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Chris Matthews-Maxwell
Chairman Chris has been a Trustee of Leukaemia Care since 1999 and Chairman since 2015. Having held the Office of Chair on two previous occasions and becoming Deputy Chair during intervening periods. Company Director and Chartered Secretary with wide business interests in the North of England. Chris has extensive board, senior management experience in private, public and charitable sectors. Having held a number of senior public appointments at both national and regional levels in a variety of fields. In addition, Chris is Chairman of More Time (UK) Ltd., a Social Enterprise Company, and Vice Chair of Humankind (previously DISC). Humankind is a large charity which focuses on the promotion of inclusivity and the provision of help and assistance for disadvantaged and socially excluded members of society. This covers a wide range of services, the largest of which relates to drug and alcohol recovery and rehabilitation. Chris’ involvement with Leukaemia Care began as a direct result of the death of a close family member from acute myeloid leukaemia.
Libby Wilson
Vice Chairman Libby Wilson is married with one son still at school. She was born in Worcester and studied for her degree at Worcester University. She worked in the City for two of the “big four” accounting firms as a business manager, and transferred to Auckland for five years with one of them. After returning to the UK she joined a large UK law firm as their business manager. Having left the city to start her family, in 2006 she set up her own nursery childcare business and owns two nursery settings in the South East, where she now lives. She continues to be active in education and is currently a Chair of Governors for a village primary school in Buckinghamshire. Her interest in Leukaemia Care came about after she was diagnosed with CML in 2017. She enjoys travelling, walking, yoga and cooking.
Wendy Davies
Treasurer Wendy is a Chartered Accountant and is a partner in CK Chartered Accountants, which is based in Dudley. She has worked for CK since leaving University in 1987. In addition to her client-facing role she is head of Technical Compliance and Audit and Assurance. She also acts as auditor and advisor to a number of not-for-profit organisations. As a long term cancer survivor, she was keen to use her knowledge of the not-for-profit sector to support a charity which focuses on supporting cancer patients. She also is a Trustee of Get Ahead, another independent cancer charity based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. Wendy is married with two grown-up children and lives in Worcestershire. In her spare time, she enjoys travelling, exercising, socialising with friends and shopping.
Kate Stallard
Kates interest in Leukaemia Care arose following her diagnosis with Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia in 2016. Following a relapse whilst undergoing chemotherapy Kate received further extensive treatment in the form of Arsenic, intrathecal chemotherapy, radiotherapy and a stem cell transplant. She wants to use her experiences to help support others in similar situations and campaigns to raise awareness of blood cancers and the impact that has not only physically but emotionally. Kate is a keen gardener, who loves socialising with friends, travelling the world and walking her two dogs on the Malvern Hills where she lives.
Dr Emmanouil Nikolousis
Dr Emmanouil Nikolousis is a consultant haematologist working in the Birmingham area. As well as being a member of our trustee board, Manos also assists Leukaemia Care with other projects such as being the medical reviewer for our patient booklets.
Dharmesh Mehta
Dharmesh is an experienced professional in international trade and product development. He has helped develop early-stage startups and is currently a non-executive director with CanCertain, a Life Sciences Diagnostics company helping Cancer patients received personalised treatment pathways. He is also advising on the commercialisation of products developed in conjunction with the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) in Manchester. Dharmesh was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia in 2017 and following his diagnosis he has undertaken an annual charity fundraiser to help raise funds for Leukaemia Care
Mhairi Copland
Mhairi is a Professor of Translational Haematology and Honorary Consultant in Haematology at the University of Glasgow. She graduated in Medicine from Aberdeen University in 1996 and obtained a PhD in Cancer Sciences from the University of Glasgow in 2007. She splits her time between the Paul O’Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre, where she is Director, and the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, Glasgow. In addition to her role with Leukaemia Care, Mhairi also works with the International CML Foundation, CML Support and the CML Advocates Network and is a member of the Healthcare Professional Advisory Panel for Blood Cancer UK. Mhairi lives with her partner in the Scottish Borders and she enjoys hill walking, travelling, cooking, reading and trying to grow vegetables.
Sarah Smith
Sarah is a GP partner at Town Gate Practice in Chepstow. A Bristol graduate, she joined the practice in 2003 after completing her GP training in Somerset. She took on partnership in 2009 and also teaches final year medical students from Cardiff University. Sarah first started supporting Leukaemia Care in 2017 when her nursing colleague, Jane, was diagnosed with AML. Too scared to run London marathon, Sarah signed up her husband, Kevin, instead! She finally bit the bullet a year later and was surprised to find she not only enjoyed marathon training, but also cake baking and performing in fundraising concerts. Since then Sarah has joined the Leukaemia Care GP advisory panel and taken part in webinars and stakeholder meetings plus videos for world leukaemia day. She became a trustee in February 2022. Sarah has teenage twins who also take part in sporting events for Leukaemia Care.
Carina Patterson
Carina has worked in the legal costs sector of the city for most of her career and has project managed some of the largest and most contentious cases in her industry, however after experiencing various symptoms, including extreme and increasing fatigue and dizziness which both Carina and her GP put down to her busy work schedule, and repeated infections and dizziness, Carina was diagnosed with hairy cell leukaemia (HCL) in June 2017. Prior to becoming a Trustee for Leukaemia Care in 2021, Carina has been an active supporter of the charity for many years and has been a patient panel member and a volunteer for the Buddy Service, both of which she is passionate about. Carina continues to help steer the charity towards its goals, in particular raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of leukaemia, whilst providing support to those affected by a diagnosis by using her own experience as a patient.