Our Team
Ocular Melanoma Uk is run by a small, dedicated team of staff and volunteers, led by Jo Gumbs our founder.
Our Staff Team

Jo Gumbs
Chief Executive Officer & Founder

Matt Selby
Head of Support

Nicolette Mcdowell
Office & Finance Administrator

Alex Harman
Head of Fundraising & Marketing
Our Board of Trustees

Mrs Joanne Morgan
Joanne was diagnosed in November 2017 and quickly took to sharing her experience with others. In 2023, Joanne became our Chairperson and leads the work of Ocular Melanoma UK as a trusted patient voice.
Through her work as a make-up artist for people on TV, she has made many contacts over the years and is now a key part of how we raise awareness with the general public, encouraging patrons to join us and has been instrumental in organising our gala dinners.

Mrs Charlie Edwards
In 2018 her mum was diagnosed with Ocular Melanoma. Something which shook her family to its core. Following an enucleation, they later found out in May 2019 that metastasis occurred in both the liver and lungs. Since her mums diagnosis, Ocular Melanoma UK has been a tremendous support to both her mum and entire family; helping us through some very difficult times.
Charlie brings her accounting skills to her role as Treasurer for Ocular Melanoma UK.

Mr Neil Pearce
Mr Neil Pearce has recently retired as Associate Medical Director and Consultant Hepatobiliary Surgeon at University Hospital Southampton, following his fellowship in liver transplant surgery at St James’ University Hospital in Leeds. He has been elected to the national council for the Association of Upper GI Surgeons (AUGIS) and has been the clinical lead for the introduction of new laparoscopic techniques in liver and pancreatic surgery and the AUGIS clinical commissioning lead.

Mr Gianfranco DeFranco
Gianfranco is a Solicitor for Brittons Solicitors, based in Bourne End. He heard of Ocular Melanoma UK’s work through Jo Gumbs, a friend for many years. Gianfranco worked in retail management for more than 20 years with a high street chemist. Having decided on a change of career, he studied in his own time and successfully qualified as a Legal Executive in 2008. He then decided to go a step further and qualified as a Solicitor in 2009. Having spent the majority of his working life outside of law, he has a fresh outlook to many legal issues and brings a wealth of knowledge.

Mrs Alison Benjamin
Alison was diagnosed with ocular melanoma in December 2021, and after having enucleation in February 2022 wanted to raise awareness about it. Alison has also taken part in a podcast with the US based charity A Cure in Sight about enucleation.
Alison found the Ocular Melanoma UK Facebook group a great help just after diagnosis and after enucleation and decided she wanted to become a Trustee of the charity.
Alison works as a legal PA for a US law firm in the City of London.

Mr Colin White
Colin first learnt about ocular melanoma when a friend’s father, our CEO, was diagnosed with this cancer. Like most people, he was surprised to learn how this rare cancer can affect people and over the years he supported the work of Ocular Melanoma UK through his local Freemasons group and has supported several other local charities over the years. Colin is looking forward to working with us to build our corporate support and to ensure we expand our reach, so people know they can turn to Ocular Melanoma UK for help.
He has been a Lettings Manager for 15 years and is well connected in his local area, Slough, where Ocular Melanoma UK is registered.