Trustees
Warren Manger – Chair
Warren Manger and his wife Verity have been members of Little Hearts Matter since 2016. Their son Haydn was diagnosed with left atrial isomerism, hypoplastic left ventricle, and double outlet right ventricle (DORV) during pregnancy and underwent his first open heart surgery at 12-days-old.
Warren joined the LHM trust board to help raise awareness about the charity and CHD. He is an award-winning journalist with 15 years’ experience covering health news and features, including the Daily Mirror’s campaign to introduce an opt-out organ donor register.
David Baumber – Treasurer
David is a Chartered Accountant and Senior Finance Manager with E.ON having previously worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He brings financial skills to the charity in terms of accounting, budgeting, forecasting and cost management. David has a son, Matthew (born June 2002) who has Tricuspid Atresia (a right-sided single ventricle condition), a daughter Rachel, who has a healthy heart but has a genetic condition called achondroplasia (a form of dwarfism), and another son, Thomas. Matthew has had all three stages of surgery. He was very ill as a baby, with breathing difficulties caused by a paralysed diaphragm which needed additional surgery, together with feeding problems meaning that he was tube-fed until he was nine months old. He also had a difficult time in hospital for his Fontan but he is now learning to cope with his condition combined with the rigours of growing up.
Isabel Baumber
Isabel (who is married to David, the Treasurer) has a son, Matthew (born in 2002) who has Tricuspid Atresia (a right-sided single ventricle condition), a daughter Rachel, who has a healthy heart, but who has a genetic condition called achondroplasia (a form of dwarfism), and another son, Thomas.
Matthew was very ill as a baby, with breathing difficulties caused by a paralysed diaphragm which needed additional surgery, together with feeding problems meaning that he was tube-fed until he was nine months old. He also had a difficult time in hospital for his Fontan. He has now left school and is doing an engineering apprenticeship.
Isabel was an Export Marketing Research Adviser for the British Chambers of Commerce, having previously managed Rover Group’s marketing in Latin America, then elements of Rover’s global communication strategy. As a result, Isabel can provide skills in marketing and communications, market research and support for small businesses. She currently works in a school.
Kim Botham
Kim lives in Rotherham with her partner and dog. She was diagnosed with transposition of the great arteries, double outlet right ventricle, VSD and pulmonary stenosis at a few months old, undergoing her Glenn at the age of 3 and having a Fontan and then a pacemaker at 18. Kim has worked within education for over 10 years as a teacher, SENDCo and a member of the Special Educational Needs Assessment and Review Team. She is passionate about ensuring access to education for those with additional needs. LHM became particularly important to Kim during the coronavirus pandemic and she found the charity’s support invaluable during that time, especially as she lived alone.
Sophie Green
Sophie was born in 1997 with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. She has been a member of Little Hearts Matter since she was born was part of the LHM Youth Council from 2008-2016. LHM has always been an important part of Sophie’s life, providing her with important knowledge growing up and allowing her to connect with others with Single Ventricle Heart Conditions as a source of comfort. Sophie is married and lives in Farnham, where she works full-time as a Primary School Teacher. As a Trustee, she hopes to help younger members with the struggles they may face growing up.
Vikki King
Vikki is married to Tom, they have 5 children. Their third child, Isabel was born in May 2012 with HLHS; unfortunately she passed away in June 2012 aged 37days.
Consequently, they have been members of LHM since 2012.
Vikki trained as a Social Worker and practiced for close to 20 years. She worked throughout adult and children’s services in both Canada and the UK. She spent most of her career working with disabled and medically complex children and adults, Fostering and Safeguarding.
Vikki is passionate about ensuring that individuals meet their full potential regardless of disability. Having developed a neurological condition in 2021 that has prevented her from working. She looks forward to seeing how her passion and experience not only as a social worker, but also as a bereaved parent and a disabled individual can be utilised by LHM.
Julie Lube
Julie lives in West Sussex with her husband, Ian and her children, Fintan and Imogen (who is 6).
Fintan was diagnosed with Pulmonary Atresia with Intact Ventricular Septum (PAIVS) in utero at his 20 week scan. He has had a series of surgeries resulting in the final Fontan procedure in 2014.
Julie has practiced as a solicitor since 2004, both in private practice and in house. She is currently the Head of Legal & Company Secretary at Motability Operations Limited, where she has worked for 16 years.
Julie enjoys spending time with her family with favourite pastimes being walks and cycling together and attempting to surf in both Cornwall and Ireland. She also sings in a choir.
Laura Hewitt
Laura Hewitt and her husband David have been members of Little Hearts Matter since 2021. Their son Edward (Ted) was diagnosed with Double Outlet Right Ventricle (DORV) at their 20-week scan.
Laura has joined the LHM trust board to gain a deeper understanding of the charity, offer relevant skills, and support LHM to help more families (like it helped theirs). She is an experienced marketing professional who has worked both in the private and not-for-profit sectors.
Hannah Palmer
Hannah is 29 years old and is studying for a Forensic Psychology Degree. She was born with half a heart in 1994 and has been a member of Little Hearts Matter, along with her family, for 20 years. Being a Trustee and learning more about how the Board cares for all the members has been a wonderful experience since coming onto the Board in 2014, and then again in 2021. Her previous experience as a Youth Councillor with LHM also helped her to learn more about what our younger members want from the Charity.
Hannah continues to work with Suzie and Lexie to help develop the services for adults with a single ventricle heart condition. This is work she hopes to continue expanding on, along with the new Adult Council, and the other Trustees to help support other services that have become important to our members.
Baroness Valerie Howarth of Breckland – Honorary President
Baroness Howarth joined the House of Lords in 2001 and speaks on health, social care and consumer issues. She has a particular interest in children and was Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Children.
A social worker by background, she completed her local government career as a director of Social Services and then developed the charity ChildLine into a national organisation.
She has been a regulator in telecoms, the National Care Standards Commission and The Food Standards Agency. She was for eight years the Deputy and then Chair of the Children and Families Court and Support Service, the largest employer of social workers in the country. She is a Vice President of the LGA.
She has worked extensively in the voluntary sector and has been alongside Little Hearts Matter for over twenty years. She is deeply committed to the work and having struggled with serious health concerns herself she has personal empathy with the children and their families as well as an admiration for what the charity has achieved on their behalf. Other work in the sector includes Senior Vice President in Liveability, Patron of TRACKS (a charity dealing with young autistic children), and a President of the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, dealing with serious child sexual abuse.