Tutors with multiple sessions

For over 20 years Mike Feingold has been teaching Permaculture to, and learning from, communities around the world including Nepal, India, Palestine, Kenya and beyond. He has also been maintaining Royate Hill Community Orchard and an inspiring permaculture allotment in Bristol for most of that time. He is a founder member of the Bristol Permaculture Group and organiser of the Glastonbury Festival Permaculture demonstration garden. He is passionate about finding new and inventive avenues to redistribute local food 'waste'. Mike is one of the UK ‘s leading activist in sustainable and experimental gardening. (Permaulture)

Jenny Ford is a sustainable construction strategist working across many aspects of the built environment. She works with clients and stakeholders to raise awareness of and enable the transition to more low carbon, circular practice within new build, retrofit and reuse projects. She is motivated by material stories - past, present and future; the complexity of social, environmental and economic impacts; carbon literacy and supply chain/procurement practices. She is working toward bringing a circular construction material facility and building showpark to Bristol. She founded a not-for-profit members organisation called No Small Thing to showcase and share circular and regenerative activity in the region. (Retrofitting / Green Building)

Deborah Benham For the last 25 years I've been exploring, through various pathways, how humanity can become ecological citizens - positively contributing to our places and ecosystems, living within planetary boundaries, and helping to create a thriving future for humanity and the wider living world. I started out as a marine mammal biologist and wildlife guide, then becoming a sustainability trainer, deep nature connection practitioner and working within the Transition towns movement to support community led climate resilience. Most recently I’ve been diving into the wonderful world of biomimicry - becoming a systems level Biomimicry educator, supporting people and groups to reconnect with, learn from and emulate nature's patterns and principles. Hear Deborah talking on the Accidental Gods podcast. (Ecological Citizenship / Biomimicry)

Tim Foster has been teaching organic gardening courses in and around Bristol for 25 years. He has extensive experience of horticulture, gardening, landscaping, nursery-work, garden centre-work, tree-work and market gardening as well as a degree in horticulture and a BEd. He also has a keen interest in growing trees, wine-making and drawing. He has recently written two books, organic vegetable growing (‘Good Earth Gardening') and organic fruit growing ('Fruit for Life') (Organic Horticulture)

Danny Balla is a creative facilitator dedicated to ecological justice, community empowerment and facilitating systemic change. He explores human relationships with the world and each other through a combination of activism, participatory arts projects and community building, and has supported many organisations as a professional facilitator and trainer. His background is in immersive theatre, storytelling and film, and he is passionate about inclusive, experiential tools for participatory democracy. Based in Bristol, Danny is a dedicated Shifty and has been part of the Shift Facilitation Team for over 5 years. He is also a Director of Coexist, through which he is launching a project called The Bristol Commons - a community-building initiative bringing people from diverse groups into dialogue together through a cultural programme of events and community conversations around Rebuilding the Commons. He is also a founder of arts-activism collective CoResist, and a contributor on organisational change programmes such as Craigberoch’s Decelerator Lab and a Programme Lead and Trainer at the transformative youth organisation LIFEbeat. (Group Dynamics / Commoning)

After owning & running Ragmans Lane Farm since 1990, Matt Dunwell has gifted the farm to the Ecological Land Co-operative, and is now starting a new chapter and return to teaching. Matt and Ragmans Lane Farm have has hosted numerous courses over the last eighteen years for teachers such as Bill Mollison, Mike Feingold, Chris Evans, Andy Langford and Jude and Michel Fanton from Australia, Starhawk and Penny Livingston- Stark. Jairo Restrepo and Juanfran lopez have helped introduce biofertilisers to Ragmans which are now used on the farm to build system health. He has farmed livestock (cattle, pigs, sheep and poultry), vegetables, mushroom production and apple juicing. He co-authored the first Local Food Directory in 1997. He was a Trustee of the Tudor Trust for over 25 years. He is currently exploring regenerative agriculture methods. (Permaculture Design / Soil / Forest Gardening / Regenerative Agriculture)

Dr Emilia Melville has spent time working in several organisations in the community energy sector, including being a founder-member of Bristol Energy Co-operative in 2011, working for Carbon Co-op in Manchester, and Bristol Energy Network. Her work in community energy is underpinned by a systemic understanding of energy, from her engineering degree, and combines with her research on commons. Emilia is an experienced facilitator and researcher, whose interest is in democratising the changes we need to make to address the climate emergency. She is currently a director of Praxis Research and a Research Associate at the University of Bristol. (Commoning / Green Energy)

