Downwood Veterinary Centre

Jo Bellis

Practice Principal, Cat advocate

BVM&S MRCVS

Since January 2019 Jo has become the new principal of Downwood Veterinary Practice Ltd. She is keen for Downwood to remain the friendly, independent practice that Robin spent many years creating, providing high quality medical and surgical services for your pet.

Jo qualified from Edinburgh University In 2006 and after 4 years of working in mixed practices she became a small animal locum working locally. She enjoys all aspects of small animal practice but has a keen interest in small animal surgery and she is a qualified acupuncturist.

Jo is married and lives with Ian, an equine Vet. They have 2 children and share their house with their rescue dog, two cats and three alpacas! Outside work Jo enjoys spending time with her family and the occasional round of golf.

Tom McNaughton

BVSc MRCVS

Tom graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science from Massey University, New Zealand in 2010.

He spent his first year in practice as an intern at a specialist clinic in Auckland, before returning to the UK where he grew up.

Since then he has been working in small animal practices across the South East and has neutered over 600 cats for charity projects in Greece.

He joined the Downwood team in October 2021.

At home, Tom is married to a wildlife vet. They have just welcomed their 2nd baby boy to the family. They also share their home with 2 very excitable cats called Orca and Nia.

In his spare time, he enjoys outings with his family, cycling along the South Downs and the occasional game of tennis.

Danielle Holcombe - Law

DrMedVet MRCVS

I'm a dedicated small animal vet with a GPCert in Feline Practice, meaning I have an extra passion for all things cat! My professional focus is on soft tissue surgery, but what I truly adore is meeting our wonderful furry clients and making their experience at the clinic as stress-free and positive as possible. When I'm not at the practice, I love spending time with my family; my husband, our two girls, and our two beloved cats. We enjoy exploring the beautiful East Sussex countryside together. I am also committed to giving back, and have recently started fundraising for animal welfare charities that support pets in war-torn countries.

Elly Brocklebank

BVMedSci BVM BVS MRCVS

Elly graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2012, and worked for a veterinary charity for the last 10 years, in Leicester and more recently in Brighton, when she relocated to East Sussex to be closer to family. Elly joined Downwood in Feburary 2023, working 3 days a week.

Elly has 2 young girls, Emily and Olivia, that keep her and her husband busy/tired! Outside of work they enjoy trips out as a family, messing around on the water around the IOW, bike rides, and trips away in their caravan.

Natalie Roberts

Head Nurse, cat advocate

RVN

Natalie qualified as a Veterinary Nurse in 1998 and became Head Nurse at the practice where she completed her training.

She changed careers in 2002 and became a veterinary sales representative for a large veterinary pharmaceutical company. She soon missed the nursing side of the job and returned to nursing. Natalie really enjoys general nursing, she has a special interest in theatre and inpatient care.

She joined Downwood Veterinary Centre as Head Nurse in 2004, She is also our Insurance claims administrator, fixer of all things and our IT specialist!! She lives locally with her husband and 2 sons and their young puppy Ronnie!

She enjoys baking, walking, socialising with friends, going to the cinema and dining out. She also enjoys foreign travel especially cruises!

Rebecca Saunders

RVN

Rebecca qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2004. Since then she has worked at a variety of local practices as head nurse, senior nurse and clinical coach.

She has also spent a period of time teaching veterinary nursing at the local agricultural college.You may remember that Rebecca Previously worked at Downwood (for 12years) and she has just rejoined the team as RVN and clinical coach.

She enjoys all aspects of nursing but especially mentoring the student nurses and nursing clinics.
She lives with her husband, 2 children, dog, 2 cats, 2 rabbits and plenty of fish!

Annette Smith

RVN

Annette joined Downwood Centre in March 2021 after an 8 year break from Veterinary Nursing. Annette qualified in 2005 as a Veterinary Nurse, after quite a few years in practice she went on to teach Veterinary Nursing at Plumpton College.

Annette is also a qualified equine and human sports massage therapist which she does in her spare time.

She lives locally with her husband, 2 girls, a black lab called Sparky and their 2 cats Poppy and Dude.

When she has any spare time, she enjoys keeping fit, walking, socialising with friends and eating out.

