Meet the Team
A dedicated and passionate team has been formed to help to transform The Gardeners' House and bring this building back to life. Inspired by the work of Dr Melissa Hardie-Budden at The Hypatia Trust, we want to create a space which is at the heart of our community and celebrated the natural environment of Penwith.
We have registered with the Charity Commission as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). Other local organisations will play an important part in the project, but as a CIO we will be able to take the lead in raising funding, commissioning the necessary renovation work and then managing the building. We are governed by a Board that currently comprises six Trustees with support from a Project Coordinator and an Administrator.
We are registered with the Charity Commission as The Gardeners’ House – Penzance and our registration number is 1195599.
Our Board of Trustees
Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees
Rachel Lambert
Rachel is a foraging guide (since 2007) and award-winning author. As well as a love of plants and people, she has a background in community consultation, community nutrition and the creative arts.
She has written four books on foraging and cooking and is a contributor to a book on the nature of the body.
Her background is in the arts, play-work, community development, environmental education, somatic bodywork and movement therapy and coaching.
Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees
Doreen Pinfold
Formerly a university librarian, Doreen has worked in the education sector for most of her career and has an interest and expertise in library collections and archives, both heritage and contemporary.
Doreen has been involved in the project from an early stage and is looking forward to bringing the building back to life . She is also a trustee of The Hypatia Trust.
Board of Trustees
Tamsin Daniel
Tamsin began her career in heritage as a museum curator, firstly with the Victoria & Albert Museum, before returning to Cornwall as Curator of Art & Exhibitions at the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro.
She has served as President of the South Western Federation of Museums
& Art Galleries and has represented the South West on the board of the Museums
Association. From 2019, Tamsin has been Cornwall Council’s Heritage Services Manager delivering great outcomes for heritage, the historic environment and communities.
Board of Trustees
Paul Brett
After graduating in Agricultural Science and completing postgraduate research on animal nutrition, Paul worked for several years as a nutritionist for an agricultural supply company.
During this time he became aware of the potential for information systems in business, and moved initially into IT support and then management of applications software.
He has been actively involved in volunteer groups for many years, mostly working on
conservation of the natural environment. Since retiring in 2016 Paul has worked as a
volunteer in Morrab Gardens, with the Penzance Flora Group and with the Penwith Landscape Partnership.
Board of Trustees
Jane Forsyth
Jane is Cornish and spent her childhood in Marazion. She studied economics and geography at Exeter University and town planning at PCL.
After eight years of working in local government, she joined a national economic development and regeneration consultancy in London, and in 1994 returned to Cornwall and set up a branch in Truro and then Exeter.
She worked on a wide range of projects
including feasibility, funding and appraisal projects. In her spare time she chaired her local gardening club; was treasurer of a community arts building in Lerryn and of the West Cornwall Arts Society and is now treasurer of the Gardeners House project.
Board of Trustees
Gill Mulholland
Teacher, outdoor educator, trauma-informed school practitioner and passionate champion of nature-connected learning, Gill joined the Eden Project in 1998 to establish the early education programme for schools and build the education team.
She now leads Eden’s work with schools to develop nature-connected, outdoor learning and play. Gill is interested in the science of nature connection and the powerful blend of stories and creativity to help children connect, explore and express their relationship with the natural world.
In her spare time, you will often find her gardening or rummaging around in wild places making things out of natural finds.
Board of Trustees
Sue Hill
Theatre-maker, gardener, writer, storyteller, curator, maker of giants/goddesses/creatures out of mud, sticks and plants, Cornishwoman.
Sue has travelled the world, making theatre in unlikely places with Kneehigh and WildWorks, from the Green Line in Nicosia to Kensington Palace, via Soweto and Scilly. With her brother, Pete Hill, she has made many large scale earth sculptures including the Mud Maid and Giant at Heligan and Eve at Eden.
She was Artistic Director of the Eden Project for seven years and she now works on the new Eden Projects that are being developed . She is a Fellow of Falmouth University.
