Our Trustees • Spread a Smile

Paul Godfrey

Chair of Trustees

Paul Godfrey has considerable experience as an owner or director of several businesses in a number of commercial sectors within recruitment,

commercial property and office brokerage, healthcare, retail and printing and design. He has also helped a number of companies to develop their own corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and community interest programmes. Paul has been a trustee of Spread a Smile since the Charity started and currently has various committee roles in other charities.

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Vanessa Crocker MBE

Co-founder

Vanessa founded Spread a Smile in March 2013 with co-founder, Josephine Segal. Before founding Spread a Smile, she worked for eight years as a wish co-ordinator for

a children’s charity that arranges wishes for children living with serious or life-limiting illnesses. Her role involved working with the families, arranging and fulfilling the wish requests. Prior to this, Vanessa worked as a telephone counsellor for Childline for seven years, providing counselling for children and teenagers. And she also spent seven years teaching, first at a primary school and then specialising in working with children with special needs. Both Vanessa and Josephine were awarded an MBE in The King’s 2024 New Year Honours for services to seriously and terminally ill children and their families. Vanessa lives in North London with her husband and has four grown-up children and three grandchildren.

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Paul Crocker

Paul Crocker has been involved in development and investment in the property business for over 40 years and has been a trustee of Spread a Smile since it was established

in 2013.

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Andrew Bloom

Andrew has spent the majority of his executive career in financial services including being the founder and CEO of a challenger bank.

He is now a portfolio non-executive director/chairman of numerous companies predominately in the banking, financial technology, and property sector.

Andrew has been a Trustee of Spread a Smile since July 2022 and previously spent 10 years as a Trustee and Treasurer of The Gaucher Association.

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Liz Gould

Liz is an experienced non executive trustee. She co-chaired Jewish Women’s Aid for five years, stepping down in 2019 after spending 12 years as a trustee.

She currently has a portfolio of part time interests including running a careers advisory consultancy, sitting on mental health panels, working as a trustee of a local choir and a magistrate.

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Dr Fiona Hikmet

Fiona qualified as a doctor from the St Bartholomew’s and The Royal London in 2000. Since 2013 she has been a Consultant Paediatrician at Princess Alexandra whose specialist

interest area is looking after children with cancer closer to home. She is therefore in a privileged position to see first-hand the difference Spread a Smile can make to a child’s journey.

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Dr Sanjiv Patel

Sanjiv Patel is the CEO of Westgate Healthcare, a growing care group delivering residential, nursing, dementia, and rehabilitation services

across London and the home counties. With a clinical background as a Consultant Anaesthetist at UCLH, Sanjiv has built a career that bridges medical practice with strategic leadership in the social care and health sectors. Sanjiv currently serves as a Trustee for both Spread a Smile and Noah’s Ark Hospice, and brings a unique blend of clinical insight and commercial acumen to the charitable sector. He is Deputy Chair of YPO Greater London and, outside of work, enjoys travelling with his wife and two children, playing bad golf —and is a long suffering Spurs fan.

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Jon Hall

Treasurer

Jon is Group Managing Director at OSB Group, a FTSE listed Bank. Having qualified as a chartered accountant with PwC, Jon has spent most of his Executive career in financial services,

including CFO then CEO of a Building Society and as Manging Director launched a new challenger bank.For the past 4 years Jon has been Treasurer Trustee of Littlelifts, a charity whose purpose is supporting every person affected by breast cancer in the UK through providing a free LittleLifts gift box when they start treatment. Jon has been a corporate partner of Spread a Smile for the past 10 years including participating personally in fundraising.

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