Staff

Jodi Whitehouse

Founder & CEO

Jodi founded Caring Matters Now with the support of her family and friends in 1997, after being asked by Dr Atherton to support others affected by CMN at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Jodi has CMN herself and therefore understands the impact living with CMN can have on an individual.

Caring Matters Now has grown from strength to strength over the years and Jodi sees it as a real blessing and privilege to be a part of the charity. Jodi has met some amazing people who are involved in the Caring Matters Now charity and she says it is with thanks to her family, friends, CMN trustees, CMN support contacts and Great Ormond Street Hospital that the charity is where it is today.

Over the years Jodi has developed the charity and in 2012 she became the CEO of Caring Matters Now. As CEO Jodi is committed to overseeing the management of the charity, strategically developing the charity, seeking new opportunities to raise funds for CMN research and developing Caring Matters Now support internationally.

Hannah Cree

Head of Support

Hannah first came into contact with Caring Matters Now in 2014 whenever her son was born with scalp CMN and her family received support from the charity. She describes the early days of learning to adapt to life with a child who has CMN as anxiety-provoking and uncertain. Having received support from the charity, she wanted to give back and to assist the charity in providing support for other families affected by the condition. Therefore, Hannah and her family have taken part in many fundraising events over the past number of years and Hannah also became a Regional Contact in Northern Ireland.

Hannah’s further education and work experience outside of the charity to date has been characterised by a desire to understand and support other people. Having previously worked for NSPCC, as a respite carer for a child with physical disabilities and within Youth work. Hannah graduated from Queen’s University Belfast with a 2.1 Honors degree in Psychology in 2010, followed by a 2.1 Bachelor of Social Work in 2012.

Hannah is excited to have taken on the role of Support Pathway Practitioner, and looks forward to working alongside the volunteers and professionals involved in the charity to further develop our Support Strategy and to ensure that families affected by CMN receive the appropriate level of support.

Lisa Sly

Head of Finance

Lisa is based in Cambridge with her husband and three children. She first became involved in Caring Matters Now through fundraising efforts for the charity.

Lisa has qualifications in accounts, bookkeeping and payroll, and is passionate to use her extensive skills, experience and qualifications to enhance the work of Caring Matters Now. In 2018 Lisa became an employed member of staff as the Finance Officer. Lisa oversees the charity finances, enabling Caring Matters Now to better support those affected by CMN and fund the pioneering research.

Rachel Swanson

Communications & Engagement Coordinator

Rachel joined our staff team as the Fundraising and Communications Coordinator in August 2021. In 2012 Rachel graduated from university with a 2.1 Honours degree in Social Care, where she realised her passion for fundraising during a placement working with dementia sufferers. Since graduating, Rachel has worked for various charities in a variety of fundraising roles. Her experience has mostly included working alongside supporters, organising fundraising events, developing communications with the public and raising awareness of the cause. Rachel has a real passion for making a difference to those who need it and is excited to be working alongside the Board of Trustees, staff team and volunteers to further enable Caring Matters Now to support families affected by CMN.

Carolyn Lewis

Support Coordinator

Carolyn is based in Bedfordshire and joined our staff team in February 2023 as our Charity Administrator. Carolyn has extensive experience in administration and events organisation and holds business administration and project management qualifications.

With her previous experience working for charities, and recently attained mental health awareness qualifications, Carolyn is passionate about helping people, and brings her fantastic organisational skills to her role at Caring Matters Now to support families affected by CMN. Carolyn will be overseeing our administration function, looking after our events and event bookings, new member registrations, merchandise orders, and assisting our Board of Trustees, staff team and volunteers, so if you have any queries, please get in touch.