Meet the Candlelighters team
Keith joined the Board in 2009, and 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 joined Candlelighters in 1999. He 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.
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!
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.
Rohan joined the board at Candlelighters in 2023 and also works as a National Manager for the UKs largest cricket charity ‘Chance to Shine’.
In June 2004 at the age of 8 years old, Rohan was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Candlelighters supported Rohan and his family throughout the years he spent at St James hospital in Leeds. Through using his lived experience and knowledge of the charity sector, he is passionate about bringing comfort and positivity to young cancer patients and their families.
Dale joined the board in 2024 as a parent trustee and is an experienced account manager in the field of critical communications and associated services. In July 2018, Dale’s son was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma and had to have intensive treatment which meant most of the treatment was spent in hospital. Dale has experienced first-hand the amazing work Candlelighters carry out and how they help families in their darkest moments so wants to use her skills and lived experience to support and help the charity continue to provide its vital services.
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. 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 ensuring the smooth running of the facilities and operations of the charity.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Janine joined the team in January 2024 as a Family Support Worker. She 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. Janine works across Wards 31,32,33, the Oncology and Haematology Day Unit and The Square.
Ollie joined Candlelighters as a Family Support Worker in February 2024. 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. Ollie works across Wards 31,32,33, the Oncology and Haematology Day Unit and The Square on Monday – Wednesday evenings and during the day on Thursdays.
Lucy joined the team in March 2024 as a Family Support Worker. She 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.
Lucy works across Wards 31,32,33, the Oncology and Haematology Day Unit and The Square Wednesdays and Saturdays and on a Thursday evening.
Chelsey joined the Candlelighters team in September 2024. As Youth Activity Co-ordinator Chelsey provides fun & support to the teens and young adults based on Ward 33 and clinic. She also works closely with our friends at Teenage Cancer Trust, ensuring the teens have the best possible experience whilst visiting hospital.
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.
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!
Ayub joined in 2024 bringing with him years of finance experience. As Finance Officer, Ayub is key in looking after the Charity’s finances. This includes safely recording all the donations we get from our fantastic supporters as well as controlling and processing our expenditure such as paying suppliers or grants to families.
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.
Gaynor joined Candlelighters in November 2022, after volunteering with us as an event administrator. As part of the Finance team, Gaynor is responsible for processing the Charity’s payments to suppliers and the financial support we provide families and processing all the generous donations we receive.
Frank joined Candlelighters in May 2024 as the Operations and Charity Support Officer. Frank brings fantastic experience and is there to look after and provide support to a wide range of the Charity’s operations including facilities to ensure everything is in good working order so there is fantastic environment for staff to work in and families to visit. You may see Frank walking around our premises checking everything is working as it should be.
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.
