Our People

Linda is a senior nurse leader with over 30 years’ experience across the NHS and hospice care. She brings a strong track record in clinical leadership, service development, and integrated care, with a deep commitment to delivering high-quality, compassionate support for patients and families.

She has a particular interest in safeguarding, digital transformation, and system-wide collaboration, and has worked across sectors to strengthen end-of-life care. Her career has been shaped by a commitment to people – patients, families, and professionals alike – and believes that the most meaningful care comes from combining professional excellence with deep compassion and respect for each individual.

Outside of work Linda can be found baking, travelling or spending time with her family

Julia is a Consultant in Palliative Medicine and has been working in this role at St Catherine’s Hospice since January 2014. Over the years, she has provided expert care across a range of settings, including the community, the hospice’s inpatient unit, and East Surrey Hospital. She currently focuses primarily on delivering care within the community.

In addition to her clinical responsibilities, Julia plays a key role in service development and education. She serves as the Caldicott Guardian for the organisation, having previously held the position of Deputy, and maintains a strong interest in patient data governance and digital innovation.

Julia is actively involved in medical education, contributing to the palliative care module at Brighton and Sussex Medical School and supporting specialist training in palliative medicine. She is an educational supervisor and holds an external role on the Specialist Training Committee as South West Training Sector Lead for the London and Kent, Surrey & Sussex (KSS) Deanery.

She is deeply committed to the principles of high-quality palliative and end-of-life care, and is passionate about the profound difference it can make—not only for patients and their families but also for the broader healthcare system

Elly has a wealth of experience in HR across a variety of sectors, including the charity, retail, statutory and not for profit sector. Among Elly’s management qualities are her passion for people and deep commitment to working in a collaborative, transparent and inclusive way.

Elly is also passionate about people and is committed to helping support the work St Catherine’s and our outstanding team does and she has personal experience of St Catherine’s care as her mother was recently a patient at the hospice.

Paula began her fundraising career over 20 years ago and hasn’t looked back since. She has risen through the ranks of a number of national charities, leading teams and working across all forms of income generation.

She believes in the importance of strong supporter relationships and the power of great storytelling and is excited to be working with the team to generate income for palliative care.

Alongside work, Paula can be found swimming laps at the local pool, attacking the ever-growing weeds in her garden or spending time with her family.

Giles joined St Catherine’s in 2014, having spent over 20 years in health and social care leadership, both in the UK and across the world. His closest friend was cared for by St Catherine’s and he is passionate about ensuring local people receive the very best end of life care possible.

Stephanie has more than 20 years’ experience in healthcare. Having trained as a nurse, she delivered highly skilled one-to-one care in ITU at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust. During this time, she developed strong leadership and mentorship skills, became a trusted nurse for patients and families at the end of life, and trained teams in communication and patient-centred care.

After leaving the NHS, Stephanie retrained as a Death Doula, supporting patients and families practically, emotionally, and spiritually at the end of life. She also works within the Spiritual Support Team at a hospice in Kent. She recently completed a Master’s degree in Death, Religion and Culture, receiving the Graduation Prize for her research on end of life care.

Stephanie has extensive charity experience, including chairing fundraising committees and serving as Vice President of Maggie’s Cancer Care. Now living in Cowfold, she is delighted to support St Catherine’s and her local community. Outside of work, she enjoys gardening and walking her spaniel, Rose.

Tina has had 20 years of experience working within the NHS. She completed her GP training in West Sussex and practised locally for several years after this. In 2010, she was selected by the Strategic Health Authority to be a Clinical Leadership Fellow and to study for an MSc in Management and Leadership for Clinicians. Since then, she has held several NHS leadership roles in commissioning and provider organisations across the South East. Tina enjoys working with diverse stakeholders and across organisational boundaries to influence and support the provision of patient care. Her special areas of interest include cancer care, medical education, healthcare law and regulation.

Tina has also worked in the charity sector and alongside various VCSE organisations to enhance patient care. Her roles have required a knowledge of clinical governance, commissioning and care pathway development. She hopes to utilise her passion for palliative care to support the work of St Catherine’s Hospice.

In her spare time, Tina enjoys reading, painting, musical theatre and walking, whilst savouring the beautiful West Sussex countryside.

After an extensive career in retail and marketing Sue recently retired and has been using her skills to assist a variety of charities in fundraising and marketing roles. As part of this work she gained experience at St Peter & St James Hospice which opened her eyes to the wonderful work that the hospice movement does and how often the sector is not fully understood by the wider community.

As a trustee at St Catherine’s Sue wants to help change some of the perceptions people have about a hospice and ensure that access to the hospice services is open to everyone in the community. Having experienced the passing of a number of close relatives recently she has become passionate about ensuring that as many families as possible are able to get the emotional and practical care and support they need when faced with a life limiting illness.

Sue lives in Hurstpierpoint and spends a lot of her time outdoors, usually gardening or walking her Jack Russell. She is also a keen artist and crafter and always has multiple crochet projects on the go.

