Meet the Team
Meet The Team of Life Care Radio!
Melissa Alexander
Profile Coming soon
John Anderson
John Anderson is a former journalist and corporate communications executive who moved to Totnes about nine years ago. When he's not busy putting his Life Care Radio playlists together, he loves to roam across Dartmoor looking for good fishing spots. His tastes in music are across the board, although he does have a special place in his heart for country music.
Rosalea Atkinson
Born in 1942, Rosalea moved to Torbay with her husband over 40 years ago and ran successful businesses in the Bay. Now widowed, Rosalea lives with her daughter and two granddaughters and loves reading and painting in acrylics. She likes to do paintings for people of their favourite places and cards to give as special gifts. Rosalea loves talking to people and volunteered with Life Care Radio because she likes the idea of cheering people up and reaching out to them. A request collector and presenter, Rosalea loves knowing that people enjoy her show and particularly enjoys playing requests which she knows can mean a lot to those listening.
Dave Burlace (Batman)
Music has always been a part of Dave's life and he has been on various radio stations for over 40 years, sharing music of all genres from classical to rock. Dave believes that volunteering not only allows him to give back to the community but also that it allows him to share the emotions and happiness that music can bring. Outside of radio, Dave is a paranormal investigator with Haunted Devon. A Batman enthusiast, he often brings his unique (often batman themed) costumes to our fundraising and public events.
Cathie Burgess
At the age of 14, Cathie joined Hospital Radio Tunbridge Wells and quickly settled into presenting a regular 'Magic Moments' show for some years before marrying Mark Burgess and moving to Devon where they both joined another local Hospital Radio station. One of the founding members of Life Care Radio, Cathie holds a Master's Degree in Education and works full time as a Lecturer in Childcare and Education at a local Further Education College. In her spare time, she loves Zumba and doing agility with her two sprocker spaniels, Crumble and Treacle. Although Cathie has an eclectic taste in music, you can usually hear a bit of Country music on her show as she's a qualified line dance instructor.
Mark Burgess
Mark is a Hospital Radio veteran with over 40 years worth of radio broadcasting behind him. Originally based at Hospital Radio Tunbridge Wells, Mark served on the committee there in various posts before moving to Devon with his wife, Cathie. Despite having an extensive engineering background, Mark never quite intended to build a radio studio from scratch but we think he's actually done rather a good job! Mark is also responsible for the station's computer system and database which takes a lot of his time. When he's not at the studio, he enjoys dabbling with photography and is a self-proclaimed foodie.
John Cavie
John, also known as 'the old one' joined broadcasting late in life and after a couple of years with another local hospital radio station, came on board with Life Care as a presenter and fundraiser. Despite being over 90 years old, John enjoys an active lifestyle and actually put together much of the carpentry in our studio, including our rather impressive CD rack in our record library. John can be heard on the radio playing request shows and enjoys a variety of music from strict tempo to musicals, classic to light rock. He loves to be able to give people a mention on air and make people smile. John enjoys cookery and watercolour painting as well as getting out and about with the Life Care Radio gang at fundraising events, including bake sales where the team have put his culinary skills to excellent use.
Jacqui & Nick Constable
Jacqui and her husband Nick, got involved with Life Care Radio right from the beginning thanks to their family connections with Cathie, Mark and John. Jacqui enjoys organising projects and fundraising as well as compiling and recording the Whats On Guide, a weekly look at what is going on in and around the bay that might be of interest. Jacqui is a retired Learning Support Assistant and spends her time crafting, painting and with her two dogs Rolo and Pepper.
Helen Cruse
Helen was born in 1960 and comes from Wimbledon, London (home of the Wombles). She moved to Torquay in September 2006. She began volunteering and has now worked for 4 Radio Stations throughout Torbay. She was a DJ with her brother in London on the disco circuit in local clubs. She taught herself to drum and played in a Heavy Metal Band back in the mid 80's. Helen just loves all music and sounds and is happy to bring them to her show on Life Care Radio. She loves walking, entertaining, nature, being outside and loving the country and seaside of Devon and what it has to offer. She has done many things, travelled extensively and lived in a few places but now resides here in Torquay, Devon. She hopes you will like her 2 hour show, 'Afternoon Delight' on a Thursday at 2pm on Life Care Radio.
