Dr Sue Hartup RGN, PhD is a consultant nurse in breast research at St James’s University Hospital, Leeds.

Sue was one of our Cancer SMART Champions and is passionate about improving cancer outcomes within Yorkshire (and wider).  She joined the bord of trustees to help guide the direction of the charity.  She wants to help ensure our stability and longevity, and be directly involved in deciding our goals and aims.  She has a keen interest in fundraising, having extensive experience of this as a fundraiser organiser, secretary, charity promoter and trustee for a cadet force charity, and is a great addition to our board.  More recently, Sue has become our chair, following the retirement of Dr Stewart Manning.

Stephen Halstead is a prostate cancer advocate, trustee and treasurer of Yorkshire Cancer Community. Following his own diagnosis, he became committed to ensuring that the voices and experiences of people affected by cancer help shape services, support and decision-making.

Drawing on his lived experience, Stephen works with healthcare organisations, charities and community groups across West Yorkshire to champion lived experience leadership and co-production. He is passionate about ensuring that people affected by cancer are not simply consulted, but are active partners in shaping services, improving access and reducing inequalities. Through his advocacy, he promotes the value of lived experience in influencing policy, service design and decision-making, helping to create cancer services that better meet the needs of patients, families and communities.

Bev Freeman, based in Leeds, has been volunteering as a Cancer Champion for some time and officially became a trustee in February 2025.

Bev feels passionately about raising awareness of cancer and tackling inequalities, especially in communities like hers where cancer is often diagnosed at a later stage.  She encourages everyone to attend their screening appointments when invited.

We welcome Bev to the board.

Julie from Calderdale, works for Pennine Breast Screening Services, so often wears two hats when she attends events, promoting both her own service and Cancer SMART. She is passionate about ensuring that everyone regularly checks their breast and chests and are aware of what is normal for them.

Julie joined our board at our AGM in July 2026.  Welcome onboard Julie.

Manager

Sarah Mitchell joined our team in March 2026.

She has over 20 years of experience working in the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector, having worked for a major Trade Union, on a Macmillan-funded contract and, most recently, for a local advice charity.

She is passionate about ensuring that the incredibly diverse communities we have here in Yorkshire feel heard and that services are accessible to all.

For leisure, she enjoys teaching fitness classes, attending live music events and exploring the great outdoors.

Sarah said, “I love seeing the positive difference that volunteers make to their communities and feel honoured to be working once more in cancer support. I cannot wait to meet many more of our wonderful volunteers and other stakeholders in the coming weeks.”

Project Lead

Jess joined YCC in October 2025.  She was initially employed to cover Lauren’s role whilst on maternity leave, but this has now expanded to cover other aspects of YCC work as well.

After working across the arts, heritage, and healthcare innovation sectors, Jess has joined the Yorkshire Cancer Community team part-time to support the Patient VIEW programme while Lauren is on maternity leave. She is looking forward to the opportunity to connect with people, hear their experiences, and help ensure patient voices are at the heart of cancer service improvement.

Jess has always been passionate about inclusive, person-centred care and has worked on projects ranging from NHS webinars and research coordination to museum education and community arts. She’s excited to be part of such a meaningful organisation and to contribute to work that makes a real difference.

Outside of work, Jess loves making art, learning the violin, and working on her old house.

Finance & Administration Officer

After several years of working in finance and accounts, Clare Lockwood joined the Yorkshire Cancer Community team as their finance and administration officer. She has really enjoyed learning new skills, such as in marketing and website design, and finds the role really interesting and varied. Most importantly she enjoys getting involved in such a worthwhile cause.

Like many families, Clare’s has been directly affected by cancer several times, so it is great to have the opportunity to be able to get involved in helping cancer patients to get the support and information they need at such a challenging time.

Outside of work, Clare enjoys spending time with her family, walking her dogs, growing her own fruit and veg and looking after her chickens on her allotment, helping run a litter picking group and helping at a local animal sanctuary by doing weekend maintenance, helping at events, and running their online shop.  More recently Clare has been learning to speak Welsh.