Sally is a media, marketing and fundraising specialist who has enjoyed a number of senior leadership roles in both the commercial and charity sector. Her first twenty years were predominantly with Mail Newspapers and she is experienced in both digital transformation and managing change.

In 2020 she joined the RSPCA as its first Director of Income Generation, then led the fundraising regulator, before spending the last six years of her executive career as CEO of Blue Cross, after which she was proud to be awarded a CBE for services to animal welfare.

Sally now enjoys a portfolio of interests and was formerly Chair of Trustees for Dreams Come True, supporting families and children with life limiting conditions. She currently Chairs SWWFL helping grow membership and income support for the Wildlife Trusts.

Sally has two adult children now living in London, whilst she and her husband have lived near Horsham for the past 16 years and enjoy travel, walking, art and ceramics, alongside time spent with family and friends.

Jonathan is a policy, public affairs and campaigning professional with 25 years’ experience in the health and social care sector, including 16 years as a director at national hospice charity, Hospice UK.  He currently provides consultancy services to organisations working in health and social care. He is a passionate supporter of the hospice sector. Throughout his career, Jonathan has had considerable success in changing policy, shaping legislation and leveraging new funding into the hospice sector. Jonathan lives with his husband, Stephen, in south London. He loves to travel, with North America a particular favourite.  If he is not planning his next trip, he is likely to be found working on modernising his home.

Renée has 30 years’ experience working across health and care and has spent the past three years in community health services provider. Renée has worked in a range of managerial and commissioning roles and has experience of working in the voluntary and community sector and in substance misuse services. Renée is a social worker by background and spent many years working in mental health services. Renée is passionate about community services and working alongside patients, the public, colleagues and wider partners to deliver the best quality care. During Covid, Renée was the regional lead for end of life care and worked with hospices across Sussex and Hospice UK to secure additional funding throughout the pandemic.

Renée lives in Angmering, West Sussex with her husband, two sons and dogs, Robbie and Dennis. She enjoys walking around the village with her dogs, spending time with her family, gardening, and is a huge Harry Potter fan!

Julia is a qualified lawyer and has worked in global finance for over 30 years.  Her current role is as Managing Director and Risk Manager for a global investment bank.

Julia has two sons and lives in Handcross. She enjoys singing in her work choir, gardening and travelling.

Julia is the Chair of Slaugham Parish Council.  She is looking forward to joining the team at St Catherine’s and helping develop the connection between St Catherine’s and the local community.

Gary brings extensive experience of healthcare management across primary, community and hospital services, and in quality regulation. For the past 25 years, he has held board level posts in healthcare organisations in the UK and in Qatar, and has experience of both Executive and Non-Executive Director roles. In the UK, Gary was the first CEO of the Brighton and Hove City Primary Care Trust and then a Director at the Care Quality Commission. He then took up the position of Chief of Planning and Performance at Hamad Medical Corporation, the main provider of hospital services in Qatar. Most recently, he was a Non-Executive Director on the board at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead. Gary currently provides advisory and consultancy services to the Ministry of Health in Qatar and other organisations in the UK. Since 2017, he has been the Chair of the Board of Trustees at the East Grinstead Sports Club, a registered charity. Gary lives in East Grinstead with his wife Teresa and they enjoy travel, walking and spending time with their large family including 10 grandchildren. Some years ago, staff at St Catherine’s provided expert end-of-life advice and support to Gary’s parents and their carers.

Tom has been working in the charity sector for almost 10 years in a variety of leadership roles and working for national charities like Macmillan Cancer Support and Cancer Research UK, where he still works today. His passion for charity is driven by his Dad, Mark Lay, who supported charities when he was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer by raising funds and awareness of early diagnosis. Mark sadly died in August 2017 aged just 46 but in his 5 years of living with cancer, he supported various St Catherine’s Hospice campaigns which inspired Tom to move into the sector.

Greg grew up in Australia and is a qualified chartered accountant. He spent most of his working life in finance, banking and investment management. Greg retired in 2018 from his position as Chief Operating Officer of Christ’s Hospital, an independent charitable school. He also served as a Non-Executive Director of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. Greg lives in Horsham with his wife, and enjoys music, cycling and travel.

Philip was invited to become a Trustee of St Catherine’s in 2020 and became Chair of Trustees in June 2024. Philip is a Chartered Surveyor by profession and since 2016 has been the Europe & Middle East Chief Operating Officer for Savills PLC. Prior to this he had partnership roles in other professional services firms including KPMG and Cushman & Wakefield. Outside his day job Philip also sits as a Magistrate in Crawley and Brighton.

Philip has built up expertise over the past 25 plus years in the leadership and management of complex people-oriented organisations and tries to bring this experience to bear in his role as Chair. As Chair of Trustees, Philip works closely with Giles Tomsett and the Management team and helps represent St Catherine’s in the community and with supporters and donors.

Philip grew up in Horsham and has lived, for the last 20 years, in the northern part of St Catherine’s area, where he his actively engaged in fundraising from local businesses.