Our Team

We have a team of dedicated trustees and advisors who utilise their experience and strengths to ensure the charity fulfils its objectives, is fully compliant, focused, and impactful.

Michelle Baker

Chief Executive Officer

Michelle met Harry Townsend (founder of the Melanoma Fund) at a local fundraiser in 2013, where he convinced her that working for a charity would be a good idea. Of course, Harry was right, and after a few months, she jumped on board, bringing with her over 30 years’ experience in PR and marketing. She set to work building a new website, logo, branding, and a future strategy for national campaigning.

In 2014 Michelle created the Outdoor Kids Sun Safety Code, inspired by a sunburn received by her son whilst playing tennis. In 2016 she launched the Watch Your Back! campaign, and in 2019, the Slip! Slap! Swing! sun protection campaign for golf.

Most recently Michelle created Sunguarding Sport to create more awareness of the importance of sun protection in sport and outdoor recreation.

Michelle is responsible for the day to day running of the Melanoma Fund, building, and expanding the charity’s four prevention campaigns, organising and attending all the charity’s events, and keeping the trustees in order!

Her passion and drive have helped the charity thrive, developing multiple partnerships, key supporters, and strong links within the community; the type of impact more fitting a larger organisation.

Simon Quarendon

Trustee / Acting Chair

Simon has extensive knowledge of the public relations and marketing communications industry. In his 35-year career he has worked for a number of PR agencies, both large and small. He has also set up and sold three agencies before taking up his current role as a marketing consultant.

Simon met Harry Townsend when he joined the Felbridge Juniors RFC team aged 13 and remained an active member of the club through to its demise including going on several tours. Simon replaced Harry at the helm of the charity in his role of acting chair in 2019, working closely with the CEO to ensure compliancy and diligence.

Married with four sons, Simon lives in Twickenham and maintains his avid interest in rugby as an honorary steward at the Rugby Football Union. He is also a member of the Twickenham Yacht Club and a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.

Mark Dunham Habgood

Advisor

Mark is a management and advertising consultant, with over 30 years of hands-on experience, having owned companies in both New Zealand and Australia. He is a life coach, a business mentor and works with a number of New Zealand based charities. He has been involved with the Townsend family since 1971, and organised Harry Townsend’s legendary 800 km walk, pushing a wheelbarrow from Wellington (NZ) to Cape Reinga.

This effort helped raise awareness and funds for melanoma prevention and at the same time founded Melanoma NZ. After leaving the NZ charity in 2014, both himself and Harry received an honorary trustee awards in recognition of their massive input.

Mark, who has lived in NZ since 1975, now travels extensively spending six months of each year in Europe where he keeps close tabs on the Melanoma Fund, attends the charity’s monthly meetings virtually or in person, and provides support and advice. Mark utilises his vast relevant experience and skills, to ensure the charity achieves its objectives, maximises opportunities and remains compliant.

Samuel Orkar

Advisor

Mr Samuel Orkar is a skin cancer expert, consultant plastic surgeon and member of the Melanoma and Skin Cancer Unit team at Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead.

Sam is on the GMC specialist register for plastic surgery and is a full member of The British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons, BAPRAS and the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, BAAPS.

As medical advisor he supports the charity by providing his expertise on all medical issues, as a media spokesperson and importantly giving his time – when not busy in theatre – by attending the charity’s skin check clinics.

Charlie Whelpton

Trustee/Treasurer

Charlie is a self-confessed ‘businessman’ currently at the helm of several high-profile companies. He has worked in journalism, PR and marketing with a particular interest in technology.

He served as a co-director of a London based consultancy which was later sold to a major UK advertising agency. He holds a BSc and a MPhil in psychology, the latter from Sussex University.

Charlie has been linked with the Townsend family since his early days of playing rugby at Felbridge Juniors, and brings his extensive commercial acumen to the charity in his role as a trustee and treasurer as well as advisor on marketing and business matters.