Hannah Padgett has over ten years experience involving communities in the design of the objects, environments and messages that fill their everyday lives. She has worked in areas such as street design, active travel, social health and public art, supporting key stakeholders and public champions, local authorities and institutions, businesses and individuals to come together to co-create outcomes that are informed by the people that use them. Hannah was a PSC student in 2018/19 and currently makes use of her shifty skills at the Ecological Land Cooperative as Community Development Manager, as Founding Director of Hay Regenerative Soils CIC and as an artisan cheese maker. (Community Engagement / Community Land Trusts)

Miriam McDonald is one of the co-founders of Holistic Restoration. A stark realisation of the disparate climatic, ecological and social crises faced by the world drove them to look for integrated solutions. As individuals, they dedicated their time to working and learning across conservation, agriculture, forestry, academia and community development. Together Mim and Rob have combined their knowledge and melded their experiences to form Holistic Restoration, a fully integrated framework through which to view our complex and myriad roles in the ecosystems that sustain us and from which we can forge a path towards regeneration. Since April 2022, they have been researching and demonstrating holistic restoration at a farm in the Derbyshire Dales. A place where Regenerative Production, Wilding and Nature Connection weave together for the benefit of people and ecosystem. (Soil & Ecology / Keystone Species)

Sagara Swier – Life has been an emerging living experiment of many chapters. His three acre Forest Garden, now 11 years old, is a synthesis of all that has gone before: studying then working in Horticulture in New Zealand, working as a professional Photographer, studying Psychosynthesis, becoming ordained and living for four and a half years on a Buddhist retreat in the mountains of Spain, working as a Sculptor and developing Land Art Projects with an unfolding curiosity and earthy inventiveness. An in-depth study of Forest Gardening led to absorbing many of the principles of Permaculture. All the way along Sagara has been developing the ‘Mandala Life Design’ as a means to help others uncover and live out their deep purpose. (Forest Gardening / Life Mandala Process)

Humphrey Lloyd is a grower and organiser at Three Hares Market Garden. Here they run an organic salad and veg operation founded on the principles of food sovereignty, located in the Chew Valley. Growing a broad range of produce and supplying their local community through a weekly Salad Drop scheme, as well through direct sales to restaurants and grocers. They are certified as organic with the Soil Association and we grow in a way that maximises both biodiversity and productivity. Tackling food poverty and working to improve the accessibility of high quality fresh produce is also central to their ethos. They are proud and active members of the small scale farmers’ union The Landworkers’ Alliance. Three Hares Market Garden is a tiny part of a global movement that is transforming our food system from the bottom up. (Organic Horticulture / Seed Saving / Local Food Systems)

Sarah-Poppy Jackson is a freelance facilitator and mentor across the UK and online, drawing on inspiration from ecoliteracy, regenerative economics, seventh-generation thinking, servant leadership, systems theory, ecopsychology, and love. Her diverse background includes an Economics degree, corporate experience in marketing, sales, and events, and managing fundraising in public and charity sectors. After the 2008 economic crash, Sarah embarked on a three-year journey through South America, exploring sustainable living and teaching. On her return, she worked in environmental education and completed a master’s degree in Regenerative Economics at Schumacher College/Plymouth University. A Schumacher Institute fellow, Sarah is co-founder and director of Catalista and the Strode Waterfall Land & Story Project. She stewards land using regenerative, permaculture, and agroforestry principles, recently certified by the Soil Association. Sarah is also the author of Reclaim Your Sht!*—a zine on our relationship with water and waste—and a mother of a three-year-old. She holds accreditation with the Natural Academy in Ecopsychology and Nature-based Practice and is a member of the Nature & Health Practitioners Network and the Climate Psychology Alliance. (Regenerative Toolkit : Nature connection practices)

Robyn Hambrook is a Bristol-based director, teacher and performer. With over 20 years experience she is a passionate practitioner of clowning, physical theatre, circus and street arts. She has a MA in Circus Directing, a Diploma of Physical Theatre Practice and trained with a long line of inspiring teachers including Holly Stoppit, Peta Lily, Giovanni Fusetti, Bim Mason, Jon Davison, Zuma Puma, Lucy Hopkins and John Wright.
Over the past five years she has been exploring the meeting point of clowning and a deep desire to address the injustices in the world. This specialism has developed through her Masters Research ‘Small Circus Acts of Resistance’, on the streets and in protests with the Bristol Rebel Clowns and in research residencies with The Trickster Laboratory. Robyn founded the Bristol Clown School. (Regenerative Toolkit : Clowning / Play)

