Meet The Team
Meet The Team behind the Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven charity.
We are a small but perfectly formed team made up of four part time staff, one full time staff and supported by our wonderful Trustees. You can find more information about each of us below.
Lexi Craigie - Charity Director
Lexi graduated with a BSC (Hons) in Psychology and has a background in Learning & Development and Project Management. With a passion for helping others, she spent a number of years working for a London based L&D company which focused on using psychology based techniques and the importance of a positive mindset. In early 2014 she relocated back to Worcester with her husband and after working remotely for 2 years jumped at the opportunity to join the Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven at the end of May 2016, raising money for an incredibly important cause and one close to many people’s hearts.
Jacquie Clements - Patient Support Manager
Jacquie was a full-time teacher, specialising in French & English. After her BC treatment she returned to part-time work. She has been involved in the breast unit campaign from the start, featuring as Miss August in the calendar that launched the fund-raising, a wide range of fund-raising activities & has worked as a volunteer in the charity office since 2009. She is passionate about the Worcestershire Breast Unit and loves her role as lead on our Support Services. A big bonus is getting to meet so many lovely people!
Clare Stokes - Charity Administrator
I have lived in Worcester since 2005 when we moved here from Birmingham for my husband’s job. I live with my husband and our 3 children aged 21, 16 & 12.
Since moving to Worcester I have worked in the NHS’s Mental Health Trust, also I worked for The English Federation of Disability Sports at Worcester University until their Regional office was closed and for almost 10 years I worked as Charity Administrator at The Friends of Worcester Cathedral.
Once Covid started in March 2020 I moved to work for The Office of National Statistics on the Government’s Covid 19 Infection Survey, a job I took on for 3 months full time and ended up doing for almost the last 20 months !!
I was absolutely delighted to be offered the position of Charity Administrator at The Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven, and am looking forward to being part of the all of the challenges ahead and working with the wonderful very committed team here.
Caroline Leah - Marketing Manager & Corporate Fundraising
Caroline manages and implements the public relations and social media for the charity. She works hard posting on all our social media platforms every week, creating content that is informative, interesting, fun and valuable. (If you haven’t liked our Facebook, Instagram or Twitter head over there now!)
In addition Caroline develops our news into stories for the local press to help raise our profile and awareness of what we do, so if you hear us on the radio or read about us in a newspaper or magazine, chances are it’s Caroline’s handy work behind the scenes.
She also develops links with local businesses and different areas of the community to encourage them to support our charity.
Corinna Parsons - Support Services Executive
Corinna has been a long-term passionate supporter of the charity, following her own treatment at the unit in 2016. Having fundraised and supported through volunteering, she is absolutely thrilled to now be a full-time member of this ‘small but mighty’ charity team.
Corinna’s earlier career took her from ITV to The Walt Disney Company before relocating to Worcestershire to get married! Moving into not-for-profit, she worked for key local businesses before joining her husband in their family construction firm. She now feels incredibly privileged to work for the charity, to be able to give back, and to use her experiences to be able to help others going through treatment. She has also previously volunteered for Breast Cancer Now, supporting them in their corporate partnership with M&S as a member of the Post-Surgery panel. With a teen and tween at home, she’s a busy lady!
Fiona Charny - Charity Chair & Trustee
Fiona trained as a nurse midwife and health visitor, and worked as an NHS manager for many years. She now runs a medical consultancy business with her husband Mark.
Fiona is chairman of the Worcestershire bench and sits regularly on both the adult and family panels. She is also a Trustee of YSS – a charity closely linked with offenders and WHCT.
Fiona has been involved with the Breast unit campaign since the start in 2007 and has been chair of WBUH since its inception.
She has four children which still keep her busy! She enjoys Pilates, gardening and spending time in France.
Steven Thrush - Trustee
Steven is a breast surgeon who had the idea of building a breast unit for Worcester and incorporating the Breast Cancer Haven into the service. The unit is seen as exemplary and the reason he stays involved is because he wants to keep it moving forward with its development and support for women with breast cancer in our county.
Dawn Oliver - Trustee
Dawn is a solicitor and heads the private client department of three counties firm Harrison Clark Rickerbys. She has considerable experience of acting as a trustee of both local charities and those of the clients she acts for. She is passionate about the Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven and its integrated approach to caring for men and women suffering from breast disease in Worcestershire.
Whilst no marathon runner herself she supports and admires those who work tirelessly to raise funds for the unit and without whom there would not be such fantastic facilities on our doorstep.
Susan Malin - Trustee
Susan is a chartered accountant and tax adviser who runs her own practice in Worcester. Previously, she worked for a number of years at KPMG and PwC.
Susan is delighted to support the work of WBUH, particularly given its link to Worcestershire, which she has always considered to be a wonderful county since moving here in 2007.
Lorraine Preece MCMI - Trustee
Lorraine has lived in Worcestershire her whole life and after a varied 20 year career in Banking, Lorraine took voluntary redundancy in 2000 and started working for the voluntary sector where she held a number of strategic roles. Lorraine’s final role was as Chief Executive Officer of a charity from 2014 until semi-retirement in 2019 when she joined the board of WBUH. Lorraine says “I am proud to be a trustee for WBUH , the additional support (practical and emotional) they are able to offer to all Worcestershire breast cancer patients through fundraising is outstanding, as is the close working relationship the WBUH team have with the NHS staff based at the Worcestershire Breast Unit”
Alexandra Winnington - Trustee
Alexandra worked as a Parliamentary Constituency Case-worker, and has a long-standing experience and passion for the decorative arts and jewellery industry. Alexandra has a huge empathy for many women who have suffered from breast cancer.
She was so impressed by the Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven, and fund-raising operations for the Unit, and was very pleased to be more involved as Trustee.
Alexandra tries to view the service from the patient’s perspective.