Shared Earth Learning is a charitable community benefit society. Our aim is to nurture a love of nature.

I have been working with young people in and out of schools since 1999. I qualified as a secondary English teacher in 2002 but finding that most children and young people are more relaxed outside than in, and struggling to get them outside at mainstream schools I gained my Forest school leadership qualification with Archimedes in Spring 2011. I now happily work as a forest school leader and co-director of Shared Earth Learning

Growing up in the Cornish countryside fuelled my passion for nature and the need to protect it. I’ve gained qualifications in environmental conservation, animal science/care recently gained my level 3 forest school leader qualification. I started at Shared Earth Learning helping out with play rangers and have become more involved as my children got older. I want to help as many people as possible build a connection with nature and make forest school accessible to more children.

I have worked with children, young people and marginalised adults in various different settings for my whole career. I have a Mental Health First Aid certificate. I’m a qualified playworker and have run a local playscheme. I have worked with children and adults with additional support needs in different settings. Having children also drew me into running different voluntary community groups including The Woodcraft Folk. I began volunteering with Shared Earth Learning and in this wonderful organisation I witnessed the enormous value and scope of outdoor education and it became clear my path was to finish what I’d started many years previously and become a fully qualified Forest School leader. The Forest School ethos sits in harmony with my belief in the powerful benefits of nature and the outdoors for all our mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing. As a Forest school leader one is a facilitator, an enabler for everyone to find the learning that resonates with them. I enjoy horse-riding, gardening and volunteering for local causes, including an equine therapy farm.

I joined SELCo as a volunteer in 2017, and began helping Alex with marketing and business planning. In 2020 I became a non-executive director, and my focus now is on supporting our co-op as it grows, and helping the Forest School leaders to develop and promote outdoor learning and wellbeing sessions. I’m not as practical or weatherproof as the Forest School leaders, but I can help them to fundraise, organise and publicise SELCo’s work.

If you email us, I am likely to be your first point of contact. I manage our finances, and support the team to create the best sessions and offers to our participants and partners. I am a local home educator, passionate about intrinsic motivation, autonomy and playfulness, as well as social and climate justice. I love learning, nature and movement. So I’m glad to use my skills to help make nature and forest school accessible to more people.