Alice Gray is a permaculture farmer, teacher and consultant who helps to manage a community vegetable farm (Tyddyn Teg) in Snowdonia, North Wales that serves over 200 families via a weekly veg scheme. She is a certified Permaculture Educator who both organises and teaches full PDC courses and enjoys co-operating with and supporting other teachers. In addition, she works as a permaculture consultant in the international development sector and has been part of projects in Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Kashmir, South Sudan and Ireland. Alice gained much of her permaculture experience during 10 years living and working in the Middle East (primarily in Palestine) from 2006-2015, during which time she helped found and run an experimental permaculture farm as well as qualifying as a teacher and working as a consultant. She returned to the UK in 2015 to help with the establishment of Tyddyn Teg and has since enjoyed honing her skills as a grower and learning to function as part of a workers' co-operative - applying permaculture design to the visible and invisible components of a productive community farm. She lives in a caravan in a muddy field with her partner and 3 cats, alongside other Tyddyn Teg co-op members. (Permaculture : In action & Water)

Becs Griffiths from Rhizome Clinic holds a BSc (Hons) First class degree in Herbal Medicine. The National Institute of Medical Herbalists also awarded her the Arthur Baker Award for best final clinical examination in the UK and the Dorothy Carroll Award for top final clinical examination at UEL in 2009. In 2010 she established Rhizome Community Herbal Clinic, an established & trusted herbal clinic in Bristol, providing the highest quality healthcare using plant-based medicine. She continually furthers her herbal and clinical knowledge and has studied Appalachian Herbal Medicine with Alabama herbalist Phyllis Light, Chinese diagnostics and Chinese herbs with Dedj Liebbrant, at the Intuitive School of Herbal Medicine with Nathaniel Hughes. She is currently taking an accredited antenatal and doula training course with Amanda Rayment and Dominique Sakoilsky. (Herbal Medicine)

Annwen Jones from Rhizome Clinic graduated from The University of East London in January 2012 with a BSc (Hons) first class degree in Herbal Medicine. She was also awarded the Arthur Barker Award from the National Institute of Medical Herbalists for the best graduate. Immediately after she finished her training, she gained valuable experience working in London as part of the Herbal Barge project alongside respected herbalist Melissa Ronaldson, taking herbal medicine to different parts of the city via the waterways, giving health advice to the public, making medicinal herbal products and harvesting herbs. Her own clinical practice began in the autumn of 2012 when she began working as a herbalist with Rhizome Community Herbal Clinic, and then in 2013 as a herbalist in the complementary health low cost clinic at Wellspring Healthy Living NHS Centre in Barton Hill. Since then she has gained a wide breadth of clinical experience helping hundreds of people passing through the Rhizome clinic. She continues her professional development, attending conferences and seminars all over the UK and Ireland. (Herbal Medicine)

Tutors with one day sessions

Steve England is excited by all things 'Wild' from food to wildlife. He spends most of his time outdoors, learning, relaxing and teaching others. During his ten years training with the RHS and years of “in the field” he has gained masses of knowledge on plants, trees, fungi, flowers & animals. He runs 'Wild Food' events food those interested in everything from learning the basics of food foraging, expanding their knowledge of wild mushrooms, or just fancying a good day out in the woods to try some tasty wild foods. (Foraging / Ecology)

Ruby Scott-Geddes is a foraging teacher, multi-disciplinary artist and creative educator currently based in Bristol, UK. Their foraging workshops share knowledge of wild food, medicine and craft, and nurture creative and personal connection to nature: "I think there’s a lot of power to be found in foraging and spending time in the natural world: it’s a source of rest, community, inspiration, and can be a reckonable act of resistance against oppressive systems that seek to dominate through division. Spending time within –and as part of– entangled ecologies reminds us we are whole, and allows us to imagine and to create more liberated futures." Ruby also works as a freelance mycological & botanical illustrator, creating illustrated foraging ID posters and other printed goods, and works by commission for organisations dedicated to social and environmental justice. (Foraging / Creative Practices)

