Staff

Naomi Atkin

CEO (on maternity leave)

Naomi joined the charity in 2016, after a number of years working in Students’ Unions in Manchester and Birmingham. Having grown up in Shrewsbury, she is enjoying life working back in her home community after 12 years away.

“I am so pleased to have been able to join Lingen Davies at such a time of change and development. The charity has come a long way in the past six years, and it is a privilege to lead the team to launch new projects, develop new ideas and raise ever more funds, knowing this makes such an impact on the lives of people in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, and Mid Wales.”

Emma Backhouse

Interim CEO (maternity cover)

Louise Dawson

Operations Manager

Louise joined the charity in September 2004 as Fundraising Officer, and became the Fundraising Manager in 2012. She is now Operations Manager for Lingen Davies Cancer Fund.

She was previously Custodian of Shrewsbury Castle and trained as a secondary school teacher but her career took her in a different direction!

“I love the local feel to the charity, that local people can see where the money is being spent in their area.”

Helen Knight

Head of Fundraising

Helen has worked within the charity sector for more than 8 years, having spent most of that time at Macmillan Cancer Support, gaining valuable experience within fundraising and working closely with volunteers.

Helen’s motivation to join Lingen Davies Cancer Fund is to enable us to help and support more people affected by cancer in our region, and she is passionate about supporting local charities.

“I am absolutely delighted to join Lingen Davies and I’m excited to be developing their ongoing fundraising. I’m fortunate enough to be have been born and bred in Shropshire and feel privileged to now be bringing my family up in this beautiful county.

We are so fortunate to have the Cancer Centre in Shrewsbury, which is accessible to so many people; it is vital that the charity continues to support and develop these local services.”

Lizzy Ellis

Fundraising Events Lead

Lizzy joined the charity in November 2017 to develop the charity’s events programme; allowing us to more accurately plan our fundraising income. We now have an exciting range of events year on year that Lizzy has put together – with the help of her colleagues.

Recently married, Lizzy is looking forward to extending her passion for travelling – with plans to see the world in the coming years!

Anna Williams

Communications and Marketing Lead

Anna joined us in April 2021 to develop our communication channels, and raise our profile online and in the media. Having spent more than five years working as a reporter and news editor in local news, as well as working with her own clients as a PR consultant for five years, Anna brings an in-depth knowledge of effective communications, social media, and story-telling to the team.

Anna – born and bred in Shropshire – has been involved with the charity for more than 15 years since she used to write the Shrewsbury Chronicle’s Lingen Davies page, and she has also taken part in a number of our events.

“I am so pleased to join the team and help publicise the work of the Lingen Davies Cancer Fund. I used to talk to people going through treatment and fundraising for the charity when I worked on the paper, it feels like a full circle to be back doing that again, and that’s great.

“It is such a vital charity to so many local people. I love being able to shout about our work, publicise our events, and most importantly share the stories of our amazing supporters. I am really excited to be part of this dedicated and driven team.”

If you have a story to share or would like some publicity for an upcoming fundraising event contact Anna on [email protected] or on 01743 492396.

Emilie Kerr

Events Marketing Coordinator

Emilie joined Lingen Davies in September 2022 after spending the past four years working in the property sector. In her role, Emilie works alongside the fundraising team to market our exciting events programme and help us deliver well planned and fun events for everyone.

Emilie is a keen baker and enjoys playing netball in her spare time.

“I am really pleased to be joining the wonderful team at Lingen Davies to help promote their events in order to raise money and awareness for people living with cancer in Shropshire and Mid Wales. In previous years, I have volunteered to help organise and photograph charity events so to be able to work for a local charity as the Events Marketing Coordinator is very exciting.”

Tarrah Lewis

Fundraising and Volunteer Coordinator (on maternity leave)

Tarrah joined the team in November 2021 as Volunteer Coordinator and after proving a natural-born fundraiser has now become our Fundraising and Volunteering Coordinator.

As a qualified counsellor, and with many years experience working in hospitality and care under her belt, Tarrah is a people person and enjoys the fulfilment she gains from working for Lingen Davies, and the positive difference made to others.

“I have personally seen how important the Lingen Davies Cancer Centre is for family and friends in recent years and feel that Lingen Davies’ reputation and standards have remained consistently high even through the last couple of years when it has been very difficult for other charities.”

