About Us

Helen has been a Consultant in Palliative Medicine for 18 years, working in hospices, hospitals, and patients’ homes. With 15 years’ executive experience, she is committed to ensuring everyone in the local community has access to excellent clinical care. Holding a postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education, she enjoys teaching medical students and doctors in training about the value of palliative care across all settings.

Originally from the Northeast, Helen now lives in Tunbridge Wells. She enjoys running, gardening, and walking the South Downs with her husband.

With extensive clinical and leadership experience in palliative and end-of-life care, Andrew has worked across hospices, hospitals, and community services. He has held multiple senior roles successfully leading service transformation, workforce redesign, and innovative projects such as the first palliative care ambulance. As Care Director, Andrew focuses on inclusive, high-quality, person-centred care, strengthening governance, developing workforce capacity, and fostering strong community and system partnerships.

In his spare time, Andrew is a keen cyclist and reader as well as thoroughly enjoys family holidays.

Matt is a Chartered Accountant with experience in practice, advising organisations across multiple industries on business, financial, and accounting matters. Moving into industry, he became Head of Finance at a university before joining St Peter & St James Hospice. Known for making finance clear and accessible to non-financial managers, Matt is passionate about finding efficiencies and driving robust accounting practices that support income growth.

On his days off, Matthew can usually be found playing tennis, tending his garden, or exploring local footpaths on long walks.

Melissa has a background in corporate sectors including aviation, finance and hospitality, where she rapidly progressed as an HR professional while completing her CIPD Level 3, 5 and 7 qualifications. Passionate about wellbeing, her mission is to help make St Peter & St James Hospice a diverse, safe, engaging, and empowering place for every employee and volunteer. She is committed to fostering a culture where people feel valued, supported, and able to thrive.

Outside of work, Melissa is often out trying new experiences, dancing, or discovering unique places.

Kaylee began her career as a Healthcare Assistant in the NHS before becoming a Registered Nurse. She has experience of clinical nursing across the acute and community sectors before moving into leadership and managerial roles. Kaylee has always had a keen interest and passion for delivering excellent palliative care to people in their own homes, when it is needed most. She jumped at the opportunity to join the Hospice Community Team in 2023 at St Peter and St James and leads the dedicated team with team with enthusiasm and compassion.

Outside of work, Kaylee enjoys spending time with her friends and family and can be found most Sunday mornings watching her son play rugby. She enjoys renovating her house and planning trips from her extensive Bucket List.

Pippa joined the NHS in 1997 as a Ward Clerk and gained experience across many physical health settings before discovering a lasting passion for palliative care. She feels privileged to bring together her expertise, skills, and personal values at St Peter and St James Hospice, leading a compassionate, skilled, and dedicated team.

Outside work, Pippa loves walking her dogs, exploring nature, reading, and sharing good food, wine, and laughter with family and friends, always taking time to savour life’s simple, beautiful moments.

Natalie qualified as a nurse in 2001 after training at the University of Brighton and has spent most of her life in Sussex, committed to improving local healthcare. Her career spans community, acute, private, corporate, and charitable sectors. In 2013, Natalie was awarded the Queen’s Nurse title, recognising dedication to high-quality care and continuous improvement. She is passionate about enhancing care standards for patients, families, and staff alike.

Away from work, Natalie cherishes time outdoors with her three children, two dogs, and thriving allotment, finding constant inspiration in nature’s beauty.

With a background in retail, builders’ merchanting, and the charity sector, Rob’s career has always centred on driving results and managing operations. For eight years, he also ran a business offering beer tours, tastings, events, and consultancy. Passionate about becoming a retailer of choice, he focuses on delivering exceptional customer experiences that inspire loyalty and set standards others aspire to.

In his spare time, Rob enjoys music ranging from metal to electropop and hip hop and is always planning his next global adventure in search of amazing food and beers.

With over 30 years’ experience, Milton has held senior management roles across insurance, social housing, central government, higher education, and manufacturing. Passionate about business improvement, organisational development, and how workplace design influences wellbeing and productivity, he is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute with postgraduate management qualifications and credentials in project management and health and safety.

Based in Kent, Milton spends his spare time tackling DIY projects, reading biographies, and enjoying music from classical to R&B and Latin jazz. He remains happily pet-free.