Rob Williams

Trustee / Local Fundraising Manager

Rob is responsible for leading and developing a world class supply chain organisation, encompassing inventory/warehouse management, order processing, distribution, transportation management as well as returns and consolidation and destruction of clinical trial materials.

As an ex-Felbridge Juniors player, Rob was keen to give back some time to Harry, and agreed to join the board as a trustee, most recently taking on the role of local fundraising manager.

Not only does he have extensive and specific knowledge to bring to the table, but also a willingness to get involved with local events and to assist the CEO in progressing the charity to achieve its full potential.

Kev-Jefcoate

Kev Jefcoate

Trustee

Kev Jefcoate is an RAF veteran as well as an accomplished board director. He brings over 25 years of international sales & marketing experience to the charity, including in-depth knowledge in communication compliance.

An experienced press/keynote speaker and past president of the European Media Manufacturers Association, Kev is familiar working with blue chip companies, such as Mitsubishi Chemical and Hewlett-Packard, as well as a wide and diverse range of SME’s and latterly start-up organisations.

He is passionate about people, with a strong track record in managing, motivating, and developing cross functional teams to produce results. His on-going mission is centred around contribution, and through his relevant industry contacts and personal interests, is keen to develop potential partners and sponsorship opportunities, helping expand the charity’s campaign reach.

Kev is the author of STEAM, a book which explores the processes for marketing that he has been using for the past 20 years, with both blue chip and start-up organisations, leading to many successful campaigns and product launches.

Cheryl Muggeridge

Trustee

Cheryl admits she didn’t know what melanoma was until her mum was diagnosed, and passed away in 2012, at the age of 63, believed to be a result of a bad sunburn at 17.  Before this, Cheryl thought that sun cream was ‘just to stop you getting burnt and peeling’, and had no idea that the UV light could cause skin cancer.

Cheryl met Harry Townsend after seeing a leaflet about melanoma in her local chemist, wanting as much information as she could get following her mother’s diagnosis. It turned out that they knew the same people through his home town of East Grinstead, his many rugby contacts, and Mark Habgood, who helped Harry with his wheelbarrow adventure across N.Z.

Having since had friends diagnosed with melanoma, makes Cheryl all the more determined to ensure that the lack of knowledge she experienced, which is unfortunately not uncommon, is quashed, and is keen to work with the charity to achieve this personal mission.

Cheryl Muggeridge

Daniel Price

TRUSTEE

Daniel kicked off his career in PR and Marketing, leaving the industry in 2010 to Co-Found My 1st Years, which he helped develop into a very successful children’s gifting brand, making it the ‘go to’ for the special milestones a family may encounter in their lives.

In 2022 Daniel launched Alberti, a consultancy helping founders maintain positive momentum towards their goals throughout all stages of their business. Blending insight, strategy and imagination, his aim is to help businesses explore and act on opportunity. The group’s philosophy is that ‘growth is industry agnostic’ and therefore they work in a variety of sectors, helping clients continuously adapt to the changing customer landscape, and maintain positive momentum towards the goals.

Daniel lost his father to melanoma at the age of 13, so is acutely aware how cancer can adversely affect families. As a parent now himself, he is keen to do something positive for a future generation, namely prevention and early detection, both core objects of the charity.

Daniel has joined the Melanoma Fund primarily to provide his experience and business acumen, to help the charity navigate through the next phase of its growth, building its associated campaigns, with value that can scale.

Professor Brian Diffey

Scientific Ambassador

Brian Diffey is Emeritus Professor of Photobiology in Dermatological Sciences, Institute of Cellular Medicine at the University of Newcastle.

During his career in the NHS, he established an internationally respected research programme in skin photobiology, particularly in the measurement of personal sun exposure; its effects in normal and diseased human skin; and ways to minimise excessive exposure, especially using topical sunscreens.

He has advised several bodies on sun exposure and skin health including the World Health Organization, Department of Health, and the Cancer Research UK SunSmart programme.

He invented both the UVA Star Rating for sunscreens in conjunction with Boots in the UK, and the Critical Wavelength adopted by the Food & Drug Administration in the USA as the sole measure of broad-spectrum protection.

