I love stories so it will come as no surprise that I began my working life as a theatre director. From the primary school nativity through numerous school plays, followed by many happy years in youth theatre, I went on to undertake professional training at Contact Theatre through their Young Directors’ programme, and at Middlesex University, RESAD Madrid, and GITIS Moscow. From this starting point I began a creative journey which has now lasted for more than twenty years.

At the foundation of everything that I do is an exploration of stories – the ones we tell, the ones we would like to tell, and the ones that we haven’t even imagined yet. I am interested in the way that art and creative process can create new ways of doing things, and help us envisage alternative futures.

I am Director of Small Things Creative Projects, a fellow of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and the RSA, and am a Certified Permaculture Educator. In 2022 I launched the UK’s first Full Permaculture Design Course specifically focused on artists and creatives, and am one of the leading practitioners exploring ideas around permaculture design, imagination and art.

I am co-ordinator for a local community group working to maintain and improve 120 acres of meadows and woodland at the point where the River Roch and River Irwell converge in Bury, North Manchester.

My work bridges and unites a range of different disciplines.

Present:

• I design and curate creative public engagement events, activities and projects.
• I am Director of Small Things Creative Projects – a social enterprise that uses creative approaches in contexts of learning, change and development.
• I am trained as a Permaculture designer, undertaking my Permaculture Design Course with Angus Soutar, and I have completed a Diploma Applied in Permaculture Design. I am passionate about the way Permaculture Design can be used as a tool for social change and as a way to develop regenerative cultures, and am a certified permaculture educator and assessment level diploma tutor for the Permaculture Association.
• I write publications and develop creative learning programmes. I have also been in a number of different international research programmes focused upon different aspects of creative engagement. This has included work with / for Keele University, Making Space, National Football Museum, Manchester City of Trees and the Hereford Courtyard. I have edited two Treasuries For Participatory Arts and Older People for The Baring Foundation.
• I am an accredited coach and a member of the Association for Coaching. I enjoy working as a mentor supporting individual artists and creatives to identify what is really important to them, with particulalar focus upon developing more regenerative ways of working.
• I work with organisations to explore ways of working which bring a new ethical basis to projects and creative practice, particularly in relation to ecology, natural systems and regenerative cultures. Recent projects include work with Starling CIO, Bury Climate Hub, LeftCoast and Heart of Glass.
• I direct and create performances and participatory creative projects. I have created work for a huge range of organisations including: Manchester City Council, Contact, Manchester International Festival, London College of Fashion / University of The Arts, The Royal Academy, LeftCoast, ALRA, The Turnpike and The Library Theatre Company.

Past:

• I was Community and Education Director for The Library Theatre Company for over a decade developing and delivering innovative and impactful community engagement work across the City of Manchester, and creating unique performance work with young people through The Norfox Young People’s Theatre Company.
• I was one of the founding members of the Age Friendly Culture programme in Manchester. This is an internationally recognised programme of work which was a key part in Manchester’s successful application to join the World Health Organisation’s Age Friendly City Network. In 2010 they were the first city in the UK to achieve this recognition, as well as being one of the first cities globally. And in 2018 they became the UK’s first Age Friendly city region. The culture progamme was, and still is, integral to this programme of work.
• I ran The Storybox Project for 12 years – a ground breaking creative project which uses stories and imagination as a starting point to engage, enliven and empower people living with a dementia.

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