Leanne is the Founder of Aching Arms. In June 2010, a year after her son James died, she set out to support the mental health and emotional well-being of parents who experience the loss of their much-loved baby. When the charity gained its registration with the Charity Commission in 2013 the trustees appointed Leanne as part time Charity Coordinator.
In January 2019 she was appointed full time CEO. Leanne’s role is to provide effective leadership and management of the charity’s strategic and operational aims. James remains at the heart of all the work she does for Aching Arms. Prior to founding Aching Arms, Leanne was an Education Consultant for an Inner London Education Authority for 8 years and teacher of secondary English, Drama and History for 11 years.
Lindsay became a volunteer for Aching Arms in 2015, shortly after the death of her second son, Henry. She is now the charity’s Bereavement Care Manager and in that role manages the Supporting Arms service. This includes arranging for comfort bears to reach families who request them, developing and leading training for health care professionals and offering advice and support to anyone working with bereaved parents. Lindsay manages the volunteer postal team and the Supporting Arms team and also provides support directly to bereaved families who contact the charity. Lindsay is a healthcare professional, having worked as a Speech and Language Therapist for 18 years. Two years ago she began working as a Bereavement Midwife Care Assistant alongside the Specialist Bereavement Midwife, at a local hospital. In that role she met and supported families and their special babies in the hospital and continued to support them in the community and during subsequent pregnancies. Lindsay now works full time for Aching Arms.
Roberta became a volunteer for Aching Arms in 2014 after receiving great comfort from the bear she received from Aching Arms in the post, after her first pregnancy loss. Roberta started her volunteer role by preparing bears for two London hospitals and then went on to assist the charity’s social media and fundraising teams in 2019. Roberta is a graduate of Nursing & Social Work and had a previous career as a Children’s Social Worker. Before working for Aching Arms, Roberta ran her own business providing Business Support and Social Media Marketing, and worked with Aching Arms as a freelancer in 2020 managing the charity's social media platforms. Roberta brings all of her skills, experience and knowledge to her role of Digital Marketing Manager.
Laura was appointed as part time Operations Manager for Aching Arms in July 2018. She oversees the day to day running of the charity, provides assistance to the Chair, Trustees and CEO and manages our team of 150+ volunteers. She also organises the provision of bears to families and hospitals and supports an ever-increasing number of hospitals, hospices, befriending groups and funeral directors who wish to offer Aching Arms bears to parents. Each month, Laura ensures that all the precious babies names, for whom bears have been dedicated in memory of, are added to our Dedication List.
Before working for Aching Arms, Laura worked for an investment bank in the City of London and has a Degree in Business Management. She is very proud to work for such an amazing charity and loves being able to offer a little comfort to families who need it.
Karen was proud to join Aching Arms in February 2019 having followed and supported the charity since it was founded.
Karen is our part-time Fundraising Manager and her role is to support our community of wonderfully loyal supporters with their creative, fun, and often emotive fundraising events and sporting challenges in memory of babies special to them. She manages our annual fundraising campaigns - Forget Me Not Tea Party, Miles in Memory, and the Christmas Campaigns. Her vision is to help Aching Arms to develop and grow whilst retaining our small charity passion and values.
Karen is a graduate in accountancy and finance and a qualified accountant (FCCA). Prior to joining Aching Arms, she had a 20-year career in finance. She has worked for the British Red Cross and the Terrence Higgins Trust as well as finance roles in higher education and primary education.
Claire joined Aching Arms part time in 2023 as project lead for the Be Together programme. Following the loss of two babies in pregnancy, Claire has developed a passion to support parents and their families following baby loss.
Her role within the Be Together programme is to organise events for bereaved parents and families to attend to find comfort, friendship and support whilst creating new memories together.
Claire has a Master’s degree in physiotherapy and worked as a senior physiotherapist in the NHS for 15 years prior to joining Aching Arms. She is proud to be working for Aching Arms in this new chapter of her life.
After following Aching Arms on social media, Kate was honoured to join the charity in 2021 as a freelance social media manager. Having lost a baby during her first pregnancy, Kate feels grateful for the opportunity to support other parents and families who have experienced pregnancy and baby loss and is thankful for her own comfort bear and to the family who dedicated the bear in their baby’s memory.
Before joining Aching Arms Kate previously ran her own business as a freelance social media manager and virtual assistant and had experience and a love of fundraising so assisted our fundraising team before joining our digital team. Kate is now employed as our digital marketing officer and works alongside our digital marketing manager overseeing our social media channels. Kate also enjoys volunteering as a member of our Aching Arms cheer squad.
