Meet The OBS Team

Jayne Joyce MA, MSc, DipSW, IBCLC - Project Lead & Facilitator

Jayne, originally from Birmingham, has lived in Oxfordshire since 1990 and has 2 degrees from Oxford University, including a Masters in social work. She worked in Banbury and Oxford as a social worker with children and families, before training as a volunteer breastfeeding counsellor with La Leche League in 2003 and discovering that her passion for helping children and parents to form strong relationships was most fulfilled when supporting breastfeeding! She has three daughters and was the first person in her family in living memory to breastfeed:

“I had great support with breastfeeding from a neighbour whose baby was a few months older than mine. She helped me feel comfortable feeding outside my house, came with me to my first support group meeting and taught me how life-changing it can be to have a well-informed breastfeeding friend”.

Jayne joined the OBS team as a volunteer in 2010, accredited as an IBCLC in 2011, became a regular facilitator in 2012, leading on safeguarding and volunteer training/supervision, and took on the role of Project Lead in 2018. During 2018-9 Jayne worked with Charity Mentor Tina Elder to develop both OBS's strategic focus and her own leadership skills. She facilitates our Thursday session at East Oxford.

Charlotte Gilman BSc - Fundraising Lead & Facilitator

Charlotte has been living in Oxford since 2002. She comes from a sales and marketing background and previously worked in London as a fundraiser for the Children’s Society and NSPCC.
  
She comes from a family that struggled to breastfeed and found feeding her first baby difficult, but thanks to supportive friends, a great midwife and health visitor, managed to continue and has had a passion for breastfeeding ever since. She signed up to do the peer supporter course soon after her second child was born and volunteered at Baby Cafes for 4 years.  She then worked for the NHS as a Breastfeeding Support Worker based at Donnington and Blackbird Leys Health Centres, providing home visits to new families.

“I think my favourite learning experience was spending time Breastfeeding Clinic at the John Radcliffe Hospital. It not only taught me the importance of positioning and attachment but also the sheer determination women have to breastfeed. I knew from this special time that I wanted to spend the rest of my career supporting families at such a crucial time in their lives to achieve their breastfeeding goals. The right support can be life changing” 

Charlotte has been working as a facilitator for OBS since 2013, having been involved with the organisation as a service user and a volunteer since 2006. Now that her 3 children are older and with her 12 year background of supporting families to breastfeed, she is now training to become an IBCLC. She is also the Development Lead, working with the team to ensure we remain funded.

Charlotte facilitates our Tuesday session at South Oxford Family Room (Grandpont) and Wednesday session at Jericho Health Centre and also runs the monthly antenatal session.

Emily Tammam BSc, IBCLC - Operations Lead & Facilitator 

Emily is originally from the Yukon in Canada, but has lived in the UK for long enough to no longer sound Canadian! She has a Bachelor of Science in Management from the London School of Economics and previously worked as an Immigration Officer at the High Commission of Canada, in London. Emily first trained as a peer supporter with the Breastfeeding Network in 2007. In 2010, she accredited as a voluntary breastfeeding counsellor with La Leche League, shortly after moving to Oxford.  She became an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in 2017, after a decade of supporting women with breastfeeding. Alongside this, Emily has four daughters and is lucky enough to come from a family where breastfeeding was well supported.

"I remember attending an NHS antenatal breastfeeding session while pregnant for the first time and asking the breastfeeding counsellor how I could train to do what she was doing. I feel so privileged to be able to support women and families with breastfeeding in the antenatal and postnatal period, at what can be a very vulnerable time in their lives. The impact that skilled support can have is life-changing and the feelings and memories of this support can stay with a woman for the rest of her life."

Emily joined the OBS team, initially as a volunteer, in 2016. She began doing cover facilitation for the team later that year, and became a regular facilitator in 2018, after accrediting as an IBCLC. In addition, Emily is now the Project Administrator and the Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead for OBS. She facilitates our Sunday session at Donnington Doorstep. 

Lisa Mansour IBCLC - Former Project Lead & Facilitator

In September we were delighted to announce the birth of baby Joy to Lisa Mansour and her partner Chris. Lisa has been part of the OBS team since the early days of the organisation, and was Project Lead from 2012 until July 2018.  We are looking forward to welcoming Lisa back to OBS as a facilitator during 2019.

Catriana McKie BASc, MSc - Digital Lead

Originally from Ottawa, Canada, Catriana studied as a mechanical engineer in Vancouver and worked in engineering design software at the Ferrari Formula 1 team in Maranello, Italy in the early 2000s. After a Masters in Science and Technology Studies in Edinburgh, the challenges and rewards of breastfeeding her eldest son, born in 2007, started her on the path to supporting other families to breastfeed. The following year Catriana moved to the Banbury area, where her daughter was born, and she was accredited by La Leche League as a volunteer breastfeeding counsellor (Leader) in 2013. She started as a volunteer with OBS in 2014 and took over facilitating the Ambrosden session in 2015. Since the birth of her third child she has been webmaster and Digital Lead for OBS.  

Cath Holmes - Cover Facilitator

Cath volunteered for us first as a Peer Supporter, then trained as a volunteer breastfeeding counsellor with the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers.  As well as volunteering for us most Fridays, Cath runs a weekly breastfeeding support session for our partner organisation Didcot Baby Monday, and provides occasional cover facilitation for OBS.