Trustees

Andrew Coppel

Chair of Trustees

Andrew Coppel, a law graduate, started his career as a chartered accountant with PwC in 1973, then joined Morgan Grenfell as an investment banker where he worked in M&A and corporate banking. He moved on to a variety of cross sector board positions with Ratners Group (CFO), Sale Tilney (Chair/CEO), Queens Moat Houses (CEO), Jockey Club Racecourses (CEO) and De Vere Group (Chair/CEO). At De Vere, he led the five year task to build and crystallize value, in the process repaying virtually all of Lloyds Bank’s £1.1bn of debt.

He played a pivotal role at Tourism Ireland, acting as chairman for the cross-border body for seven years from its formation in 2000 under the Good Friday Agreement, and for which he was awarded a CBE. He was also non-exec chair of London Irish, a non-exec director of Crest Nicholson, a member of Lloyds Bank’s advisory board on Ireland and a non-exec director of The Bannatyne Group.

He is currently chairman of Dolphin Capital Investors, an AIM listed developer of real estate in Greece, Cyprus, Croatia and Turkey. Additionally, he is a director of St George’s Hill GC and sits on the House Committee at The Hurlingham Club in Fulham.

He is married with two adult children (corporate M&A lawyer at Allen & Overy and hospital doctor) and enjoys golf, tennis and rugby. His wife is a former banking supervisor at the Bank of England, Asthma UK charity trustee and a fundraiser for Shooting Star Children’s Hospices.

Andrew joined the Board of Trustees in 2019.

Simon Barker

Trustee

Simon Barker trained as a Chemical Engineer at Cambridge University, but for the last 30 years has pursued a career in software. He has founded a successful start-up and run established highly successful software businesses. He currently has a portfolio of roles that span non-exec, trustee and advisory.

Simon’s son, Charlie, was born with a complex undiagnosed metabolic disorder. Charlie and his family were regular users of Shooting Star Children’s Hospices and Charlie passed away peacefully at Christopher’s when he 16 years old. Having experienced the care provided by Shooting Star Children’s Hospices first hand, Simon joined the board  in 2019 to help ensure the charity maintains long-term sustainability and to support the Charity’s Care Database business.

Simon lives with his wife Karen in Herne Hill, south London. He has two grown up step-children. He is a keen cyclist, windsurfer and skier as well as an avid theatre goer.

Jon Craig

Trustee

Jon Craig studied medicine at Manchester University medical school and trained as a GP in the 1990s. He has worked in the military, the NHS and the private sector and has held positions in the UK and internationally. In more recent years he has held senior medical leadership positions.

After a number of years of globe-trotting, latterly as Medical Director for International SOS in China, Jon returned to the UK in 2014. He spent 5 years as Medical Director for Greenbrook Healthcare managing NHS urgent care services across London and the home counties, and then as Chief Medical Officer for Doctor Care Anywhere, a leading digital healthcare company. In April 2021 he re-joined International SOS as Senior Regional Medical Director – Eurasia/Africa.

Jon lives in Twickenham with his partner who is a primary school teacher and has two adult children, one a university student and the other working in film production.

He is passionate about quality of care, and as Chair of our Care Advisory Committee leads the development of Shooting Star Children’s Hospices’ care strategy with the aim of ensuring the highest standards for our children and families.

Jon joined the Board of Trustees in 2017.

Andrew Edge

Trustee

Andrew Edge is a solicitor and a partner at City law firm Taylor Wessing.  Andrew specialises in mergers and acquisitions, particularly in the life sciences and healthcare sectors and notable transactions on which he has advised include the acquisition of the Priory Clinics in 2016.

Andrew grew up in the north-west and studied law at the University of Birmingham.  He has lived and worked as a lawyer in Hong Kong and Frankfurt and he has travelled extensively with his work, with Moscow and Mumbai being the most visited cities.

Andrew lives in Teddington and is married with one teenage son.  He is a keen runner, occasional cyclist and a proud fan of the Welsh rugby team.

Andrew joined the Board of Trustees in 2020.

Mark Garraway

Trustee

Mark Garraway has worked in corporate and financial communications for the majority of his working life. He was a founding partner in 1990 of College Hill, a leading financial public relations firm, and part of the team which grew the business into an international strategic communications consultancy employing over 400 people across 20 offices in 13 countries.  Mark moved to consultancy Hudson Sandler in July 2021.

Over the last three decades, Mark has advised a diverse range of corporates and individuals around the world including many household names and gained extensive experience in strategic consultancy and reputation management.

