Introducing our new team at The Gardeners' House

The Gardeners' House has reached a new milestone as the project recruits its new team to run our community building.

In addition to Miki Ashton - who moved from the Project Co-ordinator to Director of The Gardeners' House in January - and Kate Picknett, our Finance and Administration Officer, we are thrilled to announce the five new colleagues who have joined them to make up the organisation's core operations team.

We can now announce that the following people will be joining us from May 2025:

• Our new Collections Manager is Emily Goddard

• Our new Children & Youth Engagement Lead is Daisy Wright

• Our new Community Engagement Lead is Lauren Campbell

• Our new Business Development Officer is Rachel Booth

• Our new Caretaker is Hannah Roberts-Burt

Emily Goddard, Collections Manager

Emily has a background in collections care, exhibitions and preventative conservation. She has worked with a wide range of different collections over her time working in the heritage sector. 

Emily was born and bought up in Cornwall and has lived here most of her life. She finds the stories behind objects and archives fascinating. 

She loves the outdoors, walking around the coast paths, beaches and moors spotting flora and fauna, and swimming in the sea. 

She will be helping us to curate and manage our extensive collection of artefacts, with many pieces in storage relating to the natural environment of West Cornwall, and the stories of its people. She will also be looking at ways we can continue to grow that archive with your support.

Contact: emily@thegardenershouse.org

Daisy Wright, Children & Youth Engagement Lead

Daisy Wright

Daisy moved to Penzance from Bristol back in 2004. Drawn by her love and curiosity for plants she went back to college to learn horticulture and field botany, ran art, craft and nature workshops and joined community projects.

This led to a position at St Ives Secondary School as the Horticultural Tutor, where she helped students from across the whole school plant, grow, pick and cook in the school greenhouse and designed and ran all sorts of horticultural and nature based projects.

She has also worked as Outdoor Learning Coordinator at Alverton Primary School in Penzance, helping children transform their outdoor spaces and filling them with plants, trees and sometimes, chickens.

Trained in Emotional First Aid and being trauma-informed, having worked with and taught by people with individual learning needs, she loves to welcome everyone into learning about nature and their place in it.

Daisy's role at the Gardeners' House will be working with children and young people across West Cornwall, from school visits to youth groups.

Contact: daisy@thegardenershouse.org

Lauren Campbell, Community Engagement Lead

Lauren's background is community engagement and education in museums, arts and heritage. Her interests focus on how arts and heritage can improve wellbeing, reduce loneliness and help us feel more connected.

In 2023 she undertook the renowned Clore Emerging Leaders programme. In her spare time, she enjoys getting out on her bike and doing pottery.

Lauren's role at the Gardeners' House will see her primarily working with community groups and older adults, including our work with Pengarth Day Centre.

Contact: lauren@thegardenershouse.org

Hannah Roberts-Burt, Caretaker

Originally from the Midlands, Hannah moved to Cornwall in 2014 and has fully embraced everything our beautiful county has to offer.

With an extensive background in hospitality, property management and maintenance coordination, Hannah is delighted to be joining the team as Site Manager.

Hannah is passionate about collaborating with skilled professionals to bring projects to life and ensure everything runs smoothly.

She will be taking care of all things related to the management of our site.

Contact: hannah@thegardenershouse.org

Rachel Booth, Business Development Officer

With a career in advertising, design and latterly arts fundraising, Rachel’s professional life has taken her to Amsterdam, Berlin, London ….and then back home to Cornwall in 2020. 

Alongside her role as co-founder and workshop facilitator at Newlyn Fermentary, Rachel will be joining the Gardeners’ House as Business Development Officer.

Rachel co-founded the Fermentary in 2021. With her professional background it wasn’t the obvious next step but with a rural upbringing on a small holding in southern Ireland, collecting eggs and eating flowers, earning a living from fermenting local produce came naturally.  Working with local growers to develop seasonal ferments that support gut health and sharing this fermentation knowledge has been a driving force.

Since childhood, Rachel has had a meaningful relationship with the natural world - and a developing respect and understanding of the inter-connectivity between human and planetary health. 

Rachel is a member of the Fermenters Guild and has contributed to ‘Where The Leaves Fall’ a magazine exploring humankind’s connection with nature. She has also contributed to the journal for OmVed Gardens; a green-scape and learning hub in North London.

Rachel's work covers income generation for the Gardeners' House, - from venue hire to membership opportunities - and will see her exploring avenues for business development across the organisation.

Contact: rbooth@thegardenershouse.org

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These posts are funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and are made possible thanks to National Lottery players. The team are in contract until 2027.

The five new members join Miki, our Project Director, and Kate, our finance and administration manager.

Miki Ashton, Project Director

Following her early career as an artist, 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.

You can contact her on miki@thegardenershouse.org

Kate Picknett, Finance and Administration Officer

Kate is responsible for co-ordinating the finances for The Gardeners House - 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.

Kate can be reached on kate@thegardenershouse.org

The Gardeners’ House is dedicated to celebrating the unique stories of our community, celebrating the stories and the landscape of West Cornwall.

As we open the doors to our historic building in Morrab Gardens, we will provide a welcoming space for wellbeing workshops, community-led green projects, and a sensory garden.

Our new team will be crucial in developing the strands of the work we do, and we are excited to share updates with you once we open our doors next month.