What oxford Breast Buddy Group Does

Helen spent many years working for US investment banks in both regional and global roles.  She now works as an executive, leadership and business coach, based near Oxford. Her management experience forms the foundation of her effectiveness as a coach, partnering with clients to enhance their leadership styles, improve self-awareness, leverage strengths, embrace challenges, increase overall effectiveness and performance.

As well as her leadership and business coaching, Helen does pro bono work with Return to Work women, helping to rebuild confidence and clarify skills and career direction, enabling a smooth transition back to work after a career break.

Back in 2017, Helen was treated for breast cancer with a double mastectomy.  Following treatment, she joined Oxford Breast Buddy Group, and has been an active member, gaining huge benefits from the friendships and support.  She was one of the speakers at the 2024 OBBG gala event, sharing her cancer journey and her positive and supportive experience of the OBBG.

It has been a real privilege to serve as an OBBG trustee since 2020. Professor Roy has been a colleague for many years and when she told me about her founding vision for OBBG I was delighted to join and contribute as a Trustee. I am endlessly impressed and inspired by the commitment and enthusiasm of Trustees and Committee members who have forged a truly supportive community for OBBG members in their treatment for breast cancer.

I have worked as a GP in Thame since 1990, retiring as a partner in 2020 and continuing now as a GP locum. During this 35-year period I have seen enormous changes in the care of women with breast cancer, accelerated by the advent of the Two Week Wait pathway and advances in surgical technique and oncology. For the last 20 years I have been a faculty member of Oxford Medical School, involved with the education of the next generation of doctors who give me great hope for the future of person-centred health care across the NHS and beyond.

Prof. Roy is the senior Oncoplastic Breast Surgeon at Oxford University Hospitals, UK and Associate Professor at University of Oxford. She is the founder trustee and current Chair of trustees. She trained in India and then moved to UK; obtained MD in research from Dundee University, higher surgical training in Oxford, followed by National Oncoplastic Breast fellowship in Nottingham.

Prof Roy is passionate about holistic care for patients undergoing cancer treatment and was acutely aware of the long-lasting psychological impact of the diagnosis and treatment on her patients. It was her dream to set up a patient support group to facilitate a self sustainable survivorship programme and provision of ongoing mutual support structure within the community, after completion of hospital-based treatment.

Prof Roy has established a high quality oncoplastic unit for treatment of breast cancer in Oxford with active engagement in clinical trials and research. She is the course director of internationally renowned OOPS (Oxford Oncoplastic Breast Surgery course) that has facilitated training in oncoplastic breast conservation surgery for several clinicians across the world. She continues to tutor national and international fellows and mentor to consultant colleagues.

On a personal front, she is a keen hiker and summitted Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa in 2018. She enjoys theatre, cinema and Bollywood music in her free time and loves to enjoy ‘family time’ preferably in an outdoor setting.

Karoona Ramah Sleightholme is the Global Head of Digital Engineering Transformation at Vodafone. She has 20 years of experience in the tech industry, with various leadership roles in digital transformation, IT delivery, and customer engagement. Outside of her professional life, Karoona is a qualified Mindfulness Instructor, specializing in Stress Management and Chronic Pain. She deeply believes in the healing power of meditation, and regularly conducts meditation sessions for the public and for the OBBG community, sharing her knowledge and experience to help others find peace and well-being.

I first met Professor Roy (PG) in 2012 when she started her surgical practice at The Manor hospital. My role then was as a scrub nurse in theatre. We quickly built a very close working relationship. Which has now developed into a great team.

PG talked about her desire to create a support network for her patients. Which manifested itself in 2015 into the creation of OBBG. There was much discussion about fundraising and exciting plans, culminating in a fundraising cycle to Paris, and I was part of the team of seven. On the back of this I became an OBBG Trustee.

In September 2023 I organised a walk with over 40 OBBG members, walking over three days along the Thames path. My husband and I managed to reach Richmond, a fabulous trip and we are slowly completing the top and bottom sections.

I’m a strong believer of walking and the benefits of being outside in our beautiful countryside. Being an OBBG Trustee enables me to further support those who I have had a hand in caring for, and it is a real privilege.

Anna Sarphie was a much-loved founding member of OBBG, who sadly passed away in 2023.

Beautiful inside and out, Anna was hard-working, positive, and lived with passion, compassion, and unwavering determination. A clear thinker and communicator, she could always be relied upon to guide our OBBG Trustee meetings — especially when ensuring we stayed true to our founding purpose and values.

Anna was deeply committed to research and to improving treatment options for breast cancer patients. She fought tirelessly to join a drug trial for brain metastases, driven by a desire to help make it accessible to others in the future.

Beyond OBBG, Anna was actively involved in many breast cancer charities, determined to amplify the voice of patients as widely as possible.

As a founding member, Anna helped shape the vision and direction of OBBG. Her legacy continues to inspire our work, as we carry it forward in her memory for the benefit of current and future breast cancer patients.

Elizabeth Toohig was a founding member and the first Chairperson of the Oxford Breast Buddy Group. She worked tirelessly to secure charitable status for OBBG and was the driving force behind shaping the organisation in its early days. Highly organised and deeply committed, Elizabeth was passionate about addressing the unmet needs of breast cancer patients—especially in providing the psychological and practical support she and Professor Roy both envisioned.

Elizabeth had a varied career, beginning as a schoolteacher and later becoming a public speaking coach, focusing particularly on empowering women in business. She inspired those who worked with her, always encouraging the best for people—and the best from them.

An avid traveller and keen skier, Elizabeth loved a challenge – always approaching every challenge with determination and good humour.

She firmly believed in the power of research to improve both treatment and psychological outcomes, and was a strong advocate for OBBG’s involvement in research. In her memory, the annual Elizabeth Toohig Lectures were established to promote greater understanding and progress in breast cancer care.

It was also Elizabeth who first made the heart-shaped cushions that are now a much-loved part of OBBG’s post-surgery bags—a small but lasting example of her thoughtfulness and enduring legacy.

Elizabeth sadly passed away in 2018. She is remembered with deep gratitude as a positive, caring, humorous, and driven woman whose energy seemed boundless. Her legacy lives on in the very foundations of OBBG, and she remains a source of inspiration to us all.