Mark is married to Sandra and they live in East Sussex.  They also have three grown-up children. Sandra works with Citizens Advice, primarily assisting people with mental health issues in dealing with financial, debt and benefit-related problems. As well as being a big rugby fan (England and Wasps), Mark is also a keen cyclist, rower and bee-keeper.

Mark joined the Board of Trustees in 2020.

Chris Lewin

Chris Lewin, a chartered management account, worked at Diageo PLC for over 26 years in a number of Executive finance roles, including international positions as Finance Director for the joint venture between Diageo and Moet Hennessy in Japan and Finance Director for the North America wine and spirits business units based in California and New York.  His corporate finance roles included being the Finance & Strategy Director for Diageo Business Services which managed the global shared services operations and global IT function, alongside leading the financial management of a global productivity programme in 2017.   Chris has extensive audit & governance experience from his various roles.  Prior to Diageo, Chris worked at Coca-Cola and HJ Heinz.

Chris is currently a Trustee on the Diageo Pension Board and a member of the Investment Committee and Audit Committee.  He is Chair of the Responsible Investment committee which is leading the development and implementation of the ESG agenda for the pension scheme.

Chris lives in Weybridge and is married with three daughters.  He is a keen golfer and enjoys running and swimming.

Chris joined the Board of Trustees in 2022.

Jayne Price

Trustee

Professor Jayne Price is professor of Children’s Nursing at Kingston University and St George’s University London.  She is both an adult and children’s nurse. Having undertaken her general nursing in her native Belfast during the years of the ‘troubles’, Jayne followed her great desire to become a children’s nurse which she did after a programme of study in Leeds. During that programme Jayne developed an interest in children’s oncology nursing and children’s palliative care.

That interest evolved and over the past 20 years she has continuously strove to improve care for children with cancer and palliative care needs through practice, education and research. She has published widely and presented both nationally and internationally within this sphere of practice. Jayne completed a competitively funded PhD in 2010 where she examined the needs of parents living through the loss of a child. She has won awards for teaching, practice and educational development.

Jayne has worked in collaboration with Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice since its inception, whilst working as Children’s Macmillan Nurse and later a Senior Lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast. She became Associate Professor and Professional Lead for Children’s Nursing at Kingston/St George’s University London early 2014 and became involved in the work of Shooting Star Children’s Hospices at that time.

In November 2020 Jayne was appointed to the Board of Directors of Brae Court Freehold Ltd.

Jayne is passionate about safe and effective evidence-based care. She sits on our Care Advisory Committee, the Research Governance Committee and chairs the Quality, Governance and Risk Committee with the ultimate aim of ensuring the highest standards for supported children and families.

Jayne joined the Board of Trustees in 2015.

Catherine van’t Riet

Trustee

Catherine van’t Riet is a Physiotherapist who has worked in healthcare leadership positions in England and in Australia where she lived for 11 years. She now works in South London as a clinical leader in a community health service. She enjoys getting involved in sport, theatre and local events.

Catherine is married to Richard and they have had two daughters. Their youngest daughter Anouk had a brain tumour, she died at the age of five having lived life to the full. It is Anouk’s life, her family’s experience and the support of Shooting Star Children’s Hospices that inspired Catherine to join the board.

Catherine joined the Board of Trustees in 2016.

Swati Suri

Swati Suri is a director at a top 10 pharmaceutical company. After graduating in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University, Swati qualified as a chartered accountant at KPMG.  She worked in audit, tax, consulting and corporate finance before moving to her current company, where she has held roles in finance, pricing, medical and operations.

Swati lives in Fleet with her husband, Dominic, their two daughters and dog.  She enjoys dog walks in the beautiful Hampshire countryside and loves travelling.  In 2018 Swati climbed Kilimanjaro raising money for The Change Foundation.

Swati joined the Board of Trustees in 2022.

Katherine Theobald

Trustee

Katherine Theobald is a Principal Director with Brand Learning, part of Accenture. After graduating in International Management and Modern Languages from the University of Bath, Katherine worked in marketing roles at a number of Consumer Goods companies for 20 years. In 2013, she moved into marketing consultancy and is currently supporting a wide range of organisations and people to build their marketing capabilities.

Katherine was a school chair of governors for many years and a trustee of her local Scout group.  She lives in Richmond with her husband and three teenage daughters. Life is full of sport, activities and exams.  When she’s not watching her daughters row or play netball, she will be joining friends on very long walks. She loves France and the mountains and spends as much time there as possible.

Katherine joined the Board of Trustees in 2020.