Paul Cunningham Nurses Charity was the vision of four of the trustees, who came together with the same ideas and desire to offer a much needed service. Jennifer Cunningham lost her son, Paul age 33, in 1994 to spinal cancer. Jennifer is the perfect person to offer a guiding and inspirational leadership to the charity. Paul spent six months in a Sue Ryder Hospice with Jennifer constantly by his side. Whilst they were both living in the hospice, she promised Paul to do something worthwhile in his memory.  She was waiting for the right time, people and opportunity to come along, so that she could inject her understanding, experience and passion.  Hence in 2008, the creation of Paul Cunningham Nurses Charity.

Jennifer Cunningham -  President. As a successful businesswoman, operating from three offices, in three different parts of the Costa Blanca, Jennifer has lived in Spain for 14 years and understands the needs of ex-pat communities on the Costa Blanca. Having known first hand the important role that specialist nurses have in the end of life process, Jennifer will be able to lead from the heart and head, offering valuable advice on this subject. Jennifer has a weekly article in possibly the largest free British newspaper on the Costa Blanca.

Geoffrey Gartland - Managing Director of The Round Town News. Geoff is well known along the Costa Blanca coast and the Canary Islands as the owner of The Round Town News Group, which has been firmly established in Spain since 2001, although he has been a resident since 1992.  He is a ''people'' person, charismatic, intuitive, emphatic and very supportive. He cares very much about the people who surround him and with whom he comes into contact. Geoff has many other skills, which he employs on a day-to-day basis, easily ackowledged by the success and ongoing expansion of The Round Town News Group.  In 2007, Aida, his mother was taken very ill and out of necessity Geoff employed a private nurse.  He was impressed by the kindness, care, time and dedication she gave to his mother, but finding her was a nightmare.  He recognised the lack of easily available and contactable nursing agencies.  The Paul Cunningham Nurses organisation and charity is one that he supports whole heartedly.  





Karen Mountfield - Treasurer Paul Cunningham Nurses supported Karen with her Mother in Law when she became ill here in Spain, her Mother in Law had to return to the UK. Karen asked if she could help in someway with the charity, although she is not a Nurse. Working for almost 25 years in the UK for Tesco in an HR/Training Role, both in the UK and Internationally, she has a proven track record as a Manager and also has expertise in planning, organising, budgeting and working remotely with a team. Karen leads the team of office volunteers, as well as being our Treasurer on the Board.






Susan Reader - Fundraising Manager. "Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain."

This is the philosophy of the new Paul Cunningham Nurses Fundraising Manager, Susan Reader. Susan has been given the job of taking on one hundred volunteers for the charity and to also raise much needed funds. Susan has been in Spain for seven years and lives with her husband in Quesada.

Since moving to Spain, Susan has worked as a sales consultant for a large property developer, and in marketing and sales for various different companies before being offered the PCN position.  Susan has over five years of experience as a volunteer for the Marie Curie Cancer Care charity in the UK, where she organised several events including charity balls and discos to raise money for the charity. For five years on the run, she along with other volunteers masterminded and organized the famous Daffodil Day Ball so she made the ideal candidate for the role of Fundraising Manager.

During those five years and thanks to her tireless contributions towards fundraising events that she helped to organize, Susan easily raised thousands of pounds for the charity, so she is well accustomed to fund raising and the management team at PCN know that she will bring this knowledge and experience to the charity and get the funds necessary to keep PCN running for years to come.

So far Susan has recruited around 40 volunteers to run the Charity Shop and canvass local businesses for help.  She has also supervised the distribution of 10,000 Red Carnations to shops, pubs and businesses for the Charity's first Carnation Day.

More volunteers are still needed, as Susan added "We need all sorts of people with all sorts of skills, because I cannot do this on my own."

Lead Nurses l to r Gina Palamartschuk, Sarah Plant, Susie McCrossan




Gina Palamartschuk - Lead Nurse Gina qualified as a staff nurse in 1987 and worked at the Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham, on a medical ward for 8 years.  She then worked at the City Hospital in Nottingham as a senior staff nurse on a surgical ward that specialised in urology and gynaecology for 2 years.  Gina then had a year on a general surgical ward in order to gain as much experience as she could to work as a confident community staff nurse.
Gina worked as a senior community staff nurse for 11 years before moving to Spain.  During which time she gained a vast amount of experience and knowledge nursing terminally ill patients in their homes as well as general nursing.When Gina moved to Spain she was very surprised that there was no equivalent to a district nursing service.  Gina met with Jennifer Cunningham, and along with 2 others became one of the 4 founder members of Paul Cunningham Nurses in March 2008.

Sarah Plant - Lead Nurse After 10 years working in a Nursing Home in the UK, Sarah gained her NVQ levels 2 and 3 and became a Senior Carer. She gained great levels of knowledge and experiences working in this environment caring for terminally ill patients, and supporting their families. 
Sarah then trained as a nurse, and worked within many departments in a hospital finally becoming a Nurse in Accident and Emergency where she responded quickly and efficiently dealing with the varying and rapid workload. Therefore, she gained the great skill of thinking on her feet and responding in an ever changing environment.
Sarah is trained as a Diabetic Nurse, and also as a Drugs and Alcohol Counsellor.
Sarah was one of the first nurses to join Paul Cunningham Nurses in April, 2008.



Susie Mc Crossan - Lead Nurse After qualifying in 1997 with a diploma in nursing, Susie went straight into Intensive Care where she worked in this field for a number of years, and during this time gained her BSc in Critical Care.
Susie also has experience with Care of the Elderly and Mental Health (residential care) as well as working as a nurse in Her Majestys' Prisons (HMP) service.
Susie trained and worked in South West Scotland before moving up to the central belt again, working in Intensive Care before finally moving up to the Highlands before moving to Spain.
Susie moved to Menorca where she worked in several non-nursing fields before getting a nursing post in the local private hospital once again working in her own field of Intensive Care, she also gained experience working in the Accident and Emergency Department.
Susie continued working in Menorca for a few more years before family commitments brought her to the mainland where she joined Paul Cunningham Nurses in 2009.






Karen the Office Administrator, with Pam and Helen 2 of the La Marina Office Volunteers








All photos (except Jennifer Cunningham and Geoff Gartland) courtesy of Keith Nichols




Updated 13 September 2011