Our Staff
We are a small committed team supporting the paediatric oncology community in Queensland, Northern NSW, Northern Territory and the Pacific Islands. We are also supported by our wonderful, skilled volunteers who help us to provide additional support to our families where it is needed.
If you wish to join our volunteering team email us at info@ccs.org.au to express your interest in becoming a volunteer at Childhood Cancer Support.
Helen Crew
Helen joined Childhood Cancer Support as our General Manager in March 2016. Her long-term career goal and passion was to work with a charity supporting ill children and their families so she is very privileged to have been given this opportunity to help support our paediatric oncology families, represent Childhood Cancer Support and head the team.
The early part of Helen’s career was within the construction, security and engineering industries. Just prior to joining the charitable sector, Helen worked with a major construction company on the redevelopment and refurbishment of Daydream Island. Helen has worked within the not-for-profit and charitable sector since 1991 and has been instrumental in setting up professional administrative processes, policies, procedures and human resources systems for a number of organisations. Her broad expertise includes finance, governance, human resources, grant writing, fundraising, event management and operations. Helen worked a total of 13 years at Australian Spinal Research Foundation in administration, research grant funding, finance and operations.
Her experience includes Operations Manager for major fundraisers, conferences and gala balls of up to 1,000 delegates, Practice Manager of a major international fundraising consultancy, working within the development office of Griffith University, Education Officer at Australian College of Rural & Remote Medicine and Chief Executive Officer of Parkinson’s Queensland where she secured three years of recurrent funding from Federal and State Governments, worked with interstate executive colleagues on the organisation’s national rebranding and increased the support group network by 40% across Queensland.
Helen represents Childhood Cancer Support at Children’s Health Queensland’s Community Collaborative Forums which meets quarterly at Queensland Children’s Hospital. The Community Collaborative Forum was established to enable the hospital’s charitable providers to develop a deeper understanding of our work together as a network and collaborative including opportunities for closer working relationships and potential for new ideas and growth. She is also very keen to see the continued development of Childhood Cancer Support’s profile throughout Queensland and to garner support from the community to help us to continue to provide support for our families.
Helen is a member of Fundraising Institute Australia, Associations Forum, Australasian Society of Association Executives and Institute of Community Directors.
Helen is very appreciative of the role that family plays in support of our paediatric oncology families, is passionate about the work of Childhood Cancer Support and the support provided to our families, and readily acknowledges the support of her husband David and their two adult children Cassandra and Nicholas.
Jo Spencer
Jo began working for Childhood Cancer Support in June 2005, in the role of Finance Officer. She is responsible for maintaining the financial and accounting operations of the organisation whilst ensuring that legislative requirements are met.
Having started her career in Finance in 2001, working as a bookkeeper for Funder & Associates Accounting Firm, Jo began working as a sub-contract bookkeeper before joining the team at Childhood Cancer Support. Jo completed her Certificate IV in Financial Services (Bookkeeping) and became a registered BAS Agent with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) in 2010.
Prior to working in Finance, Jo worked for over 10 years as a primary school teacher, bringing with her a wide range of skills and experience that have been well utilised in her work at Childhood Cancer Support.
Brian Smith
Brian commenced his position with the Childhood Cancer Support team as Transport and Maintenance Officer in November 2017. He is responsible for transporting families staying in our various accommodation units and those flying into Brisbane to and from the Queensland Children’s Hospital for appointments. Brian is also responsible for any of the day to day maintenance issues that may arise at our properties.
Prior to joining Childhood Cancer Support, Brian worked for fifteen years with Superpop Pty Ltd, a company that supplies Cinemas across Australia with Popcorn equipment and supplies. Here he managed the Queensland operations and performed equipment installation and repairs across Australia and New Zealand.
Brian’s involvement with not-for-profit organisations goes back to the early 1980’s when he worked for the Special Caring Services Division of the Uniting Church where he worked within their Sheltered Employment Workshops for intellectually disabled adults, firstly as a Truck Driver and then as Workshops Services Assistant, assisting the Operations Manager. It was here he met his wife Tracey who was working within the same division as an Office Clerk. Together they now have three adult children all living and working in Brisbane.
Over the years Brian has also worked for Drug Arm Australasia, firstly in a Voluntary capacity within their Street Outreach Service as the Ipswich Co-ordinator and the Ipswich Committee Chairmen, and more recently as a staff member in the role of Community Outreach Worker, working with other organisations providing support to the homeless and those at risk throughout Brisbane and Ipswich.
Bruce Nean
Bruce commenced his position with Childhood Cancer Support in October 2018. His main responsibility is to promote the work of Childhood Cancer Support and helping tell the story of the families and children we support, as well as looking for opportunities to raise funds for our work and supporting those who want to fundraise. In recent years Bruce has worked in 2 prominent Brisbane charities, MS Queensland and the PA Research Foundation specialising in fundraising and digital marketing and is energised to bring his experience to further the work of Childhood Cancer Support.
Bruce comes with experience working for a number of nonprofits, including working as a primary school chaplain at Redland Bay State School and Cleveland State School for 5 years and a Children’s Pastor and board member at a church in the Redlands for 8 years. Along with his knowledge of fundraising, graphic design and marketing, he brings his pastoral care experience and sense of fun to the team at Childhood Cancer Support.
In 2018 Bruce launched a network in Brisbane called Digital For Good, bringing together marketing and fundraising professionals to learn from each other and work together for the betterment of the nonprofit sector in Brisbane. Bruce is currently studying a Graduate Certificate in Business (Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies).
