Meet the Team
Directors: Jodie Hollis, Lorraine Goodwin and Sara Williams
Support Group Team Leaders: Anna Gikas and Adele Phillips
Social Media: Ayla, Sarah, Luca, Anastasia, Eastering
Angel Packs Coordinator: Neelam
Director Jodie Hollis
My name is Jodie Hollis, and I am the Founding Director of Cancer Support Angels. 7 years ago whilst on my own cancer journey, I found a real lack of support out there in the form of physical support groups for cancer patients. The only support groups I could were online. And Im not really one to be in an online support group. I like to meet people in person. But I joined some groups anyway. I also found a great lack of financial support. Some thing that is greatly needed. Some years later I started to volunteer for Relay For Life here in Cranbourne, where I met some amazing people, and the type of support I was really looking for.
JUST DO IT!!!
So when Relay for Life has finished in 2019, I set about achieving my dream of helping cancer patients, and making sure that we all had support. And Cancer Support Angels was born in December 2019. My dream is to make sure that “No One Fights Alone”, and that together we can all do this fight, as a team, as a community, as an extended family.Director Lorraine Goodwin
I knew nothing but the very basics about cancer until my cousins daughter was diagnosed and passed away just before her 18th birthday in 2007.
Friends of the family created a Cancer Council Relay for Life team in Staceys honour at Berwick in Victoria, and I went along the first year and walked for an hour and then went home, having no idea of what the 24 hour event entailed. As the years progressed and the family continued to honour Stacey I became more involved in fundraising, set up, and staying at the event overnight. In their fifth and final year (2012) I shaved my head to help boost our fundraising further.
That year I walked in two Relays, the second one at Cranbourne and it was here I joined the Committee the following year for 7 years of which I was the Chairperson between 2016-2018.
The Mighty Ducks team was created to continue raising funds in Staceys name and to give the Femino family an opportunity to be involved without the extra effort of running the team themselves.
In 2015 a cancer diagnosis saved my husbands life. Diagnosed with Stage 4 bowel cancer which had also metastasised to his liver. Whilst waiting for surgery we agreed to an anaesthetic trial and during tests an issue was discovered in his heart requiring a double bypass before the cancer surgery could be performed. It was a long and tough year with many treatments and surgeries but I am happy to report he is still driving me crazy.
During my final year of Relay in 2019 a cancer survivor friend I met at the event the year before, shared with me her vision to create a charity that would support people with cancer in their day to day challenges from a financial but also friendship and support perspective.
Previously all of our families fundraising had been donated to research grants. I felt strongly it was now time for my focus to shift knowing I could contribute to making a real difference to those already facing trauma based on all I had learnt.
It was such a great idea and was the natural next step in my volunteer journey.
I am proud to work closely with the founder as a Director on the CSA board.
Although our charity is relatively new the difference we are already making is evident and I know there are great things ahead in our support for even more cancer patients and their families experiencing the trauma that follows a cancer diagnosis.
I am honoured by the people I meet who let me into their lives at such a horrendous time, and am forever grateful for the friendships that are forged. The harsh reality is that I have lost some of these friends along the way but am privileged to have been part of their journey and continue to celebrate their lives and remember them fondly.
Director Sara Williams
Support Group Team Leader Anna
Cancer Support Angels is a charity that since 2020 has given me the opportunity to give so much support to those at a time of need but has also benefited my own life in many ways.
As a mother of three, with a career in the skin care industry for over 25 years, looking after others well-being, both physically and emotionally, is second nature.
In my role as Support Group Team Leader, I hope to make a small difference in any Cancer Warriors journey by giving them a safe space to be seen and heard during our support sessions.
I look forward to meeting you and have you share your knowledge to help others going through their own trials and hopefully I can provide some positive enrichment to your own journey
Support Group Team Leader Adele Phillips
My name is Adele. I am a single mother to 3 children.
My life was first touched by cancer when I lost my favourite person when I was 11yrs old, my grandmother, Ena. She died on the 2nd of May 1990, 9 days before her birthday. Since then, her daughter, and her step son have also died of cancer. My dad has had his own battle with cancer. And the list continues to grow.
As a child, I couldn’t do anything to help, and I didn’t understand anything except it made people very sick, then they died.
Now, we have much better treatments, and medicines, complimentary therapies, to help fight against cancer. But cancer is so much more than a disease in the body. It affects every aspect of the patients life, and their families lives.
This is why I choose to volunteer with Cancer Support Angels. They are so much more than helping the patient in one area. They offer support in a range of areas, that the patient, their carers, and their families can then use to get themselves a wide variety of services to help through the entirety of the cancer journey.
Social Media: Ayla
When my husband was diagnosed with T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2016, it turned our family’s world upside down. After an initial terminal diagnosis, I am lucky to still have my husband, and greatful our two young boys still have their dad. It has still been a rough journey; especially financially and mentally. It has also been insightful, and full of growth and silver linings.
When I first heard about Cancer Support Angels and spoke to Jodie, I knew I had to be involved. Cancer Support Angels is the charity I wish existed when we needed it most, and I know how important this charity will be for cancer patients and their families.
Social Media: Sarah
Hi there! My name is Sarah two years ago I left my job as a public Senior high School teacher in the Philippines because I moved here for good (Melbourne). It’s a big decision to me because I gave up my career which I built for years and now I have to start over again in this extremely different country, new friends, new culture, and new environment. With this new place I need to connect with people that’s why I do volunteering job but eversince I am always passionate about helping others, especially when I can use my skills to make a difference in the life of others, though its hard to make a difference but maybe I can do it in my own little way.
Also, the best part of volunteering is you can be able to meet different types of people from all walks of life and I admit I need them as I just newly moved here. I chose Cancer Support Angels for volunteering because they focuses on the person and what they can do. Their vision are tailored to the needs and unique circumstances of the people struggling with cancer.
Social Media: Luca
My name is Luca Pagnozzi and I am studying a Bachelor of Business (Design and Marketing) at the University of South Australia. A little bit about me, I am a kind, loving and caring person who has a creative flair!
I am very interested in the workings of social media and graphic creation, these are just some of my personal hobbies. I am in my second year of my studies and received the opportunity to volunteer for the Cancer Support Angels through the university.
I am currently in my first weeks of volunteering but I look forward to dedicating my time as a part of the social media team to such a beautiful foundation as Cancer effects my family on a personal level. In my early weeks I have seen that the Cancer Support Angels are doing amazing work for these patients and I can’t wait to be a part of this journey in growing the foundation’s presence on social media.
Social Media: Easterin
Angel Packs Coordinator: Neelam
“I Volunteer because I have the time. I recognise that time is something I can give, if not money”.
I find Cancer Support Angels are working for a really good cause which is very much needed for our society.
So by volunteering I also feel involved in our community. Other reason is to learn something new or to acquire a skill that I lacked. I couldn’t go and get a job to learn that skill, but I could volunteer and learn it