Juliet Smith
Chair

Juliet was born in Brighton and raised in a theatrical family. From a very early age she worked front of house in theatres, including the much loved and missed Palace Pier and Adeline Genée theatres.

In contrast to this lifestyle, Juliet later chose a career in education, spending almost 20 years in senior management roles in both maintained and independent schools before becoming a schools’ inspector and appraiser of head teachers, in addition to being a lead tutor for the National College of School Leadership. She ran a range of courses nationally, focusing especially on issues relevant to Heads and their deputies, born initially out of offering support to those schools wishing to become co-educational.

After living for many years in other parts of the country she returned to Brighton and immediately became very involved in community life, most notably through the magistracy. Having initially joined Reading bench in 1990, soon after moving to Brighton she was elected Chairman of Central Sussex Bench and thereafter for the East Sussex Magistrates' Association. Juliet has held several gubernatorial roles (she was Chairman of both Brighton College Prep Schools and Brighton and Hove High School); she is a patron at Brighton Hove and District Talking Newspapers for the Blind, as well as the Children with Cancer Fund and is an ambassador for the Sussex Community Foundation.

From 2015-2016 Juliet was High Sheriff of East Sussex and is a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of East Sussex. In 2016 she proudly became Chair of the Martlets Hospice.

Barry Egan
Trusteee Vice Chair

Barry Egan is vice chair of Martlets, and he chairs the People Services and Remuneration Sub-Committee. He has been a Trustee since March 2016. Barry is originally from Dublin, he moved to Brighton in 2003, after having previously lived and worked in Liverpool and London. He has cross sector experience with some of the most recognised global brands including Ford Motor Company, IBM and American Express. He is an Internationally experienced HR executive with a proven track record designing and delivering people and change management solutions, which improve organisational and individual performance. Barry has established a reputation for someone who energises his teams and their networks to accomplish goals aligned with the strategic and financial objectives of the organisation.

When Barry is not working, he likes to keep fit by running. He is a dog lover and together with his partner enjoy exercising their dogs. Barry loves to travel, he plans to visit many new international locations when the pandemic a thing of the past and travel restrictions are lifted.

Jake Standing
Trustee Treasurer

Jake Standing is the Treasurer at Martlets, he has held this position for just over 2 years. He has previously lived in Worthing and Bath, before moving to Brighton in 2012. Brighton is a city which he absolutely loves for its inclusivity and abundance of different things to do! Jake lives in Brighton with his wife Hannah, and 3-year-old daughter Isabelle, and they can be often found walking along the seafront or swimming in a local pool.

Jake's first interaction with Martlets was when his father-in-law was looked after at the hospice, and the team just could not do enough for him. Jake knew that he wanted to give back in some way and with his accountancy background, when the position of Treasurer came up at Martlets in 2019, he was delighted to be put himself forward. The work that the team undertake is nothing short of exceptional, and Jake is really humbled to be even a very small part of it.

Jake is a keen runner and has taken part in local events such as the Brighton Half and Full marathons. He also enjoys travelling, experiencing different cultures and having some quality family time. His hope for the future is to continue advocating for work/life balance, encouraging healthy lifestyle, and teaching my daughter of the important values of equality, inclusion and sustainability.

Duncan Stewart
Trustee

Duncan Stewart has been a trustee since 2016 and currently chairs the Clinical Governance Committee meetings. Before this he was a director of Martlets Care and then a member of the Income Generation Committee when the two merged.

For the last 4 years he has worked with Nicholas Roddis, the hospices’ chaplain until very recently, as a Non Religious Pastoral care volunteer talking and listening to patients in the IPU, in their homes and, during the pandemic, keeping in touch by phone. He is also one of the group of Martlets volunteers who keep in touch with our patients in the Compassionate Neighbour scheme.

He did his medical training ay Guy’s Hospital and moved to Brighton in 1967 to complete his pre-registration hospital training before going into General Practice in the city, work he enjoyed enormously for nearly 45 years.

Duncan has 2 daughters; one is a lawyer specialising in data protection and the other works in marketing in London. His younger grandson has just left school and intends, like his brother, to do a degree in business studies.

Never a gifted sportsman, he continues to play tennis, doubles only, and is a keen walker. He was the first person to complete the Friends of Sussex Hospices Trail – a 210-mile trek round the perimeter of Sussex and raised over £4K. One useful outcome of the lockdown has been his rather more adventurous choice of recipes and a garden that has never before looked so colourful and tidy.

