Our leadership team bios

Tina Turner, CEO

Tina joined Wakefield Hospice in May 2016 having previously worked for The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Trust, where she was a Divisional General Manager.  Prior to this Tina lived and worked on the Isle of Wight for thirty years, and before leaving to marry and return to her home in the north of England, she was privileged to enjoy the Chief Executive role at the Earl Mountbatten Hospice.

Tina is a Social Worker by profession, and has extensive managerial experience of working at Board level in private and public sector organisations, as well as in the Third Sector. 

Tina has a home in Crigglestone and is the mother of five young adult children: she takes an active interest in parish and community work, and is also ‘Mum’ to Olive, a beautiful black Labrador!  

Helen Knowles, Director of Income Generation

Helen has worked at Wakefield Hospice for over 30 years and has a wealth of knowledge in all aspects of fundraising, retail, volunteering and marketing and over the years has been involved in many organisations and committees.  She currently sits on the Legacy Foresight In-Memory Steering Group.
 
Helen is the first to put her name forward for any particularly challenging events and is a firm believer that she wouldn’t ask anyone to do anything she wouldn’t be prepared to do herself.  Over the years she has done a Tandem Skydive, run the New York Marathon, Abseiled, trekked to the Base Camp of Everest, walked across part of the Sahara Desert, cycled through Death Valley in the Nevada Desert and Rajasthan in India. 
 
Helen feels honoured and privileged to be one of the many custodians of Wakefield Hospice and is still overwhelmed by the support from our local community which has allowed us to be able to fulfil our mission of providing expert care and support for local people and families living with life-limiting conditions.
 
Away from the hospice, Helen is very active and enjoys walking and cycling when time permits, and is a member of the Rotary Club of Ossett. She is married to Phil and has two children, Hannah and Michael and two grandchildren, Alex and Phoebe. Helen and Phil enjoy holidays at their home in Spain.
 

Dr Emma Lowe, Medical Director and Consultant in Palliative Medicine

After previously working at the hospice as a junior doctor, Emma joined the team as a Consultant in September 2016 and became Medical Director in August 2020. She completed specialty training in various locations across Yorkshire and has lots of links with other hospices and palliative care teams in the region. As well as this role at the hospice Emma works with the community Specialist Palliative care team, ensuring consistency of care for patients across the locality. She is also the MND lead for Mid Yorkshire, working with the rest of the multidisciplinary team to support patients with MND and increasing their access to palliative care.

One of her other interests is education - both of medical students, junior doctors, and other professionals - and a significant amount of her time is spent delivering education and supporting junior medical staff. Emma lives in Leeds and spends her spare time baking, reading and travelling the world.
 

Janet Millard, Director of Clinical Services

Janet has been a nurse for 27 years, completing her Registered General Nurse Training at Wakefield and Pontefract School of Health Studies.  During her nursing career she has completed a wide range of education courses including an MSC in Health and Social Care Management and Leadership, BSc (Hons) in Palliative Care.

Janet has also worked in a variety of care environments including hospital, community and hospices and for the past 20 years, her career has been in specialist palliative care.  Her first role in this field was at Wakefield Hospice as a Staff Nurse on the in-patient unit.  She then spent 15 years working as a Community Macmillan Clinical Nurse, an End of Life Care Facilitator and then as an Advance Nurse Practitioner, before returning to Wakefield Hospice in 2014 as Senior Nurse Educator.

She is currently the Director for Clinical Services having the responsibility for the legal compliance in all matters relating to controlled drugs. She is also the Registered Manager, ensuring that the hospice complies with all standards set by the Care Quality Commission.
 

Craig Beedle, Director of Finance, Estates and Resources

Craig is a chartered accountant with over 25 years of industry and charity experience in senior finance roles. He trained with Deloitte and went on to be the finance director of a £150m food wholesale business. He joined us in January 2022 after nearly 6 years at his previous role of Head of Finance at a social care charity in Leeds.
 
Away from the hospice Craig is a keen football fan and Leeds United season ticket holder and has been regularly attending matches at Elland Road for over 40 years.