Directors
Co-Founder and Creative Director
Laura Corfield
Laura Corfield stepped into the role of Creative Director at Shift Bristol in 2022, taking up the mantle from co-founder Sarah Pugh with a bittersweet mix of gratitude and vision. She brings her own unique flavour to the organisation, integrating her passion for social justice, environmentalism, local action & activism, and creative practice into a dynamic educational space where these elements complement and strengthen one another.
Deeply rooted in community and grassroots movements, Laura has been actively involved in sustainability and social change since 2004. Her experience includes co-founding Transition Keynsham and Frack Free Somerset, volunteering with a range of community engagement groups, and participating in climate action camps and demonstrations. In 2010, she co-founded Shift Bristol with Sarah Pugh, going on to project manage the Practical Sustainability Course until 2013, when she relocated to Frome and started her family.
Laura returned to Shift in 2020 to help the organisation navigate the shifting landscape brought about by the Coronavirus pandemic. Before stepping into her current leadership role, with the blessing from Sarah and very driven by a belief in the power of collaborative networks, self-empowerment, and learning rooted in lived experience.
Alongside her work at Shift, Laura is a solo/co-parenting mother of two young children and a budding collage artist. As of May 2025, she is also undertaking the 'With Nature' ICF coaching training programme with Earthself; further deepening her commitment to regenerative practice and nature-connected leadership.
Director
Bryher Bloor
Bryher worked as project manager of the Practical Sustainability Course from 2017-2021; fresh from co-ordinating volunteers for the Permaculture Association International Convergence and several years working with forest schools. She has since worked as a Campaign Manager for Green Party during its 2021 election campaign and is now an Outreach Coordinator for the Landworkers Alliance's 'Future Farming Resilience' project. Through collaboration and connections fused during Shift Bristol roundhouse builds, Bryher co-founded ShelterCraft with a team of experienced builders, teachers, organisers and facilitators in 2022.
Director
Alex Reuer
Alex worked as project manager of the Practical Sustainability Course from 2019-2021, after completing the course as a student in 2017. This sparked a keen interest in permaculture, herbal medicine and forest gardening, which she has been pursuing ever since. She is particularly curious about urban spaces, what applied permaculture looks like in a city like Bristol, and how we can create resilient and healthy spaces for our communities in a context of climate breakdown. In 2023, she was lucky enough to move into the community build Merry Hill housing project in Lockleaze, where she is a founding director of the co-operatively run Residents' Assocation. Alex works as a consultant for the Orchard Project and has just completed her training as an arboriculturist. She runs a freelance tree care business and enjoys getting stuck in with local forest gardens and community orchards.