Involvement with Martlets is an important part of his life because he feels that access to the wonderful multi-faceted care the hospice provides for the people of Brighton significantly reduces the fear we all have of a possibly fraught and painful end to our lives.

Chris Thomas
Trustee

Raised in Nottinghamshire, after school Chris gravitated towards the south coast via Cambridge and London. He has now lived in Brighton for over 20 years. Chris chairs the Finance & ICT committee. He is also the Company Secretary responsible for ensuring that Martlets files it accounts and other important company details with Companies House. He has previously sat on the People Services committee.

Chris has over 25 years’ experience as a solicitor dealing with private clients with a focus on inheritance tax planning, trusts and will drafting. He also handled estates for people after their death and has dealt with a number of estates where Martlets has been a beneficiary. For many years, Chris was a partner in a local law firm, and he supported the Martlets Will writing campaigns.

Chris retired as a solicitor in autumn 2021 and now works from home for the Office for National Statistics. He continues to keep his hand in on legal matters and has retained his professional accreditation with the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

Chris is keen on the outdoors, enjoys dog walking and likes to walk or cycle to meetings whenever possible.

Giles Ings
Trustee

Giles Ings has been a trustee of Martlets since January 2017. He lives on the outskirts of Seaford with his wife and three teenage children. He runs an Architects practice in Hove, specialising in seaside architecture, residential and community projects. Giles has won numerous architectural design awards over his 30-year career. He lectures Profession Practice to architectural students, lectures to Occupational Therapy students at Brighton University and is a keen supporter of Sussex Heritage Trust by being an annual awards judge for over 15 years.

At Martlets, Giles chairs the Safety, Health, Fire and Facilities Governance Committee and the Martlets Building Enhancement (MBE) Committee, bringing his professional experience to each of the committees. Giles enjoys the outdoor life, walking (and sometimes running) his dog over the South Downs, near the Cuckmere and Seven Sisters. Also, he has recently taken up kayaking in Seaford bay when the sea is calm and warm.

Karen Blatchford
Trustee

Biography coming soon.

Michael Bedingfield
Trustee

Michael Bedingfield was born in Brighton and lives in the city centre, where he enjoys a view of the Royal Pavilion. He has lifelong links with the area and attended Hove County Grammar School, before starting his career at American Express in Brighton. Following the first part of his career in financial services, he moved his focus to travel and tourism, as marketing director with leading brands including P&O Cruises, VisitBritain and the Royal Automobile Club, and as chief executive of Tourism South East.

More recently, Michael has been involved with numerous trusteeships and brings twenty years' experience in the arts, charity and museums sectors, including six years as a trustee of the Brighton Dome and Festival Limited. Today, he is Chairman of the Royal Pavilion and Museums and Deputy Chairman of the National Museum of the Royal Navy.

Michael joined Martlets as a trustee and as Chairman of the Income Generation Committee in July 2019. Martlets looked after his father in a very kind and caring way, and he is delighted to be able to support them as a thank you.

Rebecca Crook
Trustee

Rebecca Crook has been a Trustee for over 2 years sitting on the Finance & ICT, MBE and Clinical Governance committees. She is hugely passionate about the work and services that Martlets have to offer.

Rebecca has over 20-years business and marketing experience and has spent the last 10-years at ‘C’ suite level in the digital transformation sector working with well-known brands such as British Airways, Savills and Lloyds Banking Group. She is currently Chief Growth Officer at Somo, sitting on the Leadership team with responsibility to grow and scale the business globally. She helps companies accelerate their digital ambitions using technology to improve customer experiences as well as creating efficiencies internally.

She also chairs the EDI Council and is a regular commentator in the press covering digital, technology and consumer matters for the likes of the BBC, Sky News, The Guardian, City AM and Retail Week. She is a NED with Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust and a Director with the Royal Pavilion & Brighton Museum Trust as well as chairing the Trading Board. She also sits on the London Transport Museum Enterprise Board as a NED.

Living in Brighton Rebecca is passionate about all things local having set-up and saved the iconic Saltdean Lido bringing it back into use and raising over 5 million pounds. She wrote the successful Grade II* listing application, the business plan to demonstrate feasibility of the site and secured local and national buy-in for the scheme. When Rebecca isn’t working, she enjoys spending time with her dogs, family and friends, travelling to new places, cooking, eating out, seeing live music and reading books in her tranquil garden.

