Senior management team

Caroline Lower Chief Executive

I am a Registered nurse by profession having trained at Bart’s Hospital and the City University.

Since 1991 I have developed the organisational side of Hospice Services in Brighton. I undertook an MBA in and became CEO of the Martlets in 1997. I have a passion for effective organisational design which supports high quality service delivery.

In 2007 we set up Martlets Care, a commercial Domiciliary Care Agency which turns its profits over to the Martlets Hospice. I am constantly looking for new ways of generating income.

I also support a number of other charitable activities: running ‘how to set up a business’ training workshops out in Africa and am in the process of joining the Board of Southdown Housing Association.

Imelda Glackin Director of Service Development

I qualified as an RGN in the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin in 1984. Once qualified I moved to London where I worked in Haematology and Oncology in The Royal Free in Hampstead and Kings College Hospital, London.

Having overstayed my planned stay in London I decided I wanted to move to the sea and Brighton called. I worked at St Barnabas Hospice in Worthing with their Community Palliative Care team before moving to the Martlets with the Martlets@ Home team.

The Martlets is a centre of excellence in my book and I commend all the people who work in it and the patient stories and carer experiences continue to echo the great care and empathy they receive here.

Karen Taylor - Director of Clinical Services

I was born, raised and trained to become a Registered Nurse in Australia, qualifying in 1981.

I came to Brighton in 1984 and worked part time in a variety of healthcare environments.

My palliative care experience started at the Tarner Home in Brighton and what struck me from the first night I worked was the quality of care and the respect shown to each and every patient.

Hospice care has changed over the years however the core clinical values of care and respect are still as strong as ever and I am forever proud of the work that we do at the hospice and the staff and volunteers that make it all happen.

Robert Griffiths - Director of Fundraising and Communications

I joined the Martlets as Fundraising Manager in 1998 and the subsequent years have been the most rewarding period of a working life that began in 1973.

After graduating with a degree in Hotel Management, my previous experience in the hospitality, sporting and advertising industries has proved very useful in my work for the Hospice.

Working with dedicated and energetic colleagues is also a great stimulus.

The strength and courage of our patients and their families, plus the generosity of local people and their respect for the work of the Martlets are great motivating factors as we try to meet the annual challenge of raising the funds needed to deliver our caring services.

Dr Gillian Weighhill - Medical Director

I studied Medical Sciences and Theology as an undergraduate at Newnham College Cambridge University, and went on to complete my clinical medical training at Westminster Medical School, London.

In April 1989 I started working part time at Coppercliff Hospice in Brighton and immediately decided that this was the branch of medicine in which I wished to specialise. I have worked at the Martlets ever since it’s opening in April 1997 and have been particularly involved with the development of the Day Hospice.

In 2007 I spent a year delivering palliative care in the acute hospital sector at RSCH in Brighton and PRH in Haywards Heath, which included a regular commitment to education of junior doctors and of nursing staff.