My Story
Growing up as the youngest of four in a busy household, I may have found my first deep connection to nature as I lay in my pram under a tree in the garden. My love for exploring the natural world—climbing trees, tending to my garden, and riding my bike—became my constant companion amidst the complexities of human relationships as I grew up.
A pivotal moment in my childhood was when I saw a photo of a starving child during the Ethiopian famine. This sparked my lifelong passion for social justice and I began questioning how I could help create a more compassionate world.
My love for travel began at age four, when I moved to Belgium, visited France, Holland, Spain, Denmark and later fell in love with South American culture, leading me to Peru at eighteen. There, I connected deeply with children in an orphanage, learnt about trauma and healing, and discovered the power of female resilience and the wisdom of the elders.
Returning to the UK, I dove into activism—environmental, social justice, and women’s empowerment—and co-founded social spaces that supported a variety of community initiatives. At twenty, I joined my first women's circle in a beech woodland on the edge of a busy city, where we shared struggles, sipped herbal tea, and found strength in sisterhood.
This journey has shaped my work today, guiding others in reconnecting with nature and themselves.
My onward Journey
I hold a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Spanish, with a year in Peru working for the Institute of Quechuan Culture. My dissertation on Oral Storytelling fuelled my love for stories. I received a distinction in spoken Spanish.
After more travels and work in a South African township school (with in house training in special needs education) I completed an undergraduate degree in Waldorf Education followed by Class teaching at the Steiner Academy Hereford and craft training with Pyrites Practical Skills for Teachers. My spiritual path deepened through Waldorf Education, teaching me about healing my inner child and embracing nature-aligned rhythms.
Through observing the dynamics of social relationships in my work I saw the need to support the journey of girls at puberty as their bodies, minds and emotions shift into womanhood. I trained with the Rose Circle and created Lunar Girls.
For 20 years, I lived mostly off-grid, learning patience and reverence through the daily tasks of gathering wood and water, growing food and keeping warm in winter. From organic farming in New Zealand to teaching in Mexico, I learned the importance of resilience, struggle, and hope.
A life-changing accident led to a profound journey of recovery, self-discovery, and re-connection with nature. In recovery, I travelled to the Four Corners region of the US: Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico and connected deeply with the ancestors of that place. Out of the inspiration and skills gathered I built my tiny home on wheels, embracing autonomy and sustainability. Later to be joined by our handbuilt oak roundhouse. Which is now the workshop space within Nemetona, our woodland regeneration project.
Along the way, I founded Firelight: Hearth Centred Education, supported by my training as a Forest School Leader, over time, I found love, built a life with my partner and twin boys, and created Hearthlight—an offering woven together through fire, story, land, and love.
Hearthlight is inspired also by my training in Biographical Counselling Skills and Nature Based Facilitation. I am part of the Nature Health Practitioners Network.
In am also trained as a Mother Nature Facilitator and have completed an NCFE CACHE Level 2 in Mental Health First Aid and Advocacy. I am currently studying for a diploma in Holistic Biographical Consultancy.
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