Board of Trustees
Catrina Saunders
After an earlier career as a field archaeologist, Cat has worked for the National Trust for 20 years, the last 15 as Head Gardener/Garden Manager at The Courts in Wiltshire, Overbeck’s in south Devon, and currently at Trengwainton and Godolphin in Cornwall.
She qualified as M.Hort in 2017, with a dissertation on the early twentieth century Japanese gardens in Britain.
Special interests include garden management and garden conservation, and she has written three conservation and management plans for the gardens she's been involved in.
Our Core Project Team
Project Co-ordinator
Miki Ashton
Following her early career as an artists, Miki moved to Penzance from London in 2003 and from 2004 - 2015 she set up and ran The Lime Tree Restaurant with her husband Justin,.
Since 2015 Miki has been working with private clients creating interior spaces for both home and work and designing websites for local artists and small businesses.
Alongside this she freelances for the Hypatia Trust, overseeing the day-to-day running of the trust as well as being
involved and contributing to the various individual projects run by a talented team of freelance contributors. Miki has been fully involved with The Gardeners' House project from the outset.
Project Manager and Quantity Surveyor
Trevor Humphreys
Trevor is an experienced Project Manager and Chartered Quantity Surveyor with a wealth of projects in heritage, arts
and the natural world.
For many years Trevor has had direct experience and success in grant aided
work such as the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council, Historic England, Architectural Heritage Fund and ERDF programmes.
Past clients include Bristol Zoo Gardens, Avon Wildlife Trust, Devon Wildlife Trust, Cornwall Council and Clevedon Pier. Previous projects include Porthmeor Studios, Porthcurno Telegraph Museum, King Edward Mine and CAST Studios in Helston.
Project Administration
Kate Picknett
Kate is responsible for co-ordinating the finances for The Gardeners House project including working with major funders, managing cash flow and paying the bills on time.
Kate has a background in finance and project management and has worked in the private, public and charity sectors in Cornwall for the last 25 years.
She is a keen advocate of the benefits to both mental and physical health of being in the outdoors.
Architect
Neil Wall
Neil is a design focused Architect with a particular interest in the meeting of old and new and in making energy efficient low carbon emitting buildings.
Neil is Conservation Accredited and is
Director of Studio West Architects in which he practices. He has been a registered and chartered Architect for 15+ years.
Prior to forming Studio West
Architects Neil worked as a Project Architect for Niall Phillips Architects (Latterly Purcell) on numerous HLF/Arts Council funded projects which were exclusively Listed Buildings and with
modern/contemporary interventions.
Marketing and Communications
Lauren Webb
Lauren Webb is our freelance marketing manager. She runs a communications consultancy, Roscoe Communications, helping tourism, arts and culture organisations in the South West make an impact with their marketing.
Her client list, past and present, includes Eden Project, St Michael’s Mount, The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Hall for Cornwall, Eden Project Communities, Tate St Ives, Cornwall Museums Partnership, Lappa Valley, Geevor Tin Mine, Krowji, and Trebah Garden.
She helps The Gardeners' House project with both strategic marketing support and day-to-day delivering integrated marketing campaigns across multiple channels.
Fundraising
Laurel Miller
Laurel Miller is The Gardeners' House project fundraiser. She has worked on the project for 22 months and co-ordinated the consultant team that developed the successful application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for £2.2million.
Her expertise is in fundraising in the heritage sector, with a background of working at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, following a 20-year career as a heritage education and outreach specialist.
With a passion for the environment and a background in archives, Laurel loves working on a project that will bring nature to the fore in the heart of Penzance.
Vital support
comes from:
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Richard Gowan Consulting Limited
SERVICES ENGINEER
Stephen Hird
SENSORY GARDEN DESIGN TEAM -
SENSORY TRUST
Helen Rosevear
Jane Stoneman
Katie Jenning
ACTIVITY PLAN CONSULTANT - CONNECT THE DOTS
Jenifer Macindoe
Alice Imbert
BUSINESS PLAN CONSULTANT
Samantha Jackman