Kerry Devitt
Kerry was born in Plymouth and, when she left school worked in retail and care. Sadly, due to ill health, Kerry has been unable to work for the past 12 years. Kerry loves to watch movies and to read. She is very creative and loves baking and making things. Kerry met her partner Jill 19 years ago and moved to Newton Abbot. She says that it is thanks to Jill and the children that she learned the importance of family and you will definitely be able to tell that from their shows. Kerry loves all types of music and will listen to pretty much anything depending on her mood. She and Jill have a passion for musicals and have been lucky enough to see many of them live after taking their daughter to see her first musical on her 8th birthday. Kerry started volunteering for Life Care Radio after she and Jill cared for Jill's mother and saw the difference it could make first hand.
Kev Fiford
Kev was born in 1957 and comes from Portsmouth where he presented a 1940s-1960s programme on Angel Radio. He moved to Brixham about 4 years ago and has continued producing a Classic Rock show for The Flash. Kev enjoys playing the drums, photography and meals out with his other half (who apparently gave him a tenner to add that bit to his bio!).
Andrew Gabbott
Andrew was born in Manchester in 1964 but spent his childhood in mid-Wales after moving there in 1968 in a house so old that the house next door had fallen down. Andrew spent his childhood building tree houses and Mid Wales was a fantastic place to be a child building tree houses etc. In 1978, Andrew moved to Torbay and has lived here ever since except for a brief spell when he lived just outside New York City US. Living in America was an awesome experience for Andrew and he met several people that he is still in touch with now. It was the complete opposite of Wales, going from possibly the quietest place in the world to the busiest. Back in Torbay, Andrew is married to Sally and has two bulldogs named Twig and RayDog.
Carol Grubbe
Profile coming soon
Mark Grubbe
Profile coming soon
Sian Lewis
Sian collects radio requests from the lovely members of Totnes Caring lunch club. These are then passed on to the fabulous Melissa who plays them all on her Wednesday “Now That's What I Call Lunchclub”. Though not Scottish, Sian was brought up in bonnie Dumfries
(aka Queen of the South) and her degree in statistics lead her down south to the University of Bath.
In a former life Sian was a professional modern pentathlete - travelling the globe and representing GB in World and European Championships (winning several of these titles with her team mates.)
These days Sian's life is a bit less jet-setting and some of her interests include yoga, singing, voluntary work and films.
Chris Sanson
Chris was born, some time ago, on the Wirral, but likes to try and get away with calling himself a scouser whenever he can. He's been a bit nomadic in his life and is now settled in Devon, having been here for 20 odd years (Very odd.....!) Chris's show is on Fridays from 12 noon until 2pm and features a mixture of all genres - literally, listen in and see for yourself - and includes uplifting and thoughtful messages to send you 'Free falling' into the weekend. His show features regular interviews and a weekly 'Connection selection'- 4 songs with a connecting theme for you to guess, (it's usually quite easy). In his spare time he enjoys taiko drumming, hockey, reading and photography. Send him a request, he'll apparently play anything except Boney M!
Phil Spicer
Phil has only recently officially joined Life Care Radio but has supported the station since it's beginning in one way or another. Phil has a range of technical skills which he is hoping to use to help the station to continue thriving.
Andy Silcox
Andy is from Brixham and enjoys singing and writing music. A wheelchair user because of a muscle condition, Andy is able to drive and get about and likes interviewing people and preparing audio bytes for use on Life Care Radio. Andy enjoys volunteering as he gets to meet new people and learn more about working at the radio station. As he's been performing music for many years and studied at degree level, he has a variety of technical and practical skills that we put to good use here at Life Care Radio
Jill Strath
Jill is originally a Lancashire lass but has been living in Newton Abbot since her folks bought a Hardware store and retired there in 1981. Jill's first job was in their shop and she fell in love with it. She learned from the best as her Mum and Pops had a cheery greeting and a kind word for everyone who range the shop door ball. Kerry has been Jill's partner for almost 19 years and although their children have grown and left, you will hear them talking about their family on their show as they both firmly believe that family is everything. Jill's music taste is random and she loves anything that makes her smile or that she can tap her feet to. She will usually sing along too although confesses that she might not always use the right words. Jill was drawn to Life Care Radio whilst caring for her Mum who suffered from loneliness. Jill was able to get it on her tablet for her to listen to and her Mum actually received our first on air dedication. Jill and Kerry's show is basically reminiscing, having a chuckle and playing uplifting songs that will hopefully put a smile on everyone's faces.
