Rajal Middleton
Chief Executive Officer
We look forward to welcoming Rajal, who officially starts with us on 13 May 2025
Maree Burns
Clinical Manager
Maree joined the Grief Centre in September 2024 and brings a wealth of experience having worked in private practice, as a counsellor at Auckland University, as a Director of EDEN (Eating Difficulties Education Network), and most recently as the Clinical Team Leader at Wingspan. She holds a PhD in Psychology, a Bachelor of Social Sciences, a Graduate Diploma in Counselling, and is a full member of NZAC.
Maree has experienced significant loss in her own life including the death of her father when she was 17 years old. She describes working with and supporting people in grief and major transition, as a privilege. Having a safe space to share suffering and make meaning of loss is such an important part of journeying into a future. Ultimately this work is about what people love and value and assisting them to maintain connection with what really matters to them.
Outside of work Maree enjoys family time with her partner and two teenagers, good food and conversation with friends, reading, swimming, and visiting the family’s sited caravan in Waihi as much as possible
Brian Nicholas
Finance and Administration Manager
Brian has worked in New Zeland's non-profit sector for more than 15 years and has an extensive financial and administrative background. His passion is listening – he believes that everyone has a story, that all people have a voice, and everyone deserves to be heard.
Brian classifies himself as ‘old school’, mainly because he is of the generation that were taught to keep quiet when they were hurting and never to show emotion. He knows, from personal experience, that this is neither healthy nor sustainable, and that everybody will need someone to talk to at some time in their lives. He is grateful that wonderful organisations like the Grief Centre exist, grateful to be part of it and that he is contributing and helping people albeit in a small way.
Brian believes that humour and compassion are vital to maintaining a life balance. You will find Brian either, swimming, kayaking, on a squash or tennis court, with his head in a book, kicking or throwing a ball with the children and now grandchild, going for long walks or just simply wading in the shallows and using the quiet time to think.
Michelle Oxenham
Clinical Coordinator and Office Administrator
Michelle is our frontline employee. She has an extensive corporate background and is also a trained counsellor. She has the skills to engage with clients from all backgrounds and to gently and collaboratively assist them to begin their healing journey.
Having finally won her own life-long battle with depression, she remembers all too well the many people who assisted her out of the darkness. These days, it is an honour for her to assist those who are currently engaged in their own journey, as they struggle to cope with and emerge from, depression. From her own personal experiences, she knows that many suffer in silence.
Michelle is an active volunteer in her community. She is also passionate about photography and her large garden. She and her partner Matt love their staffie Barney, and greatly enjoy the beauty and adventure outdoors New Zealand has to offer. Good times with friends and family are very important to her.
Jemma Hoyle
Bereavement Support Coordinator
and Funding Manager
As Bereavement Support Coordinator, Jemma looks after our partnerships with funeral homes to provide after-funeral grief care to families. As Funding Manager, Jemma applies for many community grants and works with the team to develop other opportunities to raise funds for the Centre. All of the Centre's philanthropic support is used to fund or heavily subsidise our loss and grief counselling, support groups, resources, and education programme.
Jemma has found working with the Grief Centre both humbling and rewarding, opening her eyes to a type of support she never knew existed. Jemma is grateful every working day for the positive impacts she is helping the Grief Centre to create and is passionate about supporting the charity to grow.
In her spare time, you will find her playing with her young family, furry and not, on a little farm in North Auckland.
Cathy Williams
Events and Education Coordinator
Cathy Williams joined the Grief Centre team as a part-time administrator in September 2023 and became the Education and Events Coordinator in June 2024. Cathy is a qualified nutritionist and naturopath with a special interest in brain health and human behaviour. She has run her own consulting practice alongside administration and practice manager roles in both New Zealand and the UK.
London is Cathy’s second home – she went travelling to Europe with a friend and ended up living there for 11 years. Her Kiwi partner also joined her, and in 2022, their daughter was born in London. They returned home in 2023 to be closer to extended family (and free babysitters!).
Cathy is passionate about contributing to the improvement of people’s health and wellbeing, whether it is consulting directly on nutrition, or helping health and wellness organisations to thrive and grow. She enjoys music, going to gigs, travel, reading and good coffee!
Maja Perlic
Bereavement Support Coordinator for Australia
Maja joined the Grief Centre in 2020 when the organisation expanded their services to Australia. She was the first employee of the Australian branch and was instrumental in implementing our services there.
Maja has over 15 years of experience in finance and administration. She brings compassion and care to everything she does at work and in life, and people often say they can rely on her for just about anything. The work at Grief Centre is very important to her as she enjoys doing things that will help someone or potentially change someone's life, even in a small way.
Maja enjoys spending time with her family, reading, swimming, attending her kids' soccer matches and catching up with her friends over a glass of wine.
Paul Canavan
Grief Care Relationship Manager - Australia
Paul joined the Grief Centre in February 2024. He was previously the Business Manager at Burstow’s in Toowoomba and, prior to joining in the funeral industry, had a long career in finance and banking. In his role at Burstow’s, Paul worked closely with the Grief Centre team for over four years and saw first-hand how client families benefited from the Bereavement Support Service. He is a passionate advocate of after-funeral grief care and believes it has many benefits for both funeral homes and the bereaved families they support.