In 2008 Kate achieved a BA Hons In children’s social work and child development and worked as a children's safeguarding social worker and later as a supervising social worker, supporting foster carers in West Sussex. Kate feels extremely proud to be working with such an incredible charity.
Ilana has supported Aching Arms since September 2018 after losing her first baby Joel. As a result of receiving an Aching Arms bear, Ilana became passionate about the charity and its values. With her husband Adam, she volunteers for the charity in order to support and help other bereaved parents and families. The two worked together on a training video for health professionals, raised money with their families for Aching Arms, and most recently spoke about their involvement with Aching Arms on Global's Make Some Noise Day. Ilana joined Aching Arms in January 2023 as our Community and Events Fundraising Officer, providing support to our fundraisers. Ilana brings to her role many years of experience fundraising locally and nationally for causes close to her heart. She has a BA Hons Degree in Musical Theatre and prior to joining Aching Arms, worked as an SEN Learning Support Assistant and was actively involved in the fundraising sector. Since Joel's death, Ilana has held fundraising events for her local hospital's maternity charity, raising funds for maternity bereavement care. Ilana is honoured and proud to be a part of the Aching Arms team in her role as the Community Fundraising and Events Officer.
Sharon was a founding trustee of Aching Arms. She was one of the first bereaved mothers who volunteered to get the charity started in 2010. After the loss of her daughter Lily, Sharon welcomed the opportunity to reach out to help other families devastated by the loss of their baby. She worked with Leanne to establish the fundamentals of the charity, the style of bears, the ribbon colour and carefully chosen key messages that would go with each bear.
Sharon has fundraised in her local community and became the volunteer Merchandise Manager in 2013. In this role, she has established an excellent range of charity merchandise, available for purchase and for promotional use. In August 2020 we were delighted to appoint Sharon as part time Charity Merchandiser where she continues to run our charity shop. Sharon is an experienced Primary School Teacher working in the West Midlands and is very happy that Lily’s memory lives on through her work for Aching Arms.
Danielle was honoured to Join Aching Arms in February 2022 after the loss of her baby during pregnancy. Receiving an Aching Arms bear gave her great comfort and she wanted to be able to help bring that comfort to other parents and families who have experienced the loss of a baby.
Danielle works for Aching Arms part time, to help assist with the day to day running of the charity. She ensures the volunteers have everything they need to get bears into hospitals in order to provide comfort to families in need. Danielle’s work background involves a variety of different administration positions, from being a front office manager in a hotel to working in education as an administration officer.
Erica Stewart is a bereaved parent and mummy to Baby Shane who died following major heart surgery at 8 weeks old in 1983. She has three living adult children; Baby Shane was her third child.
Erica has 25 years’ experience working with bereaved parents and families at Sands (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity). She started working as a volunteer on the Sands helpline in the mid ‘90s and after two years she became employed at Sands and worked her way up to Bereavement Support and Awareness Specialist working across all Sands teams. During Erica’s time at Sands, she co-facilitated the South East London Sands Support Group.
Erica trained at CBUK in Advanced Facilitation Skills and is a qualified counsellor and has her own private practice. She brings her knowledge, skills and experience to Aching Arms in her role in the Care Team.
Ellie joined Aching Arms at the end of 2023 as part of the Supporting Arms Team providing support directly to bereaved families who contact the charity. She is also involved in supporting health care professionals and anyone working with bereaved parents. Ellie is the mum of identical twins Charlie and Freddie, who died after being born prematurely in 2011. It was this experience that led her to change careers, from a Research Scientist, to become a Maternity Support Worker for the NHS, caring for families during their pregnancies, birth and postnatal period. She currently works part-time as a Specialist Bereavement Support Worker alongside the Bereavement Midwives in her local hospital using her passion for bereavement care to support other families experiencing baby loss.
Tom came to know Aching Arms following the death of his son Joshua in 2018. A year later, Tom began fundraising for Aching Arms. He completed many challenges including running marathons and cycling 200 miles in memory of Joshua.
In 2022, Tom started volunteering for Aching Arms by joining the Men’s Working Group. The group shared their experiences and helped us plan a support service specifically for bereaved Dads. Following this, Tom took on two important roles for Aching Arms. Not only did he volunteer to help facilitate the monthly Dads group, and in the latter part of 2023 take over the organisation and running of this, he is also the author of our book, "You are a Dad…you always will be" which will be gifted, by health professionals, to bereaved dads across the UK alongside the gift of an Aching Arms bear.
