Sinead is the Site Manager at Sizergh, with over 30 years’ experience of working in the voluntary and public sectors in Cumbria, London & New Zealand. She has managed a number of projects and run an accessible outdoor activity centre in London. Sinead supports the staff team and is responsible for the day to day running of activities at Sizergh.

Rebecca joined Growing Well in 2023 and supports with our fundraising. She works closely with our site teams to build relationships with local businesses and other supporting partners. She has over 28 years experience of working in the health sector initially as a pharmacist and more recently in service development, change management and customer service roles in the private sector.

Having joined Growing Well as a core volunteer, Sarah supports volunteers with their wellbeing, setting goals and monitoring their progress. Sarah has a military background and significant management experience.

Sharon manages all of the office requirements of the charity and is one of the first faces people will see at Growing Well. She supports volunteers throughout their journey here, on a practical and administrative level.

Simon has worked at Growing Well for almost five years, having previously worked as a Grower for a local two Michelin-starred restaurant. He began his work here on a commercial salad project and his role has developed into a wider commercial growing one. He also runs the volunteer field activity one day per week.

Mark is a Therapeutic Grower based at Sizergh. He has worked at sustainable agriculture projects around the world and was previously growing high end, organic vegetables for London restaurants and veg box schemes down in Sussex. Mark also photographs and documents our work on social media.

Meilyn started at Growing Well in 2021 as a part-time seasonal grower, before becoming our Therapeutic Caterer. Meilyn has now returned to the field as a Therapeutic Grower. She has a background in compliance of disability services and holds the RHS Level 2 in Principles of Horticulture.

Sandra is the cook for our Kendal site, cooking up a storm using our surplus produce and ensuring everyone gets a hot, healthy meal.

Lorri is the Manager at Tebay and is passionate about helping people. She has significant charity management experience. Lorri supports the staff team and is responsible for the day to day running of our mental health intervention and our commercial activities at Tebay.

Kate oversees the office and administration needs of our Tebay site and is the first point of contact for those wanting to volunteer with us. Kate has worked in the arts and cultural sector in Cumbria for over 20 years, managing both adult learning programmes and creative projects with young people and their communities.

We have recently recruited Fiona to this position and are delighted that she will be joining the team at Growing Well at Tebay Services - further information will follow soon.

Fiona has recently joined the team as a Therapeutic Grower and will be working alongside volunteers both at Sizergh and the new Tebay site. She previously worked as a youth and community worker in East London for over 10 years before taking the decision to retrain in horticulture and comes to us from an organic farm in Northumberland where she grew veg for a box scheme and farm shop.

Dan started volunteering at Growing Well in 2021 and has since gone on to establish two organic kitchen gardens growing for Michelin Starred restaurants in Cumbria. His previous background in community projects and inclusive groups along with environmental charity roles.

Claire is our lunchtime assistant and cook, ensuring we are all nourished and enjoying the fruits of our labour at Tebay.

Hannah has recently joined the team at Growing Well in West Cumbria - further profile information to follow shortly.

Rachel is a qualified teacher and has hands-on experience of developing market gardens for community access and use. She is experienced in group dynamics and coordinating volunteers in horticultural learning activity.

Rachel has recently joined the team at Growing Well in West Cumbria - further profile information to follow shortly.

Mike is an experienced retail manager with excellent interpersonal skills. He is a skilled photographer and is motivated by supporting others and helping them grow.

Angela has recently joined the team at Growing Well in West Cumbria - further profile information to follow shortly.

Marzia is from Afghanistan and brings with her a wealth of culinary passion and experience. Marzia supports Growing Well with the preparation of lunches for our beneficiaries on our West Cumbria site in Egremont.

Mary leads Growing Well and works to strengthen the organisation and make it more sustainable, with the support of the in-house staff team and the guidance of our Board of Trustees. Her background is in rural and food development and 2018 she won a Churchill Fellowship to study international best practice in therapeutic farming.

Paul joined us in 2020 in a new role to maximise sustainable income from our organic growing enterprise. Paul is from New Orleans and has worked and studied in the US, Canada and China. He has a Masters in sustainable agriculture and was previously Head Grower for a local two Michelin-starred restaurant.

Duncan spent the last decade serving in the British and Australian Army as a Military Clinical Psychologist and has specialised in psychological trauma. In 2012 he was the first clinical psychologist to be awarded a commission in the British Army and has been responsible for the development of innovative mental health care and human performance programs in both the British and Australian Army.

In 2016 Duncan was awarded the Defence Medical Services Innovation in Clinical Excellence Award for developing and delivering MRT across the UK military. He passed pre-parachute selection to serve as part of Airborne Forces and took part in SAS selection in the Australian Army. He has provided front line psychological support in warlike, peacekeeping humanitarian aid and disaster relief operations in West Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2020 he served as Mental Health & Wellbeing Lead for UK Special Forces. Duncan has developed considerable leadership experience as the clinical lead in large multidisciplinary teams within the military, NHS and private sector. He has completed Community Action Research to explore and address inequalities in men accessing mental health services.

Hannah joined the Growing Well Team in September 2024 - more information about Hannah to follow.

Jim joined Growing Well as Chair in 2022. Jim started his career in corporate finance with Schroders from 1992-2002 in London and Paris. Latterly he has supported a number of businesses in retail and e-commerce as Chair including Feelunique, Seraphine and In The Style. He currently chairs The Cotswold Company and In The Style and is a board member of two other public companies.

Stewart retired in June 2021 after a 40+ year career where he led major business transformation and change management initiatives for Central and Local Government, Finance, Pensions, Rail and Nuclear. Stewart led Capita plc’s (FTSE 100) engagement with the Cumbrian nuclear industry, forming senior relationships with leading organisations and local political stakeholders whilst advising Capita plc on their partnership approach in the sector.

Simon joined our board in 2018 and has supported Growing Well through a significant period of change and development. Simon has a food and retail background, having worked for Riverford, John Lewis and Booths. He is now a private chef and lives locally, supporting our sites and staff with practical, operational and commercial expertise.

Helen is an experienced Development Manager at an established Cumbrian charity, with decades of experience in charity income generation and meaningful, positive engagement with all stakeholder groups. Helen heads up our Fundraising working group.

Tessa joined the board of trustees in 2022. She has significant experience in delivering support for those struggling with their mental health. She works locally as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in the NHS.

Joy Duxbury is a mental health nurse, professor of mental health and director of research for the Institute of Health at the University of Cumbria.

She has worked on numerous funded projects pertaining to mental health including the exploration of service user perspectives and implementation. Her national and international focus has been upon minimising restrictive practices across varied settings in the UK and globally.

Joy has written extensively on this subject of mental health over the past 25 years and secured several large grants to examine coercion and social injustices using participatory and co-creation methods.

As a result of her profile in this area, Joy was Chair of the European Violence in Psychiatry Research Group, sits on a number of national advisory boards and is currently Trustee and Chair of the Restraint Reduction Network.

In recognition of her work, she was awarded the Eileen Skellern Award in 2014 and more recently an OBE in 2021.