Harriet is a lawyer by profession: she has a law degree from Cambridge University and worked in management at a large firm for many years. She has since worked as an independent consultant. Harriet has lived in Sussex for over 20 years and is passionate about supporting her local community. She is married with three grown up sons and loves singing; Harriet is part of the highly acclaimed Bach Choir. 

Robin runs a commercial property investment and development company advising financial institutions & private investors. His first wife, Lisa, spent her last weeks at St Peter & St James Hospice and his father Bill died at St Luke’s Hospice in Plymouth. Robin is a passionate supporter of the hospice system and long term volunteer. A published writer and poet, Robin practises Zen Buddhism in the Rinzai tradition and lives near Brighton.

Lesley has a clinical nursing background and had a long NHS career, mainly in community services as a clinician and board member. Before her retirement, she held an executive role at Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Lesley lives in Haywards Heath and has long been aware of St Peter and St James Hospice and the value of the services it offers to the local community.

John is a former partner of KPMG, one of the “Big Four” global accounting firms. His late wife Ros was cared for by the hospice in 2016. John lives in Lindfield, has three adult children and two grandchildren. He enjoys country walking and watching football. 

Tricia has a wealth of clinical experience as a nurse and Senior Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences at Brighton University. She  is passionate about excellence in nursing and person centred care. Tricia is also a trustee at Age UK Croydon. 

Tricia moved to Sussex in 2020 with her husband Alan and dog Ralph. She enjoys cinema, theatre, gardening, reading, walking Ralph and spending time with her three adult children. 

Michael is an experienced income generation professional with expertise in marketing, corporate partnerships, trading, fundraising, and retail across commercial and charity sectors. He has a proven track record in developing and implementing successful commercial strategies for charities, including hospices.

Michael has also held senior positions in leading organisations such as Penguin Random House and Mountain Warehouse and co-founded a successful start-up in the holiday industry.

Originally from London Michael lives in East Sussex with his partner and is a keen swimmer, runner and cook

Caroline has over 20 years of experience in commercial and supply-chain management roles across various industry sectors and currently works at Air Navigation Solutions Ltd as Commercial Director. Caroline previously held senior positions with the AJW Group and Virgin Atlantic. Before working in the aviation sector, Caroline worked in supply-chain roles for Kimberly-Clark and Nike.

Caroline lives in Hurstpierpoint and enjoys spending time with her two children, running, baking, and reading.

Anita has a wealth of HR experience gained in senior roles in the education sector, as well as in the charity sector and adult social care. Holding a Masters in HR Management and HR Development, Anita is passionate about supporting staff health and wellbeing.

She lives in Maresfield with her husband and dog, Evie, and has two adult children who live in the local area. She likes to be outdoors, enjoying gardening and walking, as well as skiing in the winter.

Patrick is a Chartered Building Surveyor with over 30 years experience in the property industry. Having worked at a number of practices since qualifying and been a Partner at a global surveying firm in London, Patrick has been running his own property consultancy in Lewes since 2011, dealing with a both commercial and residential property throughout Sussex and the South East.

Patrick is based in Lewes, where he has lived with his wife and son since moving down from Hertfordshire some 21 years ago. In his spare time Patrick enjoys rugby, both playing and supporting, and is currently Chairman at Lewes Rugby Club, as well as cycling, fitness, wood turning and walking his dog, Porridge.

Isabelle started her career at PwC in London, qualified as a chartered accountant and specialising in commercial finance in the media and creative industry. She is VP of finance for a global marketing business with responsibility for financial planning and analysis, operational improvement, mergers and acquisitions, legal and compliance and organisational strategy.

Isabelle moved to the area in 2017, and one of her favourite pastimes is discovering the Sussex countryside on trail runs with her husband, a GP and hospice doctor.

Caroline is a retired GP and has practiced in the UK and Australia. She has a long standing interest in Palliative Care having worked in several Hospices including St Peter and St James. She has also been involved with medical education.
Caroline feels strongly that everyone who needs it should be able to access the very best Palliative and End of Life care with an individualised and holistic approach.

Living in East Sussex since 2009, Caroline and is married with 2 children and enjoys spending time with family, walking her dog and being outside surrounded by nature.

Katie Derham is one of the most recognisable voices on BBC Radio 3 as the award-winning presenter of their flagship programme In Tune. As the face of BBC Proms, she is a leading arts broadcaster, anchoring the coverage from the Royal Albert Hall since 2010. Further Radio 3 credits include Sound of Dance on Saturday afternoons where she explored the relationship between music and dance and Afternoons on 3.

