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.
Monique van Zelm Felix
Monique has a Masters in Social Work and has been working with families and their children since she started her career, in various social work roles and across differing areas of practice. Monique has significant experience working with people with disabilities, chronic illness and experiencing mental health issues. Monique has worked exclusively with not-for-profit organisations in Queensland, which has included work in regional and remote communities funded by Queensland Health. Monique has worked across all levels of these organisations, right through from on the ground family support to governance board and managerial positions.
Monique is a married Mum to two beautiful kids, lives in Brisbane and has recently returned from living in Brazil for a few years. She is passionate about her community and loves to be with people.
Monique joined Childhood Cancer Support in 2019 as the Family Social Worker. Monique’s role is to walk alongside all the family members that stay with Childhood Cancer Supportas they are having their treatment and beyond. Monique offers practical, therapeutic and general supports to families, which include counselling, parent, sibling and extended family support, informal opportunities for families to meet each other and assistance to access other supports as required. Monique works with people to identify the best that they can do, on any given day, and in this role assists families to:
Pat Hooper
Pat commenced with Childhood Cancer Support in June 2019 as our Community Fundraising & Events Officer. Pat’s main responsibility is to create and execute a community fundraising strategy aimed to increase revenue whilst expanding the profile of Childhood Cancer Support within the community.
Pat will be looking to recruit, engage and maintain relationships with community fundraisers to ensure they are supported throughout their fundraising activities. As well as being responsible for all aspects of event coordination from the initial inception and scoping, through to delivery, of our signature events.
Pat comes to Childhood Cancer Support with over 18 years’ experience as a community fundraiser previously working with the Leukaemia Foundation for 14 years and the Endeavour Foundation for 4 years. During this time Pat was responsible for the roll out of large scale national fundraising campaigns and events at a local level most notably World’s Greatest Shave which exceeds $17 million in revenue. Pat also led a team of regional fundraising staff assisting them to reach their regional targets.
Pat started her fundraising career in Bundaberg with the Endeavour Foundation. Pat has also been a small business operator before returning to the not for profit sector with the Leukaemia Foundation in Bundaberg, later transferring to Brisbane in 2011.
Pat is excited about sharing her knowledge of the not for profit fundraising with Childhood Cancer Support and would love to speak with anyone interested in supporting this amazing family charity.
Jo Spencer
Jo began working for Childhood Cancer Support in June 2005 in the role of Finance Officer and, in 2019, she began managing the administrative roles for Childhood Cancer Support.
Jo is responsible for maintaining the financial, accounting and administrative operations for Childhood Cancer Support whilst ensuring that legislative requirements are met. She also ensures that our families are well looked after during their stay in our short-term accommodation facility.
Having started her career in 2001, working as a bookkeeper with a reputable Accounting Firm, Jo began working as a sub-contract bookkeeper before joining the team at Childhood Cancer Support. In order to meet legislative requirements, and to remain compliant, Jo completed her Certificate IV in Financial Services (Bookkeeping) and in 2010 she became registered with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) as a registered BAS Agent (Registration #98766002). She has continued to manage a small client base whilst working at Childhood Cancer Support for 4 days per week.
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.
