Joanna Critch

I’m delighted to be joining the North Star Cancer Collective’s Lived Experience Advisory and Action Group. As the parent of a teenager diagnosed with cancer, I’ve experienced the reality of being suddenly thrown into a system you never expect to navigate.

At the same time as trying to understand treatment, logistics, and unfamiliar medical language, you’re coping with the fear that your child has cancer, managing travel and financial strain, and still trying to support the rest of your family. Where you live, how far you are from treatment, and the resources around you all shape that experience in ways that aren’t always recognised.

I want to help ensure families feel heard, supported, and understood throughout their whole journey, not just during clinical appointments.

Professionally, I’m the CEO of a thriving grassroots charity rooted in community, connection, and equity. My work is centred on leadership that listens, brings people together, and challenges systems to work better for those they’re meant to serve. I’m involved in influencing change locally and nationally, with a focus on improving access, reducing inequalities, and ensuring services are shaped with people, not imposed on them.

Collaboration, respect, and practical action are core to how I work, whether that’s contributing to research, working with partners across sectors, or creating space for voices that are often missing from decision-making.  I’m hoping to help turn experiences into action, and to make sure the voices of those with lived experience help shape what comes next.