Nicola Bly

RVN

Nicola is originally from Nottingham and qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2011.

She moved to London in 2013 and during this time worked in a wide variety of practices including 1st opinion, referral and charity.

Continuing her journey down south, she moved to East Sussex in 2021 and worked in both a locum and permanent capacity before arriving at Downwood in 2024.

She lives with her husband and their Cocker Spaniel Judy and two cats Stanley and Sid. Outside of work she enjoys gardening and exploring the beautiful East Sussex countryside and coastline with the dog!

Michelle Westlake

DipAVN(small animal) RVN

Michelle qualified as an RVN in 2001 and worked for many years at a busy small animal referral and emergency hospital seeing a variety of critical cases.

She achieved a higher education diploma in veterinary nursing in 2011 and a BSc hons in clinical veterinary nursing in 2014. She hasdeveloped a keen interest in senior pet care.

Michelle went on to become a lecturer at Plumpton college before returning to clinical practice at Downwood in March 2023, she is loving being back to hands on nursing.

Home life is busy with a young daughter, her cat Pippin and tortoise named Joey. In her spare time she enjoys getting outdoors with friends and family, Pilates and classic cars.

Rumer Crawford

SVN.

Rumer started with us in June 2022 as a kennel assistant, she is now in her final year training as a student veterinary nurse, which she started in January 2023 at Plumpton.

Before joining Downwood, she had spent a year volunteering at a wildlife rescue centre.

Rumer has grown up around a variety of animals including small and farm animals. She has always wanted to pursue a career in animal care.

In her spare time she enjoys socialising, walking her terrier "Poppy" or riding / competing her horse "Conker" locally.

Maria Brett

Practice Manager, Cat Advocate

VPAC APHC

Maria has been working within the Veterinary Profession for the past 30 years, previously nursing and then in administration and management. She joined us as Practice Manager in 2007.

Maria is also an advanced Pet Health counsellor, she runs our weight clinics and is a mental health first aider. In 2019 Maria also competed a course on bereavement support. ( read about bereavement support on "saying goodbye" tab).

In her spare time she enjoys looking after her 2 cats, guinea pigs and her rescue dog Ollie.

Maria is married and met her husband Phil who worked for a local animal rescue centre, at Downwood!

Jan James

Jan has worked as a receptionist at the Downwood Veterinary Centre since February 2006.

She has had many years experience dealing with the public in various working environments. In her spare time she enjoys walking her new rescue Lhaso Apso "Pebble", socialising with friends, eating out and foreign travel.

At weekends she is an avid clay pigeon shooter with a local club, she has won a couple of C class competitions. She has recently become a Grandmother and is enjoying spending time with her new grandson.

Sam Pindard

Sam has worked as a Veterinary receptionist since 2007 in local practices. She joined the Downwood team in July 2023 and works at our Ringmer branch.

She loves working within the animal industry, she has a passion for dogs and when she is not at work, she enjoys dog grooming at home, going to dog shows and events.

Sam also loves spending time with her family and holidays with her friends!

Sam has 2 dogs, a toy poodle called Lulu and a lurcher called Autumn, she also has a tabby cat called Chester

Lisa Chase

Lisa Joined our receptionist team in 2022 and has just started attending Plumpton college to become a fully fledged Animal nursing assistant.

She has several years of experience in customer facing roles and holds a degree in animal management.

Lisa lives locally with her husband and 2 young kids

Lisa is a Shodan ( a black belt) in Karate and won gold in the world championships in her category in 2015!

She enjoys crafting and loves crocheting cute outfits and accessories for the family. She also has a love of learning and has just completed a Swedish massage course.

Heather Osborne

Heather joined our reception team in October 2024 after moving back to the UK after living in New Zealand for 16 years. She brings a huge amount of experience with her as before moving to New Zealand, Heather worked in numerous Veterinary practices as a qualified Veterinary Nurse. She has a border collie and a very soppy flat coat retriever cross at home and loves going out for long walks with them. In her spare time she loves to bake, enjoys helping her husband on the farm and her favorite thing is cooking a huge Sunday roast and inviting her whole family, luckily she has a very large dining table!!

Our team

Our Vets