Rich works at Growing Hope (National) as Head of Supporter Engagement. Rich brings experience from working in a wide range of fundraising and Christian ministry roles. He has a passion to see the Church equipped and encouraged to demonstrate the love of Jesus through helping those most in need. Rich is married to Lydia – they currently live in Tunbridge Wells with their three children.

Tina is the Finance Officer at Growing Hope Umbrella. She is a professionally qualified accountant and has had extensive experience in Audit, Financial and Management Accounting. She has experience of working with children that present with special needs and is excited about Growing Hope’s work with families. 

Adeola is Growing Hope’s Administrator. Adeola has been volunteering for Growing Hope for the last few months and has been a supporter since her son Ezekiel attended one of our clinics in 2019. Adeola lives in Islington with her 4 children and attends King’s Cross Church (KXC). Adeola is excited to use her personal experience as a parent of a child with additional needs to support Growing Hope in their continued work with families.

Esther is a freelance communications consultant with Growing Hope and has been a huge part of our story so far. Esther helps with advice, support and content creation for our digital campaigns and larger projects.

Shaaron is a Paediatric Occupational Therapist at Growing Hope Brockley with extensive clinical experience working with children and young people with a range of difficulties and disabilities. Her experience includes both medical and community settings; mainstream schools, resource bases and pupil referral units. She has a broad scope of additional training with Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance, Sequential Oral Sensory feeding, and Coaching to name a few.

Abi is an experienced children’s speech and language therapist at Growing Hope King’s Cross, with a specialism in Autism. She has a passion for working with children and their families, supporting the development of communication skills so that everyone can understand others and be understood themselves. She has training and clinical experience using a variety of different therapeutic approaches.

Estelle is our Lead Therapist and Clinic Manager. She is a Speech & Language Therapist and Audiologist at Growing Hope High Wycombe with extensive clinical experience working with children and young adults with a range of difficulties in a variety of settings. Estelle is also trained in play therapy, DIR floor time, sensory integration and feeding. She has a passion for working with children and families, developing communication goals, and helping each child reach their potential.

Dr Naomi Graham is a children’s occupational therapist with several years of clinical experience, including training in sensory integration, attachment and various therapy interventions. Naomi has a Masters in health and rehabilitation, and a PhD in the experience of play for children with cerebral palsy. She founded Growing Hope in 2017.

Jess is a freelance Child Counsellor for Growing Hope King’s Cross. She trained with Place2Be. She works with children, young people and parents, using play and art as well as talking in her sessions. She is also a Circle of Security facilitator.

Rebecca, know as ‘Reb’ is an occupational therapist at Growing Hope King’s Cross. Reb is enthusiastic about enabling and equipping children and young people to do the things they need, want, and enjoy doing.

Georgie is a freelance Music Therapist with Growing Hope King’s Cross. She has a Masters from Roehampton University in Music Therapy and experience working with children with additional needs and within neuro-disability rehabilitation. She is passionate about providing a safe place for children to express themselves through sound and is convinced that music is a powerful tool for growth and development. Georgie lives in West London and attends KXC.

Aislinn Jeffers is a trainee Integrative Child Counsellor who has recently joined the team at Growing Hope Brockley.  Aislinn has worked in both mainstream and SEND schools and in general has a whole life of experience working with people of all ages who have additional needs. She has a passion to see people from all walks of life succeed and live their lives to the fullest.

Aislinn has been training in the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education where they have an integrative approach to therapy and use multiple art forms (such as drawing/painting, drama/puppetry, dance/body movement, music, poetry, sandplay and clay/sculpture)  as well as multiple  therapeutic models in order to enable their therapists to meet the needs of their clients from multiple angles.

Nikki is a volunteer music therapist with Growing Hope, Brockley. She has a Masters from Roehampton. She has experience working in schools with children with additional needs and specialises in the field of mental health, recovery and addiction and trauma. She is currently the deputy clinical manager of a specialist intensive treatment centre for Eating Disorders. Nikki is passionate about providing a safe and supportive space for children to express themselves through sound and play and is utterly convinced of the power of music to communicate what words often fail to. She is also passionate about supporting parents, carers and siblings with their respective processes and journeys. 

Becca is a Director at a large global PR Agency, with over 8 years experience in corporate communications, formerly Sony’s Head of PR for their B2B business in Europe, and was included in PR Week’s 30 Under 30 in 2018. She attends church in North London and is a big champion of diversity and inclusion. Having travelled a lot, including volunteering stints in Uganda and Cambodia with children’s charities, Becca is delighted to now support the work of Growing Hope as Chair of Trustees.

Francesca is an experience fundraiser and works in the innovation team of a large children’s charity. She supports Growing Hope with fundraising and events.

Bambi French is wife, mum of one and special needs teacher to many!  When she was 15 years old, Bambi was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition called Stargardts Disease.  Over the years, her level of vision has deteriorated and even though the challenges of sight loss have on many occasions caused her to want to give up, a combination of her Christian faith, determination and support from those closest to her, she has been able to achieve more than she ever thought would be possible. In response to this need, Bambi is building a coaching practice and is the host of The She is a VIP Podcast,  where the central mission is to help visually impaired women and girls embrace all that they are, discover their purpose and make an impact in the lives of others.

Lois is part of the Kings Cross Church staff team. Prior to this role, she worked in a charity legal department as a solicitor. She loves the impact that Growing Hope is having on children and young people with additional needs and their families.

Paul is a chartered accountant and he has had a number of senior roles within the accountancy profession and in commerce. Most recently he worked as Finance Director for a charitable trust, where he was responsible for all the financial aspects of thirty academies. Paul has also acted as a chair of governors and he is a National Leader of Governance.

Joojo is passionate about the church’s active involvement in the reduction of health inequalities within local communities and has actively been involved such projects. He has a wealth of experience supporting the recovery of individuals within prisons and local communities across the UK struggling with drug and alcohol addictions. He currently works as the regional apprenticeship lead within a national organisation that supports the reduction of disparities and health inequalities in local communities.

Ishmael currently works in advertising as a campaign manager and has a background in communications working with in the public, private and charity sectors. Ishmael is excited to support the work of Growing Hope.