Stephen Sweeting
Stephen brought a passion for film and music from Bedfordshire to Devon in 2018 for a Film and Television course, Stephen has been working on Life Care Radio's social media presence and is hoping to do more. Outside of Life Care Stephen enjoys playing the guitar, listing to music, creating videos, photography and exploring history.
Stephen is currently embarking on a History Degree and we wish him all the best in his studies in Wales!
Brian Tucker
Although his real name is Geoffrey Brian Tucker, but every one calls him Brian! Brian was born in Hungerford Berkshire on 8th May 1938.
He joined the army at 18 to do national service for 2 years where he trained and served in catering .
Brian has an interest in electronics, I had his own electrical business for a few years, then joined BT as an operator and acting supervisor. After over 16 years with BT, he retired at 60.
Brian used to teach first aid to the public and BT staff for St John Ambulance and has travelled quite a lot having sailed on the QE2 5 years running and flown in Concord 5 years running! Brian loves music and often listens to Classics 80s music. He very much looks forward to entertaining you.
Claire Turner
Claire's wonderful Father had Alzhiemers, and, whilst it was certainly a rollercoaster ride and there were tough times, she and her family were still able to have fun and make memories. When he had to go into a care home, Claire met Life Care Radio. One of our youngest request collectors with her mum came in to pick up requests. It's hard for people with dementia sometimes to remember what they used to love but Claire and her Dad had fun deciding together what song to pick and noticed that, with each song there were memories. At an Easter fete Claire met the Life Care Family. Claire says that Life Care Radio really is a family - fun and supportive and she felt so at ease that she quickly became a member of the team. At over 50, Claire has 3 wonderful boys, Matt, James and Ben and a husband who her dad adored. Claire works for the NHS but in her Life Care role can now be found doing request rounds at her local care home and is keen to get behind a microphone. She says that visiting residents and talking to them really gives her time to refocus in a busy and hectic life.
Bill Walsh
Bill was born on 15 December 1937 and playing football quickly became his passion. On leaving school, he worked in the construction industry before joining the Military Police. He was married in 1960 and has two children but divorced 2002. Bill served in the London Ambulance Service as a paramedic for 22 years before moving to Devon in 2004. Bill started working in community radio for 7 years before joining Life Care Radio where he is keen to give something back to the community. In his free time, he enjoys playing golf. Country music is in his blood, having followed it since 1955 - he hopes you will enjoy his shows.
Celia Wiltshire
Celia has, in the past, worked for Barnet Council as a craft instructor and keyworker, running a carer's group in their day centre and she has also worked in the Public Health Department. Celia goes with husband Colin to visit care homes where they speak to managers, install radio units and take requests from clients. She feels that it is important, as a volunteer, to put something back into the community. Having worked with the elderly disabled and visually impaired, Celia realises how important music is to these groups and has seen, in her previous jobs, how it can lift people's moods. Celia is a busy lady and enjoys a variety of hobbies including craft work, knitting, jewellery making and card making and she loves decoupage, parchment craft, iris folding and stamping. She also enjoys reading, gardening and cookery.
Colin Wiltshire
Colin, like his wife Celia, makes contact with nursing and residential homes, installing units and collecting requests for Life Care Radio. He feels that the work of Life Care is important in helping to entertain people in care homes, especially those with age related illness and dementia, providing music and interests, for example, comedy shows from their earlier years and trips down memory lane. Colin brings to the role a wealth of experience from a number of managerial roles, setting up retail outlets for a major catalogue company, working as a Facilities Manager for a computing company. Both Colin and Celia visit car boot sales, selling bric-a-brac to raise funds for Life Care Radio and can normally be found supporting various fundraising events. He enjoys going to auctions and the theatre.