Andy Hamilton Andy Hamilton is a locally based forager and author. He's written a number of books including The National Trust's First Time Forager, the best selling Booze for Free and his spiritual, scientific and experimental delve into our past New Wild Order. He's been teaching on the Shift course for well over a decade and in Bristol for two, he specialises in teaching about the edible, medicinal and mixological uses of local, everyday plants and getting to know yourself through connecting with your local landscape. He's a keen and active member of the Association of Foragers and the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild. (Foraging)

Ben Gibson is the founder and head grower at The Fungi Folks, a mushroom farm nestled in the hills of South Wales. He was initially captivated by the medicinal potential of many native fungi, and has since fallen deeper down the Fungal rabbit hole progressing from his bedroom cupboard laboratory onto the farm where he now runs The Fungi Folks. (Mushroom Cultivation)

Ben Moss studied permaculture on the Sustainable Land Use course at Ragmans Farm in 2002 taught by Patrick Whitefield. He co-founded Bristol Wood Recycling Project in 2004, where he still works, as Director and Co-operative Secretary. Ben lives with his family in a caravan in the woods on their smallholding in the Chew Valley where they operate a social enterprise - Strode Waterfall Land and Story Project - and the early stages of a forest garden and agroforestry production system. He's also co-founder of Chew Valley Plants Trees. (Woodland Creation / Circular Economies)

Yaz Brien has been involved in grassroots organising and social movements in the UK and Americas for over two decades, bringing a queer, anti-racist and feminist perspective to all the work they do. They hosted a radio show on Bristol’s Ujima Radio for 5 years with a focus on active hope - covering topics related to the many intersecting crises we face, but rooted in conversations with people taking action within their local communities. Since 2019 they have worked for Transition Network to amplify stories of community led change from all over the world. (Transition Towns / Collective Visioning)

Jackson Moulding has worked in the field of community-led housing over the last 20 years. His background has focused on group self-build, self-finish, environmental sustainability, practical design, energy efficiency and renewable energy. Having been part of the development team for The Yard, where he built his own home, he has supported two self-finish projects, and has set up a pop-up build space where he is constructing modular timber frame homes SNUG Homes. Through Ecomotive, Jackson provides training in construction skills, along with consultancy and group support. He was a founding member of the National Custom and Self Build Association, and the Bristol CLT, and he remains a director of the Ashley Vale Action Group, which manages the Wildgoose Space, and owns Bridge Farm. (Green Building : Self Builds /Community Land Trusts)

Maddy Longhurst is an experienced community coordinator, campaigner and facilitator with focus on holistic placemaking, food system resilience and the protection of soils for nature recovery, health, and increasing citywide self reliance both systemically and personally. She brings the right people together at the right time, building bridges across difference. Maddy is also passionate about engaging young people in change making given that they are the ones inheriting all the challenges we've laid out for them. She is currently a Project Manager / Coordinator the for the Urban Agriculture Consortium, Director at Tiny House Community Bristol, and Gleaning Training freelancer at Feedback - Feeding People, Backing the Planet. (Commoning / Housing)

Rowan Sawday (Dizraeli) is a British rapper, poet and musician from Bristol, England. Though rooted strongly in hip-hop traditions, his work draws inspiration from old folk music, recognising the common ground shared by songs of the people from any point in history. Having struggled with his own mental health, which he spoke about publicly using his musical platforms, he now teaches and facilitates a Mixed Mental Arts™: seven week mental resilience course with Mycelium. (Regenerative Toolkit : Mind / Body connection and practices)

Affectionately known as Rubba, is an Afrikan/global dance extraordinaire, celebrated performer & teacher. Rubba picked up his nickname as a 16-year-old whilst living on the street of St Paul’s Bristol, where he discovered his innate desire to dance. He instinctively knew that even if he had nothing else going for him, at least he could dance his troubles away. His spiritual approach, fluid technique, supple movements, and graceful style of dancing has endeared him to audiences, fellow dancers & students all over the world. Without doubt he is versatile and one of a select few who can; perform, teach, deliver excellent workshops and implement meaningful projects. He only lives for one thing and that is to continue offering African holistic and traditional forms of expression towards. What he has learned from a life dedicated to this form of expression is that it is not just about dance; but a life enhancing holistic practice, that will definitely improve mental and physical wellbeing. Rubba’s passion and love for African Dance and drumming has permeated every aspect of his life and is clear to anyone who has the pleasure of being taught by him or working with him. Click here for more in depth bio. (Regenerative Toolkit : African Drumming)