Tom is very excited to be part of the Aching Arms Support team and will focus on providing support for bereaved dads via the monthly group and through one to one support.
Helen has been appointed as Business Partnership Lead for Aching Arms. Her role is to work collaboratively with our CEO and Community & Events Fundraising Manager to optimise fundraising potential. Helen will build meaningful relationships with new and existing Business Partners who share our commitment to supporting grieving families. Helen has worked in corporate sales and relationship management for over 25 years and in the last 4 years has been a Life Coach supporting those who find themselves involuntarily childless. Her corporate background together with her empathetic coaching skills will facilitate her transition into the role of Business Partnership Lead for Aching Arms.
Sundeep was elected as Chairperson of Aching Arms in September 2018. She has been an advocate of raising awareness of stillbirth and baby loss after her own experience of giving birth to her stillborn baby boy in September 2014. She works across her corporate network in improving corporate policies and practices towards pregnancy loss.
As the Chairperson for Aching Arms, she is responsible for ensuring that the board of trustees fulfill their responsibilities for the governance and the strategic direction of Aching Arms.
Professional life: Sundeep is a seasoned business executive having worked in many global organisations in senior leadership roles. She has lived in many parts of the world – India, New York and London and has worked in large financial services organisations. She has extensive experience in building strategic partnerships with large and mid-sized organisations and government bodies. She has relationships with members of the media and press. She is also an active contributor to various publications on topics that are close to her heart. Her contribution to the Huffington Post on baby loss has been widely read and circulated.
Melissa joined Aching Arms as a volunteer in 2013, following the death of her first-born Madison Veda. Melissa is the hospital coordinator for four of her local hospitals in North West England, supporting both the Delivery and Early Pregnancy wards. She has spoken at various events, including bereavement study days, on behalf of the charity and she speaks passionately about Madison and how Aching Arms has helped both her and her husband cope with their loss. Melissa is a trained Ambassador for Aching Arms and a keen fundraiser who was elected a Trustee in February 2018.
Melissa is currently a teaching assistant in early years and a part time domiciliary carer for a private care company. Melissa has worked as a customer relations and complaints resolution manager prior to this. Melissa is also mum to her four rainbows.
Donna started volunteering for Aching Arms after losing her daughter Violet in 2013. Initially focused on preparing bears for her local hospital in Southampton, she soon branched out to become an ambassador, delivering training in hospitals across the south coast. Donna has utilised her skills over the years to support Aching Arms in creating strategy and delivery plans to support the growth of the charity. More recently Donna has been helping to grow the corporate exposure, managing the LinkedIn pages and supporting the design and delivery of the workplace training
Donna has worked for a global insurance company for 15 years, focusing on management of change and transformation activity. Outside work, she has two children and enjoys live music and theatre. Donna became a Trustee for Aching Arms in January 2022 and is looking forwards to bringing her passion for better workplace support for baby loss and change management skills to support the charity.
Andrew Morris is a seasoned business leader with extensive experience in strategy, operations, and digital marketing. Currently serving as Head of IT and Marketing at IRM UK, Andrew leads on strategy, product development, and marketing for a portfolio of high-profile conferences. With a background spanning event management, business development, and charity sector programmes, he brings a broad skillset and a proven track record of driving operational excellence.
In addition to his professional expertise, Andrew has a deep personal commitment to the mission of Aching Arms, having experienced baby loss in 2021. This personal connection fuels his passion for providing support to bereaved parents and advocating for their needs. As a Certified Digital Marketer with the Digital Marketing Institute, Andrew leverages his expertise to enhance brand visibility and engagement, helping organisations to grow and deliver impact.
Marie became a postal volunteer for Aching Arms after the death of her second child, Matilda, in 2022. Marie and her husband were given an Aching Arms bear as they left the hospital without their daughter. The bear became an important fixture in the family's life, with Matilda's big brother often falling asleep holding it. She has found the role as a volunteer rewarding and loves to take time and care preparing the bears and reading each baby's name. Marie has been a nurse in the NHS for 10 years, with her current role being a Senior Emergency Department Charge Nurse focusing on the education and development of staff. She has recently joined the Board as a Secretary, hoping to bring her experience within the NHS to advance the care and support provided to bereaved families.
07464 508994 support@achingarms.co.uk
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