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Oscar's Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity

Meet the team

The oscar's team

Why we do what we do

We are involved because we have a personal connection to the work OSCAR’s delivers. Helping children and their families at every stage.

Many of us knew Oscar, or have experienced something similar in our families.

We are here to bring hope and light in the darkest of times.

This story is about us: Marie, Ian, Sebastian and Oscar
Dedicated and caring

Meet The OSCAR's Team

Sharon Reid - CEO OSCAR's Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity - OSCAR's Charity

Sharon Reid

CEO

One of Marie Hughes's best friends, Sharon has been involved with the Charity since it started in 2014 - helping set it up with Ian and Marie.

"I saw first hand how Oscar and Milo, and also Ian were impacted by brain tumours.
We set the charity up to make sure that families did not have to go through what they went through."

Phil Martinez, OSCAR's Team, Charity Manager

Phil Martinez

Charity Manager

Phil was one of Oscar's teachers at Dunnington Primary School in York.

"Oscar was diagnosed in the same month that my mum died from a brain tumour.
This is one of the reasons why looking after children with brain tumours is so very, very important to me."

My favourite thing is time spent with my wife Lynsey and teenage children Jack and Isabella. I also love coaching and watching football, reading, musicals, laughing and being in the sunshine.

Jessica Shipp - Trust and Foundations Fundraiser OSCAR's Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity

Jessica Shipp

Head of Strategic Fundraising

Jessica's sister-in-law had a brain tumour in her early 20s, and lives with the after effects today.

"I was really captured by Phil's passion and motivation - and also of course, the story behind OSCAR's Charity, Oscar himself and his family."

Home is on the edge of beautiful Dartmoor, where I live with my family. When I'm not working, I love being outdoors - running, yoga, swimming in our local river, and cheering on our children’s football matches!

Rachel James - Family Relations Manager OSCAR's Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity

Rachel James

Family Support Officer

I live on the edge of the fabulous North York Moors and when not working I love walking in the countryside around our home with Graham, my husband. We have 4 grown up children and have recently become grandparents for the first time. Life is about to get very busy but I absolutely love it.

"This opportunity came up to work directly with families. Which I love."

Amy Owen

Fundraising Officer

Katie Hurrell

Finance Officer

Photographs courtesy of our good friend Andy at Feel Not See Photography. Check out more of his photos here.

fns logo colour

Want to volunteer or join the team?

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People with big hearts

Supported by our Trustees

oscars marie hughes
Marie Hughes
Chair of the board of trustees
oscars alice beckwith
Alice Beckwith
Trustee
oscars lisa dawson
Lisa Dawson
Trustee
oscars ryan mathew
Ryan Mathew
Clinical Trustee
oscars mathew taylor
Matthew Taylor
Trustee
meet the oscar's team
Sam Marino
Trustee
Holly Dixon mum of George and Trustee of OSCARs
Holly Dixon
Trustee
Meet our Patron
See all Stories

Ongoing Support, Care, Awareness And Research

At OSCAR’s Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity, our mission involves supporting children and families affected by childhood brain tumours at every point on their journey.

Support & Care: We tailor the help we give to families dependent on their needs providing mental, physical, emotional and financial support

Awareness: We work with different groups to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of this dreadful disease to try and achieve earlier and faster diagnosis.

Research: We look to fund new and innovative research projects that can help at different points along the paediatric brain tumour pathway.

Through our combined approach of support, awareness, and research, we’re making strides towards a brighter future. You can work together with us to create a world where paediatric brain tumours are better understood and children receive the care they truly deserve.

Rachel James

Community Fundraising Assistant
Rachel will join our team on September 1st and will be doing a wide range of tasks including promoting the charity in the local community, developing relationships with different people and organisations, and finding new fundraising opportunities. She comes from a caring background having been a teaching assistant and emotional literacy support assistant in York for many years, and previously leading a community care team. She has also done many years of work in the voluntary sector.

Matthew Taylor

Trustee

Matthew Taylor is Director of the York Health Economics Consortium at the University of York. He has been a supporter of OSCAR’s since its inception and, through his twenty years of research into the measurement of health-related quality of life, Matthew is keenly aware of the huge benefits that new treatments can bring to people living with brain tumours.

