the wellbeing of our staff and volunteers.
Caroline joined Candlelighters in March 2020. She manages our marketing strategy to make sure we are communicating the right things to the right people and to help spread the word about Candlelighters and all of the work we do. Caroline works with Engagement Team on the production of marketing across all channels to support fundraising and our families.
Natalie joined the charity in September 2014, and is Head of Family Support. Working for Candlelighters at The Square she is able to use her skills and personal experience to help families who have, or have had, a child with cancer.
Tom joined the team in April 2019. He is responsible for providing effective day-to-day leadership of the fundraising team and the development and implementation of our strategic vision to grow income.
Chris joined Candlelighters in 2019 and really enjoys supporting businesses across Yorkshire with their Candlelighters Partnerships. Chris is now our Philanthropy Manager and works to support both people and businesses with their philanthropic support of Candlelighters.
Sean joined the team in October 2017 and provides administrative support for the Fundraising Team to ensure that our wonderful supporters get everything they need. Sean also co-ordinates all of our Challenge Events such as the Great North Run, all of our 10k’s, Half Marathons and Marathons. He ensures that our wonderful supporters get everything they need when preparing to tackle one of our Challenge Events.
Iain joined the team in January 2022 to work with the many brilliant businesses that offer their support to Candlelighters. Iain works with a wide range of companies to support them in their fundraising and ensure they have everything they need to raise much-needed funds for our families.
Becki joined the team in September 2022 to support our wonderful community of fundraisers across Yorkshire, whether that be the families we help, local community groups and schools or general members of the public, making sure they have all the tools they need to start their fundraising journey.
Bernadette joined Candlelighters in September 2021 as our Philanthropy Specialist. Bernadette leads on developing applications to secure funding for Candlelighters from the many generous Trusts & Foundations. Bernadette also enjoys keeping our supporters updated on the difference their support has made to the charity.
Vicky joined Candlelighters in May 2016 as part of the Family Support team and is responsible for managing the Community Support team, Family Support team and managing the day to day running of The Square. As Deputy Head of Family Support she works closely with Natalie in achieving future plans.
Hannah joined Candlelighters as Front of House Coordinator in October 2022, before moving to Family Support Manager in March 2023. She provides practical support to all Candlelighters families whether that be helping them to access services or just being a friendly and familiar face to talk to. Hannah works at our Family Support Centre, The Square.
Lucy joined Candlelighters in November 2021 and oversees our Community Support team who work across Yorkshire to provide support to families closer to home. Lucy is responsible for being a key contact to our families while liaising with professionals, charities and services in the area.
Caroline joined the team in March 2022. She is one of our Community Support Workers who works across Yorkshire to provide support to families closer to home. Caroline is responsible for being a key contact to our families while liaising with professionals, charities and services in the area
Lauren joined Candlelighters in March 2022 as one of our Community Support Workers who works across Yorkshire to provide support to families closer to home. Lauren is responsible for being a key contact to our families while liaising with professionals, charities and services in the area.
Lori joined Candlelighters in January 2023 as a Community Support Worker. She works across Yorkshire to provide support to families closer to home. Lori is a key contact to our families while liaising with professionals, charities and services in the area.
Janet joined the team in December 2020. As a Family Support Administrator, she is responsible for supporting the Candlelighters Family Support team and Social Work team to ensure families receive the financial, emotional and practical support that they require.
Kay joined the team in October 2018. She fantastically looks after our offices, keeping everywhere clean and tidy, making our space a beautiful place to work. Kay is also based at The Cottage keeping on top of housekeeping and looks after our families, offering a natter and a cuppa to any families who come through our door.
Amy joined the Candlelighters team in December 2018. Amy is a Family Support Worker, who provides practical support to all Candlelighters families whether that be helping them to access Candlelighters services or just being a friendly familiar face to talk to.
Amy works across Wards 31,32,33, the Oncology and Haematology Day Unit and The Square.
Ryan joined Candlelighters as a Family Support Worker in September 2021. He provides practical support to all Candlelighters families whether that be helping them to access services or just being a friendly and familiar face to talk to.
Ryan works across Wards 31,32,33, the Oncology and Haematology Day Unit and The Square.
Helen joined the Candlelighters team in November 2023. Helen is a Family Support Worker, who provides practical support to all Candlelighters families whether that be helping them to access Candlelighters services or just being a friendly familiar face to talk to. Helen works across Wards 31,32,33, the Oncology and Haematology Day Unit and The Square.
Jess joined Candlelighters as a Family Support Worker in November 2022, before moving to Family Support Coordinator in October 2023. She provides support to all Candlelighters families whether that be helping them to access services or just being a friendly and familiar face to talk to. Jess works at our Family Support Centre, The Square.
Lauren joined Candlelighters in January 2019. She coordinates the recruitment and onboarding process for our staff, helps to support their wellbeing as a Mental Health First Aider, organises meetings, ensures that our policies and procedures are regularly reviewed and are up to date, coordinates the all charity training schedule and answers day to day questions from staff.
Elise joined Candlelighters in February 2023. She administers the recruitment and onboarding process for our volunteers, supports Corinne in building and maintaining relationships with volunteers, and helps to ensure an overall enjoyable volunteer experience. Elise also supports the CEO and COO in organising meetings, taking minutes and providing administrative support in their work with the Board and its Committees.
Gaby joined Candlelighters in February 2020. As the Digital and Social Executive, Gaby looks after our social media accounts and website, as well as coordinating the digital marketing for the charity.
Lisa joined Candlelighters in November 2021 as part of the Engagement Team as our Marketing Analyst. Lisa is responsible for helping to look after the data of all the wonderful people that we work with and that support us. She’s also trying to identify the best way to contact them and make sure that what we’re offering is the most effective it can be. She’ll be working closely with all our colleagues and aid the organisation in being more digital and make the best use of our resources!
Becky joined the Candlelighters team in September 2021 and works within the Engagement Team. She is responsible for designing marketing materials and supporting the charity with content creation and all things visual.
Steve joined Candlelighters in August 2022. Steve brings a huge amount of facilities experience and, as the Facilities Officer, is responsible for all aspects of the Charity’s facilities to help ensure everything is in good working order so staff can work in and families can visit a fantastic environment. You may see Steve walking around our premises checking everything is working as it should be.
Jade joined Candlelighters in March 2018, her role is specifically focused on the Charity’s facilities to ensure it is running smoothly and to keep all our staff, families we support and any visitors safe. Within her finance role, Jade sends out the Thank You’s to our lovely donors.
Sophie joined us in February 2023 as Office and Charity Support Administrator. Sophie is responsible for banking and processing all the generous donations we receive, arranging holidays for our lovely families, sending out merchandise orders and supporting our Facilities Officer Steve to ensure the charity runs safely and smoothly.
Lidia joined Candlelighters in October 2022 and, amongst other things, is responsible for processing all the Charity’s payments to suppliers and the financial support we provide families. Lidia also processes the very generous donations we receive from supporters through fundraising platforms.
Meet our elephantastic mascot Champ, who loves meeting people at events and always makes people smile! Champ loves to go out and about representing the charity and absolutely loves hugs and photos! You may even see Champ competing in challenge events from time to time, being the real champ that he is.