Always keen to provide his expert advice, Brian works with the charity to ensure that all published facts and advice is accurate and up to date, writing blogs and media articles to help spread the word on sun protection and the charity’s work.

Dr Elizabeth Blakeway-Manning

Medical Ambassador

Dr Elizabeth Blakeway-Manning (aka Lizzy) is a consultant dermatologist at the Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, with expertise in all aspects of general and paediatric dermatology, skin cancer diagnosis and management and skin surgery.

She undertook her medical degree at Cambridge University and Imperial College, London, thereafter completing postgraduate Foundation and Core Medical training within London. Subsequent to this, she undertook a Clinical and Research Fellowship in Dermatology based at Whipps Cross Hospital, London after which she completed Dermatology specialist training in her home county of Yorkshire. She is an author on numerous peer-reviewed articles and has presented at both national and international levels.

Lizzy is passionate about raising awareness regarding the importance of sun protection and is involved with the Melanoma Fund’s Slip! Slap! Swing! campaign, where she has acted as a spokesperson, endorsing the campaign’s key messages, aimed at educating golfers and greenkeepers. Having a love of sport herself, Lizzy places sun protection and skin cancer awareness in this arena, close to her heart.

Siva Kumar

Medical Ambassador

Mr Siva Kumar Veeramani is a UK-trained consultant plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgeon appointed at Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead and working in their Melanoma & Skin Cancer Unit.

Siva supports the Melanoma Fund by providing his expert advice and knowledge to their prevention campaigns, acts as a media spokesperson on medical issues and provides his time, when not busy, at the charity’s skin check clinics.

Dr Sophie Shotter

Medical Ambassador

Dr Sophie Shotter is a highly experienced, multi-award-winning aesthetic doctor, with over a decade of medical experience and is regularly featured in the media as an expert voice in all things health and aesthetics.

Having qualified from the University of Leeds with an MBChB in Medicine & Surgery, and a BSc (Hons) in Genetics in Relation to Medicine in 2008, she then spent six years working in the NHS, four of which were in anaesthetics and intensive care, before training as an aesthetic doctor and setting up her premium clinic in Kent.

Dr Sophie is registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) and is also on the British College of Aesthetic Medicine (BCAM) board of trustees to help raise standards in medical aesthetics, and improve patient safety and regulations. In addition to her own clinical work, Dr Sophie is involved in training, lecturing, and setting standards for practising doctors within the aesthetics field.

Safety is a passion point of Dr Sophie’s, and she takes a holistic approach to ageing and wellness. Working with the Melanoma Fund is a great way for her to support the charity in its mission to increase awareness around the cause and effects of sun exposure as well as the psychology of sun protection. Acting as both an advisor and an ambassador, Sophie’s enthusiasm, expertise, and public profile are all vital assets to the charity.

James Golden

Trustee

James, AKA The Fitness Pro, is a leading fitness expert with over 20 years of experience in the health, sport and fitness industry. As well as running his own private consultancy, he is the head of fitness for YOLO retreats and a fitness consultant for Bamford Haybarn Spa at Daylesford in the Cotswolds. From working with elite footballers to high flying corporate clients in London, James helps people improve performance and feel better.

As well as an ambassador for a number of health and fitness products and services, James most recently joined our growing team of Sunguard ambassadors, supporting the charity not only as a sounding board for sport, but also for those who have suffered melanoma.

James has experienced two melanoma diagnosis, in 2007 and 2008, one of which required major surgery to remove, and sites his background in elite sport and outdoor training as a major factor in his diagnosis. Today he carries a ‘shark bite’ scar on his leg as stark reminder of how lucky he was to have caught it early, and aware that others are not so lucky, is passionate about creating more awareness.

With his first-hand ‘skin cancer’ experience, sports industry knowledge and professional media know-how, James adds value to our Board, aiming to take the Melanoma Fund’s message deeper into sport, inspiring this generation and the next to make sun protection part of their everyday.