Siân Kidd is a Bristol based artist and puppetry practitioner whose expertise ranges from puppet making and direction through to creative consultancy and arts education. Driven by a passion for sustainability and environmentalism, Siân is inspired by nature, often using natural materials and found objects within her work. She enjoys exploring the themes of mortality and wildness, finding the stories behind objects and celebrating the curious and playful in the everyday. She is also a founder of Bristol's Secret Soup Society; a social enterprise that fights food waste and feeds families. They make soup using food destined for landfill and redistribute surplus food and goods to organisations fighting food inequality. To date, they’ve served over 2000 portions of soup, saved about three tons of food from landfill and have a team of 10 volunteers who regularly come and cook, or rescue, food. (Food Waste / Community Engagement)

Beth Lindfield has taught on the PSC for the last three years, where she has brought to life the craft of willow weaving and basketry for our novice student weavers. She is a considered and compassionate tutor, who understands the needs of people as well as she understands the unique qualities of working with willow. (Craftsperson / Weaver)

Florence Hamer is a full time traditional craftswoman and woodworker currently based in Bristol, where she; makes, sells and teaches endangered crafts; specialising in green woodworking and basketry. In 2023 she was awarded 1st place in the contemporary category of the ‘Basketry of the Year’ competition held by the Basketmakers Association. And also had a basket selected for the shortlist of the ‘Bespoke Product Design’ category in the 2023 ‘Wood Awards’. She is hugely passionate about endangered and traditional crafts; how they relate to our built environment and the guardianship of these skills. She has a degree in Renewable Energy engineering from the University of Exeter as well as a NVQ level 3 in Heritage Woodland Occupation. In 2020, she completed the ‘Building Arts Programme’ with the Princes Foundation and QEST (Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust). (Craftsperson / Weaver)

Joey Callender Wood is a chef and social enterprise co-ordinator, supporting and training refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, people experiencing homelessness and mental health difficulties, in kitchen settings. She has seven years experience working as a chef and baker in commercial and community kitchens, as well as project, volunteer and event management. As a socially and environmentally conscious chef and teacher, she is keen to continually learn and improve practices at the grass roots level to work towards sustainable and just food systems for all. She is Community Food, Volunteer & Engagement Manager for Coexist Community Kitchen. (Fermentation / Community Engagement)

Alan Kellas has worked as a doctor, in self help, complementary and hospital NHS settings, mainly as a community psychiatrist for adults and children with complex needs. He did Shift's Practical Sustainability Course 2013-2014, and has been involved in West of England partnerships between health care and nature organisations, Green social prescribing, medical education about Blue health, and has a small mentoring practice for people and their projects. (Blue Social Prescribing / Place & Ownership)

Jose Barco has previously been a Community Organiser in Bristol in 2016, he is also a Art of Hosting practitioner, trainer, social entrepreneur and Columbian musician. Jose is the founder of Community CoLab. He is passionate about people power, social change and social justice, creating spaces for meaningful participation, collaboration and self organisation in communities and organisations in Colombia and the UK. (Group Dynamics : Power)

Ava Riby-Williams is a queer, British Ghanaian/Indian visionary, living in London. She acts out life purpose as a Creative Facilitator, Artist and Wellbeing guide who celebrates diversity and finds divinity in all of life. She uses arts and healing based practices to guide groups into deeper contemplation of issues concerning identity, oppression and liberation- on personal and collective levels. (Group Dynamics : Power and Privilege)

Duncan Jackson is a permaculture designer completing a permaculture design consulting course at the Regenerative design institute, California in 2010. He formed The Food Foresters in 2012, a permaculture design and implementation company, which have been involved in designing and implementing growing systems for communities and schools as well as private clientele. The Food Foresters have also run workshops in permaculture, foraging, basket making and forest bathing. (Permaculture : Permablitz Practicals, with Kasia Poltorak)

Alice Cutler Clarke has around 20 years experience working for social and environmental justice and is interested in how people can work together collectively. She co-founded of Trapese Popular education collective, Do It Yourself, Handbook for Changing Our World. She worked at Bristol Refugee Rights for 11 years where she was Head of Services. She has just completed an MSc in Public Health and is now working with Kindling on violence prevention programmes. She is also on the board at Windmill Hill City Farm. She has lived for ten years in housing cooperatives in Bristol. (Co-ops)

