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.
In 1998, Stephen’s four-year-old son Rocky was found to have a tumour and received treatment at St James’s. Rocky survived for almost three years, leaving the family with wonderful memories, great hope and undented faith. Stephen has continued his involvement with Candlelighters, joining the Board in 2007 and became Chair in January 2014. He ended his role as Chair in June 2020 and remains on the Board as a Parent Trustee.
Martin was appointed as a consultant in Paediatric Oncology and simultaneously as a Candlelighter’s 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. He joined 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 Patient Services at Anthony Nolan. Her team fund specialist NHS nursing and clinical psychology posts and are responsible for the delivery of patient and family information and support. Before joining Anthony Nolan, Chiara worked for Macmillan, managing their flagship centre support centre and before that, she worked as a Highly Specialised physiotherapist in Oncology and Palliative Care in London.
In June 2018, Greg’s three year old daughter Sophia was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. Sophia rang the bell and finished treatment in August 2020. Greg became a Candlelighters trustee in September 2020. Now his daughter is better, Greg wants to try to support other families through their childhood cancer journey. Greg has been a company director for several years and his background is in marketing.
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. As Deputy CEO she is delighted to provide support to the CEO in achieving future plans.
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.
Pam joined Candlelighters in March 2019. As part of the Finance and Corporate Services Team, her responsibilities include the purchase ledger, banking, booking holidays for our families and supplier management. Her working days are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
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 the Candlelighters Team in January 2018. Corinne looks after the whole on-boarding process for staff and volunteers, as well as staff benefits, payroll, pensions and the development and maintenance of our suite of policies and procedures. She also supports the Candlelighters Team with any HR and Volunteering queries or help that they might need.
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Caroline joined Candlelighters in March 2020 as our Marketing and Communications Manager and recently became the Head of Engagement. 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 Gaby and Helena on the production of marketing across all channels to support fundraising and our families.
Tom joined the team as Fundraising Manager 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 July 2019 as part of the corporate fundraising team. Having worked in the commercial sector for a number of years, Chris is keen to use his knowledge and experience to support our existing corporate partners in their fundraising activity. He will also be focusing on raising awareness of Candlelighters across Yorkshire and to secure new corporate supporters to further develop our work.
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.
Natalie joined the charity in September 2014, and is Head of Family Support. Working for Candlelighters at The Square she is be able to use her skills and personal experience to help families who have, or have had, a child with cancer.
Vicky joined Candlelighters in May 2016 as part of the family support team. Vicky’s role is responsible for managing the community support team and helping to grow and develop our services across Yorkshire. While also doing this Vicky works closely to support families out in the community.
Chloe is one of our Community Support Workers who works across Yorkshire to provide support to families closer to home. Chloe is responsible for being a key contact to our families while liaising with professionals, charities and services in the area.
Carly joined the charity in October 2016 . Carly’s role is responsible for managing the team of Family Support Workers whilst also overseeing the provision of services at The Square and the running of our home from home accommodation, The Cottage. You may also find Carly supporting families at The Square, on the wards or on the Oncology and Haematology Day Unit at Leeds Children’s Hospital.
Janet’s role 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.
Jade joined Candlelighters in March 2018 and is specifically focused on the Charity’s facilities to help it run smoothly and to keep staff, families we support and our visitors safe. Jade is currently on maternity leave.
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.
Helena joined the team in October 2018, managing a wide variety of marketing responsibilities across Fundraising & Family Support. In 2020 Helena moved into our Family Support team, leading on a new marketing strategy to engage families to our support and services. Helena works with families and the wider team over at Leeds Children’s Hospital to create new, innovative ways to engage with families across the region. She manages our website, social media, PR, digital design and video and much more!
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.
Brittany 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.
Brittany works across Wards 31,32,33, the Oncology and Haematology Day Unit and The Square.
Lauren joined the Candlelighters team in January 2019. As part of the HR and Volunteering team Lauren’s responsibilities include providing training, supporting recruitment, developing policies and procedures and providing administrative support to both the HR and Volunteering team as well as Emily, our CEO.
Gaby joined Candlelighters in February 2020 as Marketing and Communications Assistant to support the Fundraising team and recently became our Digital and Social executive within the Engagement team. Gaby looks after our social media accounts and website, as well as coordinating the digital marketing for the charity.
Teresa joined Candlelighters in May 2021 as part of the Finance and Corporate Services team. Teresa has a specific focus on the facilities of the Charity to help ensure everything is in good working order so staff can work in and families can visit a wonderful environment.
Amongst her varied role will be helping the HR department with their co-ordination of our lovely volunteers who kindly donate their valuable time to the Charity.
Meet our elephantastic mascot Champ, a fairly new member to our team but has already made a big impact around the hospital and 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!