Tarrah has recently taken on a more ‘out and about’ approach to fundraising and can be found manning market stalls all over the region selling merchandise, raising awareness and generally promoting us throughout our community, as well as meeting our dedicated supporters for cheque presentations and visiting our loyal volunteers.

When she is not at work, Tarrah can usually be found running in the Shropshire hills with her dog Bella whilst training for the London Marathon. She is also in the process of building her own house with her partner Ben which will no doubt keep her out of mischief whilst not at work!

Karen Roberts

Fundraising and Volunteer Coordinator (maternity cover)

Karen is no stranger to Lingen Davies having taken part in a number of fundraising initiatives for us. After retiring from her own driving instructor business teaching people around Oswestry for more than 30 years, taking on maternity cover for Tarrah’s role tempted Karen back into work.

By her own admission Karen says she is ‘slightly mad, very active, and finds it very difficult to do nothing’!

Miranda Ashwell

LiveLife Project Lead

Miranda Ashwell joined the team in 2020 having had a wide-ranging career as a teacher in the UK and Botswana, then as a community development worker and most recently 16 years as a Public Health practitioner in Shropshire, working for both the NHS and the local authority.

Miranda’s public health role focused on prevention: helping people to reduce their risk of developing long term illness or to effectively manage their existing health conditions. This included setting up the ‘Get Active Feel Good’ physical activity project for people living with and beyond cancer in Shropshire, Telford and Mid Wales, which is currently funded by Lingen Davies Cancer Fund, and is how she first became involved with the charity.

As Lingen Davies’ LiveLife Project Lead, Miranda’s role focuses on raising awareness of cancer prevention and early diagnosis.

“I’m really motivated to make a positive difference: my work is to raise awareness of the importance of recognising and reporting early signs and symptoms, because getting an early diagnosis means treatment can be most effective. I’ll also be getting out and about to chat to people of all ages. I’ll also be talking to people about how the risk of developing many cancers can be reduced by simple lifestyle changes. I lost both my parents to cancer, and like many of us have friends and family whose lives are deeply affected by cancer, so the work of Lingen Davies is very close to my heart.”

Helen Davies

Powys Cancer Champions Coordinator

Helen joins the team as the Powys Cancer Champions Coordinator in the LiveLife team. Helen is a registered nurse and prior to joining Lingen Davies worked in a variety of cancer support roles in the statutory and voluntary sector in Powys and Shropshire.

In her spare time she enjoys spending time in the countryside and socialising with family and friends.

“I am pleased to be able to join the Lingen Davies team and raise awareness of cancer signs and symptoms throughout our region. I have a particular interest in cancer and rural health and hope to contribute to making cancer awareness information accessible to as many people as possible in this area.”

Lou Childs

Charity Administrator

Angela Hill

Charity Administrator

Angela has been involved with the charity since undergoing her own cancer diagnosis and treatment. After joining as a volunteer, Angela and her sister Caroline were then asked to head up the Shrewsbury Fundraising Committee – with great success.

Angela has now joined the fundraising team in the admin office to help keep things ticking along.

“I am so proud to be working with the fundraising team, everyone here is like extended family, and Lingen Davies has been a great source of support to me over recent years.”

Karen Cox

Finance Assistant

Karen will be working as our Finance Assistant with the busy operations team, helping to man reception and greet patients and supporters in the office. Karen has recently been working as a clerical and admin officer for the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme Team where she helped patients from the start of their screening journey, providing all admin assistance for their treatment.

“I found my work with Bowel Cancer patients extremely rewarding, and when the vacancy of Finance Assistant came about for Lingen Davies, I knew I wanted to be involved with the charity and be a part of the wonderful work going on. I will be able to build on my skills and continue supporting cancer patients and families directly – along with promoting the initiatives underway to promote cancer awareness.

“Over the years I have donated and been involved in many sponsorship challenges, taking part in fundraisers, I’ve found that very rewarding and enjoy giving back. In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my family, socialising with good friends, walking my dogs, reading and playing netball. I am excited to learn all about the charity and look forward to meeting with the trustees, patients, volunteers, supporters and of course the challenge of a new role, working with new colleagues.”