Lewis McNeill shares his 14 years of urban community orchards experience, that has spanned working as the 'Fruit-full schools' project manager for London, for Learning through Landscapes, and London project manager for the Orchard Project. Lewis joined LTL in 2010 for the four year Fruit-full schools project, before also joining TOP in 2011. As well as supporting diverse communities to design, plant and care for their own orchards, he delivers training on all aspects of community orcharding, and is a tutor for TOP's accredited Certificate in Community Orcharding. A deep interest in ecologically sustainable food systems is the logical conclusion of Lewis’ lifelong fascination with nature and ten years as an environmental educator and activist. He can often be found with his head buried in books and papers about soil microbes and mulch, and visiting organic orchards in his spare time. He’s currently working on his Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design and is known for his passionate and engaging talks and workshops on all things fruit tree! A self-confessed chutney and cider-fiend he puts London’s fruit bounty to good use in the kitchen. (Orchards / Community Engagement)

Natalie Baker is a highly talented living willow weaver from the Willow Bank. (Living Willow Installer)

Guest Speakers

Jo Kamal is a young activist and farmer who cares passionately about the future of food growing. Her podcast touches on topics of colonialism, race and the perspectives of young people today. (Landworkers Rights / Place & Ownership)

Ped Asgarian originally studied environmental sciences at University, but spent the next decade mixing travelling with the operational and commercial management of small to medium sized business in the food retail sector. Having spent seven years as managing director of The Community Farm – a CSA and social enterprise working to revolutionise and innovate the food system for the betterment of people and the planet – Ped was thrilled to accept the position of Director of Feeding Bristol. He is very excited about the impact this charity can have in solving the many issues of our local food system. Ped is also a founding member and sits on the board of Bristol Food Producers, an organisation aiming to upscale local food production and distribution. (Access to Land / Place & Ownership)

In the midst of the Covid pandemic Leanne Anyinsah was the mental health lead at a Fire Service and a part time therapist. To promote her own wellbeing and to stay connected with others and the outdoors, she met for family walks every Saturday – rain or shine! She also noticed how clients also benefitted from connecting with nature, and by working together with others and their unique set of skills and adding a spin to the average walk, they gave up their spare time volunteering to provide free walks to the Bristol community. The demand grew very fast, and they soon set up a non-profit organisation Soul Trail Wellbeing CIC. Providing free nature walks and a listening ear meant it was accessible to all, regardless of background or income. Soul Trail is now part of Bristol Green Social Prescribing, delivering varied projects to diverse communities. (Green Social Prescribing / Place & Ownership)

Heloise Balme has been involved in sustainable food since 2018, and worked for The Community Farm in Somerset before joining Bristol Food Network, where she is a director, as well as General Manager, running the organisation day-to-day. ​(Food Networks / Food Policies)

Shannon Smith is a fruit growing expert and experienced community orchard educator. She is a long-standing member of Horfield Organic Community Orchard, where she leads learning sessions and courses. (Orchards / Community Engagement)

Chris Johnstone is co-author, with Joanna Macy, of Active Hope – how to face the mess we’re in with unexpected resilience and creative power, a book now published in eighteen languages. He is also one of the UK’s leading resilience trainers, with four decades’ of experience teaching in this field. After a first degree combining medicine and psychology, he trained as a medical doctor and worked for many years in the mental health field. He has pioneered the role of resilience training in mental health promotion, coaching practice, activism and online education. More recently he’s been developing the concept and practice of ‘thrutopian wellbeing’. His online courses reach thousands of people, with participants in over seventy five countries. For info see https://collegeofwellbeing.com and https://activehope.training (Regenerative Toolkit : Active Hope)

Field Trips

Brian Williamson has been leading the coppice restoration program in Westonbirt, National Arboretum for the past twenty years, having started his coppicing life as a full-time hurdle maker and charcoal burner. Previous to this he worked in mainstream forestry and wildlife conservation. He was a founder member and early Director of the National Coppice Federation (NCFed) and regularly leads workshops and seminars on the benefits of coppicing'. (Woodland Management)