Bec Davison
Trustee

Bec was brought up in a socially aware family where values of equality, justice and integrity were instilled in her. She was encouraged to understand systemic discrimination early in life, to value collectivism, compassion and the importance of giving back. She started volunteering in a homeless night shelter at aged 14. She is a values-led, self-assured, emotionally intelligent, resilient leader, confident in making ethical decisions in collaboration with those who are affected by decisions the most.

Addressing the social, economic and health disparities with homeless people in Brighton and then the South Coast, led her into the organisation she has now been working in for 20 years. Bec started leading the rough sleepers team in 2001, when rough sleeping was at its highest. She has gone onto work with people who use drugs and alcohol, high risk offenders and women surviving domestic abuse. Bec is moving into a research and development role in her current organisation. Bec coaches women in leadership outside of her paid work and has worked with various female organisations across the UK. Bec has worked closely with Women in Prison on their strategy and leadership development and will be assisting Clinks to further their strategic thinking in the Autumn.

Bec joined Martlets 2 years ago. Bec has experienced her best friend and 2 grandparents dying in hospices and wanted to support Martlets wonderful work. Bec is the safeguarding trustee and has had a strong role in upskilling all trustees in their legal duties. Bec has also assisted the SLT with developing the position of trust policy and panel and has delivered training on inclusive conversations.

Bec lives in Brighton with her partner and two teenage boys. Bec is a sea swimmer and has swum in the sea all winter. She is looking forward to getting back to gigs and having a dance!

Dr Posy Greany
Trustee

Posy Greany is a local GP based in Whitehawk, who has been living and working in Brighton for 10 years and been a Trustee at the Martlets since 2019. Prior to Brighton, Posy trained in Nottingham and Oxford, worked in New Zealand and then London before moving to Uganda for 3 years where being a doctor was a very different experience. It emphasised again how very lucky we are to have the NHS and wonderful organisations like the Martlets who can support people, whatever their backgrounds or finances to get the healthcare they need and to have a supported and dignified death.

Posy is a Lead for Palliative care within her GP Surgery and often works with the Community Team and the Hospice at Home team to support patients in her area. She is always so grateful for the amazing work they put in to make patients and their families feel safe and supported in their hour of need. It would be good to take that work even further into our communities in Brighton and Hove. The pandemic has highlighted how families need each other at end-of-life more than ever and being able to die at home is such an important treasure, if that’s what people want.

When not at work, Posy will be out on the Downs or up mountains in Scotland with her faithful hound. She also is working as a taxi-driver and caterer for her two teenage boys. One day she’d like to leave home and travel again…still dreaming.

Brian Quinton
Trustee

Brian Quinton has worked in Corporate Banking for 20 years and enjoyed the benefit of getting to know likeminded business leaders from a wide array of industries. Brian has also initiated some popular networking events including Professionals Pool Leagues where over 200 attendees network and play pool every month, raising money for local charities.

Brian also has a keen interest in events and his family run Beau and Bell Tent Hire which has several Giant Tipis and Bell Tents often used for weddings, private events and cultural festivals. When at home in Patcham, Brian enjoys time with family and friends, not forgetting his two Boxer Dogs Gorbachev (Gorbi) and Bob. Brian is a keen Pool player and father of one (soon to be two), grandfather of one (soon to be two as well) and long partner to Jade.

In working with Martlets Hospice, Brian is keen to put to use his analytical and prospecting skills on the income generation committee whilst also picking us some third sector governance experience with fellow trustees. He joined the board of Trustees in December 2020.

Mark Bayliss
Trustee

Mark Bayliss our newest trustee who joined us back in December 2020. He has a background in hospital medicine. Mark learned the importance of good end of life care working as a young doctor treating AIDS patients in the 1980’s. Those patients often didn’t get the choice, support and treatment they deserved. Teaching and delivering good end of life care has always been a passion since then.

Leaving medicine after the COVID crisis, Mark wants to continue to contribute to helping our residents live and die well, and he believes the Martlets is an example of excellence in this field. This is why Mark joined our trustee team.

Whilst working in London, Mark and his wife used to run down to Brighton on a motorbike at the weekends and soon fell in love with the place. They have now lived here for over 20 years. In his free time, Mark spends his time training for triathlons, studying Spanish literature and walking with his beautiful dogs.