Sarah Woods, CEO at Momentum Children's Charity standing by Momentum's boat

Sarah, from Epsom, Surrey, joined Momentum Children’s Charity in May 2025, bringing with her extensive experience from a range of communications, fundraising, and strategic roles across the charity sector.

Over the past 12 months, Sarah has taken the time to gain a comprehensive understanding of every aspect of Momentum’s work, including service delivery, HR, volunteering, and operations. She has visited each of the hospitals the charity partners with across Surrey, London, and Sussex, and has spent time getting to know the families supported by Momentum, gaining valuable insight into their experiences and needs.

Talking about her first year as CEO, Sarah said: “While this role has been a step up for me, it has also felt like the most natural step in my career. That’s because Momentum is such a special place and the perfect fit for me – and a year on, that feeling is even stronger.
I have met volunteers, ambassadors, fundraisers, and key stakeholders and heard from parents, siblings, and grandparents about the impact Momentum has had on their lives, and that is what drives me every day.”

Organising a special event at the Houses of Parliament, hosted by Monica Harding MP, alongside helping to secure a significant three-year corporate partnership, are among the key highlights of Sarah’s first year in post.

Completing The Thames Path Challenge for Momentum last September marked a significant personal milestone for Sarah. She said: “I walked 28km. To say I wasn’t fit is probably an understatement, so I was definitely nervous. But walking alongside some of the families we support gave me the motivation to keep going, and it became one of the most rewarding experiences of the year.”

Looking ahead to the next 12 months as CEO OF Momentum, Sarah said: “I hope we can continue building on what we already do so well. We would love to grow and support more families in new areas, as well as reach a wider age range of young people, but to do so carefully and sustainably – ensuring we never compromise on the quality or stability of the support we already provide.”

Momentum Children’s Charity supports families across London, Surrey and Sussex whose children are facing cancer or a life-challenging condition. The charity partners with local hospitals to offer personally tailored support to the entire family through their family support workers, both in hospital and at home.

To find out more about the work of Momentum Children’s Charity, please visit www.momentumcharity.org

Notes to Editors:

Momentum Children’s Charity supports families across London, Surrey and Sussex whose children are facing cancer or a life-challenging condition. We partner with local hospitals to offer personally tailored support to the entire family through our family support workers, both in hospital and at home. Our services include counselling, creative therapies, special experiences, and respite breaks. If the unthinkable happens, and a child dies, we offer specialist bereavement support. The charity receives no government funding and is reliant entirely on voluntary support. 

Founded in 2004, Momentum Children’s Charity was started when Bianca Effemey OBE was working as a receptionist on the Paediatrics Ward at Kingston Hospital. Side effects of chemotherapy treatment can be very painful, and she became aware of the impact they were having on young cancer patients. It became her mission to get white goods donated to the hospital which could be kept full of refreshments, providing some relief to children suffering with mouth ulcers caused by chemotherapy. Momentum has grown from a very small charity to now supporting over 2,500 individuals across 688 families in 2024/25. This includes 502 families with children in active treatment and 186 bereaved families.

If you are interested in learning more about the work Momentum does, seeing the roles they are currently recruiting for or would like to get involved by attending an event, volunteering or making a donation please visit www.momentumcharity.org

www.momentumcharity.org Registered charity number: 1195373

For more information about Momentum and future press opportunities, please contact:  Claire Smith, PR and Communications Officer: clairesmith@momentumcharity.org  /  0208 974 5931