Meet the Leadership Team
Meet some of the faces behind Noah’s Ark; our Senior Leadership Team and Board of Trustees.
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Leadership Team
Sophie Andrews OBE
Chief Executive
Sophie has worked in the charity sector for 30 years and has operated in both National Chair and CEO roles. She was awarded an OBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours list. She is a published author and accomplished motivational speaker and her TEDMED talk has been viewed over 1.7m times.
Alison Goodman
Deputy Chief Executive
Appointed to the role of Deputy Chief Executive in 2020, Alison manages the charity’s people and operations, having previously been Noah’s Ark’s Director of Income Generation & Communications. She has worked in the charity sector for over 20 years, managing senior relationships, engaging supporters and organising major events.
Hayley Manley
Director of Care (On maternity leave)
Hayley joined Noah’s Ark in 2012 and has eighteen years’ experience in both paediatric palliative care and the charity sector. Hayley is a Registered Children’s Nurse and leads the Care Team, consisting of both Clinical and Holistic Services. She also acts as Chair of the Children’s Hospice across London (CHaL) Director Group and as a Specialist Advisor to the Care Quality Commission.
Natasha Price
Director of Care (Maternity Cover)
Natasha is a highly experienced healthcare professional with over 25 years in the NHS. A qualified children’s nurse and independent prescriber, she has managed several teams both in hospital and community settings, delivering exceptional care for babies, children and young people. Natasha holds a BSc in Community Children’s Nursing, which complements her expertise in holistic care. She has been a Clinical Nurse Specialist and worked as a nurse advisor to the RCPCH Global Branch, where she assessed and improved health outcomes for children in deprived countries.
Dr Tagore Charles
Medical Director
Dr Tagore Charles qualified at King’s College, London in 1995, and has worked in the NHS for three decades and has been in paediatrics for his whole career. He’s been a General Paediatric Consultant at St Mary’s Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, since 2008. As a general paediatrician in a teaching hospital, he leads a paediatric ward and has an outpatient clinic with a wide variety of conditions. In addition, Tagore was the joint Co-Clinical Lead for the Paediatric End of Life Care for Strategic Clinical Network, NHS England, London from October 2020 to April 2023. He has been a Global Treehouse Advisor since 2024.
Dr Juliet Pearce
Associate Medical Director
Dr Juliet Pearce graduated from St Mary’s Medical school in 1993, completed paediatric training in 2006 and has worked as a Consultant Paediatrician at Barnet Hospital since then. Her specialist interests include neurodisability, paediatric epilepsy and children’s mental health. She has extensive experience in working with tertiary care teams and families in the care of patients with a high level of complexity and life-limiting conditions.
Dr Su Laurent
Associate Medical Director
Dr Su Laurent was a Consultant Paediatrician at Barnet Hospital from 1993 to 2021. She has a keen interest in training and support and is the Director of Medical Education for the Hospital. Su has a special interest in managing children with complex medical problems. She has been involved with the charity Child Bereavement UK since its inception, inspired by their focus on learning from parents. She runs courses on bereavement support across the UK.
Philip Roethenbaugh
Fundraising & Communications Director
Philip joined the charity in 2023. He has twenty-five years' experience as a fundraiser and marketer in the charity sector. He has worked at major national charities such as Asthma UK , Action for Children and Beat in addition to several smaller faith-based charities. For three years, Philip ran a consultancy business, supporting the development and governance of charities in the UK and oversees. His role is to ensure the Hospice raises the funding required to meet our needs and to increase the public’s awareness of our work.
Board of Trustees
We are governed by a Board of Trustees which is made up of nationally reputed paediatricians and sector-leading professionals.
Dr Hilary Cass OBE
Hilary was the Chair of Together for Short Lives and was recently awarded Charity Chair of the Year in the Third Sector Awards. She previously worked as a consultant in Paediatric Disability at Evelina London Children’s Hospital where she established the children’s palliative care service. She also served as President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health between 2012-15, following which she was awarded an OBE for services to child health.
