Chair, Board of Trustees
Simon Beale
Treasurer, Board of Trustees
Karen Wyatt, FCA
Karen Wyatt is a Chartered Accountant
Trustee
Mark Bridges
I have been a volunteer in the Get Out There team since 2022, and in 2024 joined the Board of Trustees
Trustee
Jacquie Boyce, BEM
Director
Cathy Maund
Cathy Maund has been working with the HCGA for over 30 years. She is also a Trustee of London City Farms and Community Gardens Association.
Deputy Director
Katie Shaw
I have a very varied role at HCGA including project management, grant fundraising, finance, managing the volunteer programme and working with other organisations on environmental projects. I love working with volunteers and the community, helping people to engage with nature and develop a new appreciation for the environment.
Education Manager
Katy Jack
I currently teach in three primary schools where I give the pupils knowledge and the experience of nature, wildlife and food growing. I was previously a Primary School Teacher in London for eight years where I gained valuable experience and knowledge of the Primary National Curriculum which allows me to adapt my gardening lessons and teaching style to suit many different learners' abilities.
Contracts Manager
Afsaneh Sladen
I manage our street gardens, office plant contracts and corporate volunteering. With a background in garden design and community gardening, I’m passionate about creating inclusive, accessible, and sustainable green spaces that support wellbeing and wildlife. I love encouraging people to connect with nature and to appreciate the green spaces in the city.
Phoenix Farm Manager
Jo Robins
I am an experienced beekeeper and gardener who loves nature. I've worked in schools teaching horticulture, and worked in garden design and garden maintenance. Having first hand experience of living in a flat without a garden has given me insight into just how important eco contact is to maintaining good mental health in this crazy city. Its made me firmly committed to helping people engage with nature.
Westminster Manager
Myra Heller
As Westminster Manager for HCGA, I look after most of the current projects and design, install and advise some of the new projects run by Westminster: for instance Westminster’s Greening Programme and North Paddington Greening programme. Thanks to HCGA I’m enjoying a grand job which is also my passion: people, nature and the environment.
Adult Education Manager
Sean Buckley
I have worked closely with the organisation for many years, in my previous role as SEN Programme Manager in Adult Education. I believe strongly in advancing individuals’ social mobility and community engagement, especially those from marginalised areas of society and with physical or mental health problems and have found HGCA highly effective at doing this both with courses and volunteering opportunities.
Community Gardener Westminster
Megan Felton
I run weekly volunteer sessions in 3 different Westminster green spaces that connect people to nature. A community allotment in Westbourne where residents grow fruit and vegetables and take home the harvest, the Rose Garden of Queens Park Garden and a communal garden within WECH as a space for residents to come together, grow vegetables, herbs and flowers. I also go into two hospitals bringing nature to patients’ bedside. I wheel a trolley around with the sights and smells of nature and hand out lavender bags for patients and staff wellbeing.
Volunteer Programme Co-ordinator
Jack Parton
I coordinate the volunteer project at HCGA, recruiting and training volunteers and making sure everyone in the organisation is well supported. I also lead Get Out There!, our weekly garden maintenance project. With a background in landscape gardening and experience working on community projects and in charity settings, I’m very happy to be part of HCGA.
School and Community Gardener
Poppy Gagiatsou
As an adult educator and community gardener, I create opportunities for people to learn, grow, and feel well through hands‑on horticulture. I facilitate volunteer sessions, design and deliver workshops for adults and children, and work with local schools on gardening projects. I also provide administrative support across the team to help our programmes flourish.
Maintenance Gardener
Will Hayes
In my previous work in vineyards and wineries I developed a passion for horticulture. This has led me to retrain, which I'm currently doing at Capel Manor College, while working for HCGA. I plant and maintain the street beds we have in Hammersmith and Fulham, and also help out at Phoenix Farm and our other sites around the borough and beyond.
School and Community Gardener
Rosemary Creeser
I started working for HCGA in September 2009 facilitating family gardening sessions at Phoenix School Farm and currently work for the charity as a schools gardener in two primary schools in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. I’m interested in enabling children and adults to grow their own food, both as valuable life skill and as a way of building resilience in the food system.
School Gardener and Adult Education Tutor
Hamida m’Ribet
I started volunteering at Phoenix Farm in 2017 and the Farm became my second home. I am a School Gardener and Adult Education Tutor with HCGA running herbal courses with other members of staff. Both roles are allowing me to use my transferable and artistic skills to inspire young people and adults. I love arts in general, gardening, cooking, sewing and travelling.
Community Gardener
Liz Clark
I’ve lived and worked in Shepherds Bush for years. I discovered Phoenix Farm after going swimming in my local pool opposite. I rattled the farm gate and Cathy let me in! I loved the garden immediately and became a regular volunteer, then went on to study horticulture and now work as a community gardener running volunteer and family sessions for local residents. I also work on gardening projects on White City. I love growing veg and flowers from seed. It’s magic.
School and Community Gardener
Krys Gajda
I grew up with a love of the outdoors, as I worked alongside my Dad as a child in our garden, growing and harvesting fruit and vegetables. It gave me a love and respect for nature which I've continued to have, and which I try to nurture in others, while seeing them blossom and learn, and have fun too.
School and Community Gardener
Michael Holland
I discovered my fascination for plants at the young age of eight. After completing my studies in Ecology at Lancaster and Oregon State Universities, I dedicated 25 enriching years to Chelsea Physic Garden in London, where I eventually became Head of Education. Currently, I serve on the Education Committee of the RHS, where I continue to advocate for the significance of plants in our lives. In addition to my acclaimed debut book, 'I Ate Sunshine for Breakfast', I have authored books on indoor gardening, the intelligence of the animal kingdom, and 'The Little Gardener’s Handbook', which aims to help youngsters and their families get on the path to botanical bliss. I hope my work serves as a beacon, urging others to cherish and glean wisdom from the marvels of the natural world that surrounds us all.