Jackie joins Greener Growth CIC as a Non- Executive Director and has worked with Jo Metcalfe on a variety of projects over the last 10 years.
Jackie has held MD, Marketing and Commercial Directorships working with a variety of large and SME companies in a career spanning 20 years. She brings a wealth of experience in strategic business development along with practical implementation of commercial focus and support.
She has extensive experience of both on and offline consumer brand, marketing and business development across national brand day product categories and niche SME’s between £1m and £10m.
“It is a privilege to be part of such a driven and dynamic team. I hope my contribution will enable Greener Growth CIC to achieve it’s potential”
Joannah Metcalfe – Founder/Director of Greener Growth
I created Greener Growth following twenty five years of therapeutic practice. Recovering from serious ill-health during my late teens, I practiced a range of therapies which had a huge impact earlier in my life.
Greener Growth emerged as a result of these experiences and to find new methods of reaching more people in need. The concept was developed to incorporate fresh food-growing and environmental conservation as these areas seemed to me to offer a natural pathway to self-healing and growth.
Volunteering at Blundeston Prison and working with the inmates and psychotherapists at the Therapeutic Community (TC) for eighteen months gave me the ideal opportunity to trial some of the concepts I had in mind. Training with the late permaculture expert Patrick Whitefield and obtaining the certificate in Permaculture Design cemented these ideas.
Through the connections developed during this formative period I began to extend the range and scope of projects. As the Community Interest Company (CIC) was formed we were able to include prisons at different security levels; schools and rural and urban communities experiencing social isolation.
Kirsty has a degree in Primary Education and is extremely passionate about creating exciting opportunities for all children. She believes learning outdoors is incredibly important and that so much can be gained from ‘taking the classroom outside’.
Kirsty has been a teacher and leader in Suffolk for over 10 years. She is really excited to be supporting Greener Growth with the work they are doing to enhance children’s understanding and love for the outdoors.
Sam signed up to the concept at the very beginning, and has always shared the vision and values of this amazing CIC.
Sam has experience in retail, hospitality and the leisure industry, all mainly in sales, marketing and leading teams of people.
Now in his fifth year with Greener Growth, Sam can work alongside Jo and Clive full time, which is a phenomenal achievement and shows the sustainability of the business currently.
With a view to increasing commercial projects and running the school projects, Sam (along with Craig) is doing a 2 week permaculture design course in September.
Here’s to the next 5 years!!!
I arrived at Barnham Primary school in September 2017 to help erect a shed for the children’s gardening tools.
Having seen the problems that building work and poor land management can create, I was very keen to get on board to support the vision.
As a project manager with GG it is my role to deliver the plan that we have agreed with the client.
It’s a team effort from start to finish, but I love having the opportunity to make a difference to people’s environment.
We know what a massive impact that great outdoor spaces can have on people, especially the most vulnerable.
I’ve been in the construction business for 30 years, and more recently working for myself on many outdoor projects.
Whether it is a school permaculture garden, a community orchard, or a 90m live willow fence, we have the skills and drive to get the job done.
With the support of our followers, friends and funders, I hope to be making a difference for many years to come…
I am a qualified accountant, and have worked exclusively with charities and social enterprises for over twenty years. My financial management experience has been applied in organisations that work in mental health, the rehabilitation of offenders, supporting carers, fair trade and many others.
In my spare time I grow lots of fruit and vegetables using organic methods. So I am very happy to be working with a team of people who are creating food producing gardens, and linking explicitly the process of nurturing plants and healthy eating to positive emotional and mental wellbeing.
I have degrees in Environmental Science and Environmental Assessment.
For thirteen years I led the Cheshire Wildlife Trust as its Director and latterly, its Chief Executive, as well as being the Managing Director of the Trust’s consultancy. Prior to this, my career lay in local government as a planning department ecologist in Cheshire.
During that time I was active in local environmental leadership, majoring on partnership working; I chaired both the Cheshire and Warrington Sustainability Alliance, and the Cheshire and Warrington Climate Change Group and was a leading figure in the Biodiversity Action Planning process for over a decade.
I have been Managing Director of my own consultancy company, Chris Mahon Environment (CME), since 2007. Interesting contracts which I deliver through CME include:
I currently live in North Wales and have been fortunate to have travelled extensively, having attended the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development as well as other international conferences, including the Convention on Biological Diversity and three IUCN World Conservation Congresses. I chair both a global group of regional representatives for IUCN and a similar network for Europe, North and Central Asia as well as having a wide network of environment contacts in the home nations of the UK.
Ben holds a diploma in Applied Permaculture Design and it known in particular for his work using permaculture with refugees and asylum seekers. Ben set up and runs The Grange in West Norfolk which offers courses and respite for people who have been forced to flee from their homes as well as offering courses in permaculture and traditional crafts. Previously Ben was the Campaigns Director of the Global Campaign for Climate Action which united hundreds of civil society organisations around the world campaigning for a global agreement to tackle climate change.
In his spare time Ben is a keen squash player and can often be found in the parks of Norwich pushing his young daughter on the swings.