Matthew is actively involved in national-level healthcare decision making, having had former roles as the Scientific Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)’s Economic and Methodological Unit and as a committee member for NICE’s Public Health Advisory Group. He has over fifty peer-reviewed scientific publications, including a chapter in the textbook ‘The Business, Policy and Economics of Neurosurgery’.

Ryan Mathew

Clinical Trustee

Ryan Mathew is an Associate Professor at the University of Leeds and an Honorary Consultant Neurosurgeon at Leeds Teaching Hospitals.

The Hughes Family story had a big impact on Ryan. He first learnt of the charity when he became surgeon to Oscar’s dad, Ian. After a successful surgery, he continued to show great care and concern for the family when Ian became ill again and when Milo, Oscar’s brother, was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Ryan is driven to make life outcomes better for brain tumour patients and their families. His extensive work in both research and surgery is testament to that commitment.

His clinical practice covers the full spectrum of general neurosurgery with a subspecialty in brain tumours. His research focuses on advanced brain tumour models, residual therapy-resistant glioma cell populations, local therapeutic treatments and surgical technologies and devices. He peer-reviews for several journals and grant award committees and has published numerous papers.

More information on Ryan’s work

Lisa Dawson

Trustee

Lisa has been a friend of the Hughes family since 2016 and was honoured to be asked in 2022 to represent OSCAR’s PBTC as Social & Digital Trustee.  Both Lisa and her family have taken part in numerous fundraising events and are dedicated to raising awareness of paediatric brain tumours.  Lisa is a social media content creator, blogger and writer and lives in York with her husband Joe and three children, Ella, Max and Leo.

Alice Beckwith

Trustee

Alice has been involved with OSCAR’s PBTC since 2020. She passionately supports the aims of the charity and believes that if the charity can change one life for the better, then it is a success. Working in the public sector for 18 years, Alice has helped transform Adult and Children’s Social Care Services by ensuring heavy investment in preventative services. This is why the impact OSCAR’s work will have on families is at the forefront of Alice’s motivation to be involved.

As partnerships trustee, Alice is keen to involve businesses, trusts and individuals in the work OSCAR’s does and show them the role they can have in providing the base for the charity to continue to expand its projects to help children with brain tumours.

Sarah Jane Gray

Trustee/Secretary

Sarah has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and surgical sales sector and is very familiar with the importance of medical advancements for better patient outcomes. She believes research is essential for improving diagnosis, treatment and prognosis for all children with brain tumours and hopes OSCAR’s PBTC can offer much needed funding to help push the boundaries in finding better ways of curing this devastating disease. Sarah’s focus as a treasurer will ensure record-keeping and accounts meet the conditions of the statutory bodies and compliance with regulatory organisations.

Holly Dixon

Trustee

Holly is mother to George, diagnosed with an ATRT brain tumour in 2022, and works as a primary school teacher. She believes that action to support others -however small- can make a massive difference.


She brings real-life experience of what it is like for a parent navigating everyday life, the NHS, the education system, questions from people and a lively young child with different needs.

meet the oscar's team

Sam Marino

Trustee
Sam was Headteacher at a school where Alfie Hutchinson died from an ependymoma brain tumour, at the age of 10. After becoming close with Alfie’s family Sam found OSCAR’s and reached out to the charity to help support the family, staff, children and local community. 
 
Sam understands the immediate and long term effects on a community when losing a child to a brain tumour. 
 
‘After seeing first hand the amazing work that OSCAR’s do, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to be part of the team. I’d like to help raise awareness in educational settings, for teachers and for parents – to empower them to seek early detection/diagnosis. Phil once said to me, ‘You never expect to become part of the brain tumour community, then all of a sudden you are.’ What an inspiring and powerful community it is.”

Marie Hughes

ChAIR OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Marie founded the charity with her husband Ian, who passed away in 2020. She is the mother of four boys. Two of Marie’s sons have died from different types of brain tumours – Oscar who was 9 and Milo who was 5 years old. She is determined to help find better treatments for brain tumours so other children won’t have to go through what her own sons and her family have.

Marie is Chair of the Board of Trustees, working closely withe the team on strategy and vision. Marie lives in Copenhagen with her two other sons, Sebastian and Lucas, and works as a Risk Manager on the Danish railway.