Manager

Sophie is Roots4Life Charity Manager and fundraiser.

Sophie is an experienced charity project management professional with over 23 years’ experience in strategic communications, fundraising and charity management. She was previously the Manager of an outdoor Education Centre in Deptford, Greenwich as well as the Head of Communications and Campaigns at HelpAge. She has worked for a number of UK and international charities including Tate, Amnesty International, Saferworld, Youth United and Institute for Strategic Dialogue among others. Sophie is also a Trustee at Their Future Today, a UK charity working to de-institutionalise orphanages and promote alternative care in Sri Lanka.

Sophie is a keen allotment holder and as the daughter of a fifth generation farmer has a passion for growing organic vegetables, especially potatoes!

“Growing up on a farm my childhood was frequently muddy and messy. The freedom of being outdoors and with nature is something I have remained passionate about. Spending 20 years working in the international charity sector I literally came back to my roots to work in the UK charity sector. It shocks me now seeing food insecurity in the UK and I believe a ‘grow bank’ is the answer to the current costs of living crisis - teaching people to grow their own vegetables and sharing our produce and wonderful large site at Roots4Life with all ages and abilities.”

Deputy Manager

Izzy is our Deputy Manager and food & nutrition coordinator.

Izzy’s passion for health and wellbeing was ignited after reading Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food”. Pollan writes of how the history of processed, fast food and its revolution has impacted our health and societies. She became further engaged with this through reading, alongside fitness, including running a group “The 5 to 9”, focused on getting people outside for the benefit of their mental and physical health.

Izzy worked for several charities including The Future Leaders’ Trust, and it was here that she cemented her belief in the importance of education in addressing the disparities in health and wellbeing that our nation faces across the socio-economic divide. This became allied with a determination to make a real, practical difference. She retrained as a chef and is currently studying for Level 4 Nutrition with the Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH).

Izzy believes that in the western world “there is a total disconnect between our understanding of what we eat and where it comes from. To remedy this, we must reconnect with “lost” skills like cooking from scratch, and gardening, for the sake of our health and the health of the planet.

“Roots4Life’s holistic approach: cooking, exercising, and connecting with nature and community are the same pillars around which I try to live my life”.

Horticultural Therapist

Cat is our horticultural therapist & head gardener.

She began working in mental health twenty years ago, working in the care sector, primary & secondary education, youth centres, psychiatric wards, prisons, and the youth criminal justice system (community service). She has worked with clients presenting with mental health issues such as personality disorders, schizophrenia, anxiety, depression and bi-polar. She has set up two community interest companies - one in art therapy and the other running mental health workshops in schools for parents and a successful business of her own. She is also currently a group therapist for Mind specialising in complicated grief.

Cat retrained in horticulture, permaculture, herbalism, meditation and psychotherapy eight years ago and is passionate about sharing her knowledge with marginalised members of our society that wouldn’t usually have access to green space.

“Children are spending less and less time outdoors playing and more time on screens, creating a new pandemic of loneliness and isolation. 80% of young adults say that they’re lonely.

She passionately believes that food growing and horticulture needs to move away from being only for the privileged and become steeped in all cultures, bringing communities together and forging bridges. Roots4life provides this safe container.”