Geoff Hannis is a green woodworker with five years experience having quit his previous job as a software engineer. He is based in Bristol at Grow Wilder with his business Tree to Treen. From his timber-framed workshop nestled in the heart of the site, he makes objects from locally sourced woods, and provides courses in green woodwork, as well as blabbing about the joys of working with your hands and why wood is so important as a material to anyone who happens to be walking by. Instagram: @geoffhannis. (Green Woodworking)

Alex Toogood lives at Tinkers Bubble, an off-grid land-based community in South Somerset, where they work the land without using fossil fuels. The 40acre site includes coniferous and mixed broadleaf woodland with coppice understorey, grazed orchards, and vegetable beds. Woodland management involves felling trees using hand tools, coppicing, extracting timber by horse, and running a steam-powered sawmill. Land activities are managed communally, and the residents live in self-built houses in the woods. Alex is also a curator of the UK Communities Conference; with a particular interest in how we can re-imagine and experience-otherwise what it means to be human in relation to land, ourselves, and each other. (Woodland Management / Community Living)

Jyoti Fernandes is an agroecological smallholder farmer with a micro-diary at Fivepenny Farm based in Dorset. The farm is part of a local smallholders’ ‘Peasant Evolution Producers’ Co-Operative’ that shares processing facilities and markets the products of the members’ smallholdings collectively. She coordinates the Policy, Lobbying and Campaigning work of the Landworkers Alliance and is a co-founder. She is also a spokesperson for the global small-scale farmers coalition La Via Campesina, which represents over 200m people in more than 180 countries. (International Landworkers rights and movements)

Ele Saltmarsh is the youngest member of the coordination group of Food Sovereignty UK, as well as the international campaign’s manager and heading up the youth group of the newly formed English branch of La Via Campesina. (Landworkers Rights / Place & Ownership)

Pat Bowcock from Ourganics left her 9-5 lifestyle to live in tune with the land, creating her own five acre permaculture smallholding, that is her home, her work and her life. (Permaculture Homestead)

Monica Barlow is the policy advisor at Bees for Development, where they teach best practices in beekeeping to create sustainable and resilient livelihoods for vulnerable communities. They campaign for the protection and restoration of wildflower meadows and pollinator habitat in the UK, as well as supporting beekeepers who make the right choices and promoting their products. They also run inspiring courses and events. (Beekeeping)

Antonio Paladino and Amanda Heron are farmers and educators of aquaponics, committed to mindful eating practices and the creation of positive change for people and environment. They farm Rainbow Trout and horticultural produce in the most simple and ethical way at their Bioaqua Farm. (Aquaponics)

Chris Vernon has previously worked as a climate scientist with the Met Office, he is a chartered engineer, member of the Institute of Physics and holds a Ph.D. in glaciology focusing on the Greenland ice sheet. Chris also holds masters degrees in computational physics and Earth system science, and studied energy systems and environmental decision making with the Open University. He now lives with his partner and two children in West Carmarthenshire on a One Planet Development in a self-built, off-grid, zero-carbon house. They produce seed commercially, have a two acre orchard, keep bees, chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks. He is also a director of Cwm Arian Renewable Energy and Wales Seed Hub and a member of One Planet Council, a voluntary organisation which supports and promotes the One Planet Development policy. (Permaculture Homestead)

Brithdir Mawr Community Stewards of a 80 acre farm, they aim to live their lives working with, rather than against nature: they keep goats, ducks, chickens and bees, they produce fruit and veg in poly-tunnels and gardens working to organic principles. They coppice wood for fuel, bake bread, preserve produce, and use their own materials such as wood and willow for craftwork. They take care of the land, recycle and conserve resources. They use compost loos and are off the grid for electricity and water. This community are currently in a period of transition. (Permaculture / Living in Community)

Roundhouse Team (Green Building / Woodworking / Cob buidling)

The ShelterCraft team met in 2017 while running roundhouse builds on the Practical Sustainability Course, and have been building together ever since. They enjoyed our annual Shift builds so much they decided to run more and launched ShelterCraft in March 2022.

They are a team of experienced builders, teachers, organisers and facilitators with decades of practical experience in the field between them. They are passionate about making the learning experience during their builds fulfilling and inspiring. 

Bryher Bloor Alongside ShelterCraft Bryher works for the Landworkers Alliance, providing supporting farmers to move towards regenerative agricultural practices. In her previous work Bryher was a Campaign Manager for the Green Party – working to elect Green leaders, influence policy and get issues of sustainability and resilience into the public dialogue.