Katie has presented a wide range of arts and music programmes on BBC TV and Sky Arts including All Together Now: The Great Orchestra Challenge (BBC4) and Fine Tuned with Alexander Armstrong (Sky Arts). Since 2022, she has hosted of the esteemed Mountbatten Festival of Music at the Royal Albert Hall.

After reading Economics at Magdalene College Cambridge, Katie started her career as a business journalist and spent 15 years in news and current affairs, first at the BBC then joining ITN as the Media and Arts Editor for ITV News. Katie became ITN’s youngest ever newsreader on British National Television, going on to anchor national news bulletins covering global events such as elections, royal weddings, 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In 2015, Katie co-founded her own multiplatform studio Peanut & Crumb, alongside BAFTA-nominated producer Jane Gerber. Among the many impactful screen and audio projects the company produced, Katie entered the podcast space as host of Just The Tonic in 2021, exploring the work musicians do in all parts of our community to make people’s lives better.

Katie is proud to be involved with charities including the Prince’s Trust, Dementia UK and Leonard Cheshire Disability. She’s also a member of the Cambridge University Alumni Advisory Board and on their Communications Committee.

In 2015, Katie’s career took a decidedly glittery direction when she took part in Strictly Come Dancing and reached the final. In 2017, she was crowned Strictly’s Christmas Champion.

Piers Morgan was born in 1965.  He studied journalism at Harlow College, beginning his career in local South London newspapers.  He joined the Sun in 1989 and was given his own showbiz column, ‘Bizarre’.  Rupert Murdoch made him editor of the News of the World in 1994 and he was headhunted two years later to edit the Daily Mirror, where he stayed until 2004.  Piers was a judge on both Britain’s Got Talent and America’s Got Talent; he won the first series of Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice and also hosted his own prime-time CNN show, Piers Morgan Tonight.  He has co-presented one of the UK’s most popular morning shows, Good Morning Britain and the interview show Piers Morgan’s Life Stories.  He currently presents Piers Morgan Uncensored and writes regular columns for the Sun. He has written several books, including the bestsellers Wake Up and The Insider.

Piers Morgan grew up in Sussex where he went to school.  He is married and has four children.

Edward Fox OBE has been a Patron of St Peter & St James Hospice for many years. He is married to the actress Joanna David and has three children and two grandchildren.

Edward has had a very distinguished career in the theatre, on television and in film. Together with his family, he moved to Cuckfield from London during World War Two. He initially went to school in Haywards Heath.

The Fox family are theatre people, Edwards’s father, Robin, was a theatrical agent and his mother, Angela Worthington was an actress and writer. His brother James is also an actor, and his youngest brother, Robert is a film producer. Edward’s children Emelia and Freddie are actors too.

Karol Matthews is an ardent supporter of St Peter & St James Hospice. Karol’s commitment to the hospice is deeply personal following the death of her husband in 2013. Her unwavering support has been instrumental in enhancing the hospice’s services and have helped to ensure that the hospice provides exceptional care and support to patients and their families.

Karol regularly visits the hospice and is a significant source of support to the Chief Executive. She is known for her warm and approachable nature and embodies the spirit of care and dedication that defines the organisation.

Lisa Welton was brought up, educated and married in Sussex and feels “It is an honour and a pleasure to work as a Patron of St Peter & St James Hospice”.

Lisa has a degree in French from the Sorbonne and Oxford Polytechnic and worked in Paris and the Loire before pursuing a career as a Corporate Conference Organiser with the international publisher, IBC Ltd, in London. She went on to establish the conference arm of publisher Acquisitions Monthly in Tunbridge Wells.

Lisa moved from London to East Sussex in 1996 where she has used her creative and organisational skills more broadly to support a number of different organisations in the local community. These organisations include Tommy’s The Baby Charity, Beacon School, Crowborough, and an ambassadorial role for St John’s Ambulance.

Lisa has lived in Newick with her husband, three children, dogs, chickens and the occasional pig since 2009, and supported Sussex Hospices in a variety of ways, including staging an Evening of Celebratory Music to showcase young musical talent in Sussex. She has developed her interest in horticulture over many years, and has immensely enjoyed opening her garden at The Old Rectory for St Peter & St James Hospice since 2019. Her commitment to the hospice companion service has become increasingly important as a way of widely supporting our local communities.

