Meet our Patrons and Ambassadors

Beverley Worboys

Beverley is an internationally-renowned soprano opera singer whose performing career has taken her across Europe and the UK. As a leading soprano, she has performed alongside names such as Dame Judy Dench, Jane Eaglen and Sir Nigel Hawthorne and is best known for her performance of Christine Daae in Phantom of the Opera at the Musical Theater, Basel. Born in Kidderminster, Beverley now divides her time between her home in Bewdley, Worcestershire and her family life in Basel with her Swiss husband and her daughter. As an acclaimed soprano in Switzerland, she is high in demand as a concert soloist and recording artist. Beverley also runs an international private vocal coaching studio in Basel and is the Director of English Chamber Opera and Director of Swiss Opera Lab with the Basel Festival Orchestra. On top of all of this, Beverley also works as a communication coach working in the private banking and pharma sector, leading performance-based kinesthetic workshops throughout Europe. As one of our Patrons, Beverley helps to raise awareness of the charity and blood cancers amongst new audiences and has a particular interest in early diagnosis of the disease.

Lady Penny Mountbatten

Penny is the mother of three beautiful daughters and lives in Devon but divides her time between there and working in London. Educated at The Royal School in Bath, she grew up in Wiltshire on a private wildlife park. Her stepfather, Tim Walker, was passionate about the conservation of animals and was Chairman of the World Wide Fund for Nature. He died when Penny was only 20 years old so she put together her first fundraising event in his memory and has been organising charity events ever since. Penny is Patron of both Leukaemia Care and Devon Air Ambulance and works as a special events co-ordinator for Baby Lifeline and Regain, a charity that supports tetraplegics. Penny feels driven to try to make a difference to the lives of those less fortunate than herself I am on a constant quest to raise awareness of Leukaemia Care and would like to spread the word about blood cancers amongst new audiences. In her day job, Penny’s main role is the representation of a very talented portrait artist, Ralph Heimans, who has painted The Queen and other members of the British Royal Family. Penny and Ralph travel all over the globe for portrait sittings with business leaders, philanthropists and celebrities. She also runs a small business called RSVP, an events management company specialising in unique private parties, art exhibitions and charity events. Penny really enjoys meeting new people, art, reading, exploring the world and is fascinated by history and different cultural backgrounds.

Katie and Chris Seymour

Katie and Chris Seymour are the parents of Hattie Seymour who was diagnosed, aged one, with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). They live in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex,and have a son, Dexter. Katie and Chris will help to raise awareness of the charity, the importance of early diagnosis and blood cancers amongst children.

Bailey Patrick

Bailey is an actor from London. He has appeared in shows such as Netflix’s ‘Bridgerton’ and BBC’s ‘EastEnders.’ He also stars as Detective Rob Brady in Acorn TV’s murder detective drama series ‘London Kills.’ Bailey was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) after developing symptoms on a family holiday when he was just four years old in 1991. He says his diagnosis has inspired him to chase his dreams of being an actor and to show people that you can do whatever you want to do. Bailey hopes that he can use his platform to raise more awareness of the signs and symptoms of leukaemia.

Andrew Hayden-Smith

Andrew is an actor, television presenter and voice over artist from the North East. He has appeared in TV shows ‘Byker Grove’ and ‘Doctor Who’, as well as presenting CBBC, The UK Top 40 and The Hub on ITV’s This Morning. He has also appeared on the West End stage and is a regular announcer on ITV2. Andrew has a personal connection with blood cancer after his father was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2014. Andrew hopes to use his ambassadorship to raise awareness for Leukaemia Care and to spread the word about spotting the symptoms of blood cancer sooner, which are often confused for other illnesses, in the hope that it might save others. Andrew is also a passionate campaigner for the LGBT community and works with The Albert Kennedy Trust, alongside Sir Ian McKellen and Paul O’Grady to raising awareness for young, homeless LGBT people.

Photograph courtesy of Loranc Sparsi

Jamie Woods

Jamie lives in Swansea with his wife and two children, and teaches Creative Writing courses for adults at Cardiff University Centre for Life-Long Learning. In 2019 Jamie was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL). Now in remission, Jamie has found writing poetry about his experience has helped him come to terms with the illness and the side-effects – both physical and mental. His poems have featured in Poetry Wales, Spoonie Journal, and Marble Broadsheet, and he was commended in the Hippocrates International Prize for Poetry and Medicine 2021. As Poet-in-Residence, Jamie will be working to raise awareness of our campaigns and activities, and will provide creative wellbeing opportunities to those affected by leukaemia.