Joanna Forsyth Originally training and working as a potter for ten years, Jo has spent much of her life with muddy hands! Jo studied and later taught courses with the Cob Cottage Company in Oregon USA and has developed her skills as a builder in conventional and timber and cob building settings. She designs, builds and teaches around the UK, Australia and the USA. As well as creating new buildings, She also works on the conservation and the restoration of historic buildings and is a slate roofer and cob, earth and lime plaster specialist.

Simon Crook has a life long passion for making things out of wood. Since being a student on the Shift Practical Sustainability Course in 2011, he has married his carpentry skills and low impact ethos to deliver numerous natural building projects. He has developed some skills to simply relay scribing techniques required to accurately join round timbers, loving the challenge of demystifying the complicated.

Charles Soares After completing his first roundhouse on the Practical Sustainability Course in 2016, he went on to pursue his passion for timber framing, natural building and carpentry with a focus on sustainably sourced local timber. Charles joined the roundhouse build team in 2017, and went on to be a founding member of Sheltercraft.

Special mentions: People who we have had the great pleasure of working with in the past

Our roundhouse legacy begins with Tony Wrench, who lives in West Wales in an extremely rural setting in a roundhouse that he designed using permaculture principles and built with his partner Faith. They had difficulty getting planning permission, but now it has been accepted as an official Low Impact Development. He runs courses around Europe teaching people to build roundhouses. Find out more here. (Roundhouses)

Caroline Aitken is a permaculture teacher and designer and director of Whitefield Permaculture courses and design consultancy. She teaches and speaks at venues around the UK and is passionate about soil regeneration, agroecology and healthy, sustainable food. She has previously worked in horticulture, small-scale farming, green catering, illustration and design. Her current work involves designing permaculture and agroecology systems for farms, estates and eco villages, and she was the Programme Development Lead on BSc Regenerative Food and Farming at Schumacher College, Dartington. Caroline currently lives on a smallholding with her family on the edge of Dartmoor, Devon where they produce fruit, vegetables, honey, eggs and firewood for their home. She trained and worked with Patrick Whitefield (author of The Earth Care Manual) for several years and co-authored Food From Your Forest Garden with Martin Crawford. She is currently completing a PhD. (Permaculture Design / Forest Gardening)

Sara Venn is a horticulturist, social garden historian and social activist supporting food growing projects that bring folk together and provide food for local communities. She runs the relentlessly impressive and pioneering Edible Bristol. (Permaculture / Place & Ownership)

Sophia Foster has over 20 years work experience of project development work with marginalized groups. Designing projects, such as, an inner-city health project, social and therapeutic growing projects, and community art projects. For the last 7 years she has worked with a grassroots land-based community of people in recovery who use their Lived experience to shape the solutions needed to create change and sustain a culture of wellbeing. She is passionate about co-designing structures and processes needed to support healthy collaborative working within horizontal groups, and the development of collective social and ecological skills needed for a resilient future. She is often to be found participating at The Haven. (Community Engagement)

Nicky Scott is a founding member of Proper Job, one of the UK’s first community reuse centres nestled on the northeast edge of Dartmoor in Devon established in 1995. They are a Charity that aims to keep reusable items away from landfills, by putting them on sale in an Aladdin’s cave of pre-loved treasures. Nicky is on the CitCN (Composting in the Community Network) and has been supporting community composting since 1995 and specifically in-situ composting of food waste with school kitchens and businesses since 2005. Nicky has designed, lectured and spoken at many conferences about small-scale composting systems. He’s authored various books - mostly on composting! He is the chair of Growing Devon Schools Partnership. (Composting)

Scott Baines began to learn earth and survival skills in the wilds of Scotland, Canada, USA, Sweden and Norway. Being in contact with First Nations and Sami brought him a realisation spiritual and physically. This learning led him to the (early coined name) Rewild movement where he joined a collective and formed a tribe living in the wilderness in Scandinavia from here they organised DIY wilderness gatherings to create an environment for learning to happen. He returned to the UK to study sustainable land use, with leading Permaculture and Arborist teachers. Naturally through the Arboculture learning, Scott was drawn to Forest Gardens and Agroforestry systems, he went on to work on many different community projects in creating edible landscapes. (Woodland Management)