Emma is a trained teacher by profession, a traveller and a sportsperson. Her early career in London was spent in media sales for The Daily Mail, General Trust Group and Dow Jones International – publishers of the Wall Street Journal. She returned to Sussex and now lives in Ditchling with her husband, 3 children and 2 golden retrievers.

Emma launched her recruitment business specialising in flexible working seven years ago and most recently as an independent business called Flexibility Matters. Through her commitment and hard work, she has built a happy and motivated workforce by embedding flexibility at the heart of her business strategy. Emma was delighted and humbled to receive the award for New Business of the Year 2022 at the Gatwick Diamond Business Awards in March and is currently shortlisted for start-up of the year in the Sussex Business Awards

Emma is looking forward to working as an ambassador for the Hospice to help them maximise their visibility through her continual business networking in local associations.

Susan Fleet was born and brought up in Burgess Hill. Susan has supported St Peter & St James Hospice as a regular beneficiary over the past 25 years and also by performing numerous concerts and fundraising events.

Susan Fleet founded Lea Graham Associates – a Burgess Hill-based PR consultancy and entertainment agency – in 1986. It is now one of the oldest agencies in the South East. She is the former chairman of the Burgess Hill Business Parks Association where she remains a director. Susan is also an ambassador for the Gatwick Diamond Business Association – Lea Graham is the longest-serving member, having joined in 1988.

Susan was Dame Vera Lynn’s PA for the last few years of her life. They became close friends, sharing some wonderful times together – which often involved singing and eating!

Susan’s passion for music and raising funds for charity earned her an MBE in the 2022 New Year Honours. She staged her first charity concert in November 1970 and has continued directing and performing several concerts every year since.

Toby Whittome was born and brought up in Sussex on the family farm just outside Scaynes Hill; he now lives there with his wife, two daughters and their two black Labradors and last but never least Pepper the cat!  

Toby’s passion for St Peter and St James Hospice began when the Hospice cared for his father during the later stages of his life-limiting illness.  “If together as Patrons we can help the Hospice to provide their incredible and all-encompassing support to even one more person and their family in their hour of need, it would mean the absolute world to me”.

Toby went to school locally at Great Walstead School and Ardingly College.   After graduating in ancient history and philosophy, Toby worked as an estate agent in London for twenty years in the Chelsea, Belgravia and Mayfair markets.  He then decided with his business partner Guy, to set up a branch of Jackson-Stops in his own much loved home county of Sussex. “I only wish I had done it sooner as we couldn’t work in a more lovely area or have nicer clients”.  

Toby is a man of many passions including travelling and sailing. These twin passions have led him to visit many incredible places including amongst others the South and West Pacific.  However, he is also just as happy spending time at home on the farm, tending to his vegetable patch!

Deirdre trained at St Thomas’ Hospital in London and has been a registered nurse for over 40 years. Most of her nursing career has been spent in general practice in Sussex, which has included working in areas of deprivation. She joined Brighton and Hove CCG in 2010 and worked to commission services for the city. She has been a Trustee of a St Peter & St James Hospice. She is currently a Governor at Chailey Heritage Foundation as well as a Trustee of Sussex Community Foundation. She has been involved with Healthwatch and is an active fundraiser for dementia care in Sussex. She lives in Lewes and is married with three children.

Sir Edward Cazalet was educated at Eton College, where he was a fellow from 1989 to 2004. He studied Jurisprudence at Christ Church, Oxford, and his distinguished career included working as a High Court Family Division Judge for the SE circuit.

He has been Chairman and member of numerous Tribunals and Trusts, including Winston Churchill Memorial Fund from 2004-11. His recreational activities include Riding, Board Games, Chess.

Matt Turner MBE is extremely passionate about philanthropy. As well as being a Patron of St Peter & St James Hospice, he is also a patron of Chestnut Tree House and the founder of Young Start-Up Talent, a competition which aims to help 16 to 25-year-old entrepreneurs.

Matt started Creative Pod in 2006 and is the CEO. He has since developed The Creative Group’s portfolio to include Creative Pod, The PrintShop, SquareOne, Spacelink Commercial Interiors and 427 Marketing. Matt is only in his mid-thirties and, with no college or university degree, Matt’s success is based on his own merits, creative ideas, extensive network and first-hand experiences.

Matt Turner is married and lives locally with his wife and two children.