Dr Jane Hawdon
Jane is consultant neonatologist and medical director at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. She is also a qualified coach and facilitator within the NHS. She has been a trustee of the charity Bliss and a member of a number of NICE clinical guideline development groups. Jane is now a governor of Aldenham School.
James Liddy
James is a Managing Director and Head of Gaming, Lodging and Leisure Investment Banking EMEA at Jefferies Group, a multinational independent investment bank and financial services company. James is a seasoned investment banker in the gaming, lodging and leisure sector, with significant prior experience in healthcare services and financial services. Previously, he was a senior banker and Head of Gaming, Lodging and Leisure at Deutsche Bank and Moelis & Company. He qualified as a chartered accountant at PwC in Australia. James is a father of two, and believes passionately in the work undertaken by Noah’s Ark.
James Tugendhat
Chairman
James Tugendhat is Chief Executive Officer of HC-One, the UK’s largest care home provider. James has served on several boards over the years and is currently a Non-Executive Director of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. He also brings an excellent understanding of the challenges and dynamics of the health care industry, having spent over 20 years in leadership roles at Bupa and Health Dialog and now at HC-One.
Jenny Phillips
Jenny has been a trustee of Noah’s Ark since early 2020. Having built her career in leadership roles in creative agencies and now a literary and entertainment agency, Jenny advises the board on Marketing & People. She is passionate about culture, unlocking people’s potential and also a great believer in the power of ideas. When she’s not at work or supporting Noah’s Ark, Jenny loves to spend time with her two kids, enjoying dog walks and entertaining friends.
Michelle Mendelsson
Michelle is an Executive Coach and was, until recently a Director at Credit Suisse and Head of EMEA Diversity and Inclusion, responsible for the strategic development and implementation of their comprehensive diversity programme. Prior to joining Credit Suisse in 2000, Michelle worked for Marks and Spencer in a variety of commercial positions. Michelle chairs our ‘People’ subcommittee.
Paul Pomroy
Paul is CEO of Warner Hotels, the UK’s leading hotel chain just for adults and part of Bourne Leisure which also owns and operates Haven. He joined the company in March to propel its growth strategy and strengthen the brand and guest experience.
Paul has almost 30 years’ experience in the hospitality industry having spent a large proportion of his career at McDonald’s. There he was CEO of McDonald’s UK and also Chief Restaurant Officer & Corporate Senior Vice President, International Operated Markets where he helped to drive the growth and sustained success of the business.
Passionate about people, talent development, and DE&I, Paul sits on our ‘People’ and ‘Marketing & Communications’ subcommittees. As the father of two young boys, the work undertaken by Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice sits very close to his heart.
Richard Amat
Richard is a graduate of the London School of Economics and a Chartered Accountant. He spent 25 years working for a major US investment bank in a variety of senior finance and operational roles. Richard is Noah’s Ark Treasurer and Chair of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee.
Sanjiv Patel
Sanjiv is CEO of Westgate Healthcare. Sanjiv has a long-standing passion and dedication for health care. He has been a Consultant Anaesthetist at the University College London Hospital since 2012. He has a particular interest in finance and innovation and has been helping grow the Westgate Healthcare brand. Most recently he has facilitated diversification of the group portfolio into the hotel sector. Sanjiv sits on our ‘Care & Clinical Governance’ and ‘Finance, Audit, Risk and Governance’ subcommittees.
Sarah Timms
Sarah has managed a wide-range of clinical services over 25 years. From 2003-2008, Sarah was Director of Nursing and Children’s Services for Islington PCT, and from 2008-2011 she was Director of Adult Services for Haringey PCT. From 2011-2020 she was the Non-Executive Nurse Member on the Governing Body of Haringey Clinical Commissioning Group.
Simon Beresford
Simon leads the Fundraising and Marketing Department at the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), delivering major national appeals for some of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. Simon and his team have raised over £800 million pounds in the last five years, setting a new Guinness World Record and winning numerous awards along the way. In both 2022 and 2023 Simon was named one of Marketing Week’s ‘Top 100 most effective marketers in the UK’. He is also an experienced trustee, having served on several children’s charity boards prior to joining Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice.
We are a charity with people at its heart that takes pride in making the unimaginable possible.
