01732 711634 TONBRIDGE
Thank you for considering a donation! Every penny really does count to us and goes straight back into the charity so that we can continue our work.
We can take donations through JustGiving and Bank Transfer, just click the button above. When donating please reference it with your name followed with DONATION so we can locate it in our account.
If you are a tax payer, please fill out our Gift Aid Form, which can be found in the "Forms & Resources" section, and email it to us at office@babons.org.uk
Thank you from the team at Babons Cancer Support
Meet the Team

Founders

Co-founder
Heidi Spickernell-Foad
Heidi Spickernell-Foad is a Co-Founder of BABONS Cancer Support and feels passionately about the need for counselling and signposting support for people and families within the Tonbridge area. Having personally experienced the pain of travelling the journey of cancer and then end of life caring for her mum, Jean Spickernell (affectionately known by her grandchildren as BABON), she understands the many areas of support that are needed by anyone impacted by cancer.
Using the lessons she learnt about the system and her commitment to help others, along with “Babon’s” own desire to help other people through this challenging time even when she was extremely sick herself, Heidi strives to bring something that the family feel is vital to the Tonbridge area.
During Heidi’s career she has been a Company Director requiring good organisation and communication skills. Having had a break from work to bring up her own 4 children, she has more recently worked in a local primary school for 11 years, where she has enjoyed working with all the children throughout the school with inspiring music lessons and leading the school choir.
Heidi’s mum, Jean Spickernell, often said she felt so grateful to have the support and love of her family and worried about others that didn’t, the mission is that BABONS will offer this to all those that need it.

Co-founder
Tracy Spickernell
Tracy Spickernell is a Co-Founder of BABONS Cancer Support. She is a qualified counsellor and member of BACP, also the Counselling & Wellbeing Team Lead. She graduated from Newman University as an Integrative Counsellor and from Chichester University with a teaching degree. Tracy has over 30 years’ experience of working with young people in educational and pastoral settings, and 7 years of working with adults in a counselling setting. She is also a Level 3 Counselling Skills trainer. Before working for BABONS, Tracy spent 4.5 years heading up the Counselling Team at a Cancer Charity in Birmingham. She is the daughter of Jean Spickernell (Babon), a devoted auntie and godmother and loves finding creative ways to help people process difficult things.

Co-founder
Douglas Spickernell
Douglas Spickernell is a Co Founder of BABONS Cancer Support and was married to Jean Spickernell and well knows the issues surrounding those dying or affected by cancer.
Until he retired in 2014 he was Managing Director of his own business and prior to that was a Director of a UK wide Company having a turnover approaching £500million.
Jean Spickernell was diagnosed with cancer early in 2020 and underwent treatment, however this was not successful and the cancer got worse until in 2021 Jean was told her cancer was terminal. In the last few months of Jean’s life Douglas and his family cared for Jean, they had little or no help and had to figure things out for themselves, during this time they learnt a lot and now have the desire to pass that on to others who may be going through what they did.
BABONS aim is to help others through what is a difficult time and in doing so honour Jean’s memory and her wish to help people.
Chair of Trustees
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Chair of Trustees
Neil Williams
I have been a personal friend of the Spickernell family for decades and I saw the extreme pain and frustration that they went through when the matriarch of their family became ill through cancer and subsequently passed away. When I was invited to play a part in their charity Babon, I saw the passion they had to try and ensure that other families did not have to go through the frustrations they had to endure.
Charities need to be run like businesses these days and I have many years of experience sitting on Boards ensuring companies meet their objectives including safeguarding and governance. I am also volunteer for the Samaritans and have a small coaching business which hopefully shows I can be empathetic and understand a lot of the suffering families are going through.