Meet the Team

Following her early career as product designer and artist, Miki moved to Penzance from London in 2003 and from 2004 – 2015 she set up and ran The Lime Tree Restaurant with her husband Justin.

From 2015 to 2024, Miki worked with private clients, creating interior spaces for both homes and workplaces and designing websites for local artists and small businesses.

Alongside this, she freelanced for the Hypatia Trust, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the charity, where the initial seed of the Gardeners House project was conceived and developed by its founder, Melissa Hardie-Budden.

Miki has been fully involved with The Gardeners' House project from its inception in 2016, initially running the development and delivery of the project as a volunteer, then serving as Project Coordinator, and ultimately becoming the Director in January 2025.

Laurel Miller is The Gardeners' House project fundraiser. She has worked on the project for 22 months and co-ordinated the consultant team that developed the successful application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for £2.2million.

Her expertise is in fundraising in the heritage sector, with a background of working at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, following a 20-year career as a heritage education and outreach specialist.

With a passion for the environment and a background in archives, Laurel loves working on a project that will bring nature to the fore in the heart of Penzance.

Lauren Webb is our freelance marketing manager. She runs a communications consultancy, Roscoe Communications, helping tourism, arts and culture organisations in the South West make an impact with their marketing.

Her client list, past and present, includes Eden Project, St Michael’s Mount, The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Hall for Cornwall, Eden Project Communities, Tate St Ives, Cornwall Museums Partnership, Lappa Valley, Geevor Tin Mine, Krowji, and Trebah Garden.

She helps The Gardeners' House project with both strategic marketing support and day-to-day delivering integrated marketing campaigns across multiple channels.

Emily has a background in collections care, exhibitions and preventative conservation. She has worked with a wide range of different collections over her time working in the heritage sector.

Emily was born and bought up in Cornwall and has lived here most of her life. She finds the stories behind objects and archives fascinating.

She loves the outdoors, walking around the coast paths, beaches and moors spotting flora and fauna, and swimming in the sea.

She will be helping us to curate and manage our extensive collection of artefacts, with over 2,000 pieces in storage relating to the natural environment of West Cornwall, and the stories of its people. She will also be looking at ways we can continue to grow that archive, with your support.

As Events and Wellbeing Lead, Hannah draws on a rich background in education, mentoring, event coordination, and creative and nature connection practices. With an MA in Creative Education, she has worked in wellbeing mentoring within higher education, professional embroidery studios, coordinated creative events for charities and corporate partners, taught natural dyeing and inkmaking, and supported nature-based rites of passage.

Living in Cornwall for over a decade, Hannah is deeply inspired by the relationship between people and the land, shaped by both ancient and emerging heritages. In her spare time, she enjoys drawing, knitting, walking, and being in or on the water.

As a trauma-informed and restorative practitioner, Hannah believes the challenges of the modern world are rooted in a story of separation—from each other and from the living world around us. She works with creative engagement to bridge this divide, fostering deeper connection and understanding. At The Gardener’s House, Hannah works with the idea of practice-led change, curating spaces and activities that inspire joy, awe, and curiosity towards a more resilient, resourced and cohesive community. She is particularly focused on creating inclusive environments where people, especially those at risk of low mood or older adults, can explore their own stories, creativity and connection to the world.

Originally from the Midlands, Hannah moved to Cornwall in 2014 and has fully embraced everything our beautiful county has to offer.

With an extensive background in hospitality, property management and maintenance coordination, Hannah is delighted to be joining the team as Site Manager.

Hannah is passionate about collaborating with skilled professionals to bring projects to life and ensure everything runs smoothly.

She will be taking care of all things related to the management of our site.

Graduating from Falmouth University with a BA Hons in Fashion Design in 2024, she is a self-motivated designer, authentically immersed in her approach through dedication to, and appreciation of, craft and construction. Exploring this through means of foraging in hedgerows and engaging with the wonders of natural dyes.

Having grown up in West Penwith, Grace is extremely driven by the connection between, people, nature and landscape. Particularly the importance, and power, in community and how this intrinsically inspires more sustainable practice. Her work is rooted in a deep respect for nature and the world around us, which is communicated throughout her practice, and which remains her guiding tenet.

She is a keen researcher, and passionately explores the connections created through people, craft and the living world in both historical and modern environmentally conscious contexts. Particularly those rooted in the local history of her home here in Cornwall.

Grace will be joining The Gardeners’ House the team as the Business Development Apprentice & is extremely inspired to be involved in the project.

A multi-disciplinary creative, Mark Holman’s practice is primarily concerned with human connections with nature. Trained as a musician, with a degree in acting and a Master’s in fine art, horticulture has been a constant since childhood.

Brought up in Cornwall, Mark started The Palace Gardener over twenty five years ago when living in London. He trained in horticulture at Capel Manor and at Guildhall in garden design. More recently, he has carried out work on award-winning gardens at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, restoration projects at Chelsea Physic garden and has spent several years renovating one of Lord and Lady Sainsbury’s properties in South-East London.

He designed the planting for Trelisk’s NHS Healing Garden, is the Show Director for The Cornwall Garden Society Spring Flower Show and lectures at degree level in garden design at Eden Project. He is really excited to be Horticultural Lead for the Gardeners House, as it will bring a lot of people closer to nature within an area close to his heart.

Eric is the office dog and is responsible for team morale. With a long record of sensing people's moods and when a snack might be available, he supports all members of the team. Now a little wobbly on his paws, he is mastering the building lift, demonstrating that the Gardeners' House is accessible for all.

Formerly a university librarian, Doreen has worked in the education sector for most of her career.

She has an interest and expertise in library collections and archives, both heritage and contemporary.

Doreen has been involved in the project from an early stage and is looking forward to bringing the building back to life .

She is also a trustee of The Hypatia Trust.

Theatre-maker, gardener, writer, storyteller, curator, maker of giants/goddesses/creatures out of mud, sticks and plants, Cornishwoman.

Sue has travelled the world, making theatre in unlikely places with Kneehigh and WildWorks, from the Green Line in Nicosia to Kensington Palace, via Soweto and Scilly. With her brother, Pete Hill, she has made many large scale earth sculptures including the Mud Maid and Giant at Heligan and Eve at Eden.

She was Artistic Director of the Eden Project for seven years and she now works on the new Eden Projects that are being developed . She is a Fellow of Falmouth University.

After graduating in Agricultural Science and completing postgraduate research on animal nutrition, Paul worked for several years as a nutritionist for an agricultural supply company.

During this time he became aware of the potential for information systems in business, and moved initially into IT support and then management of applications software.

He has been actively involved in volunteer groups for many years, mostly working on
conservation of the natural environment. Since retiring in 2016 Paul has worked as a
volunteer in Morrab Gardens, with the Penzance Flora Group and with the Penwith Landscape Partnership.

Jane is Cornish and spent her childhood in Marazion. She studied economics and geography at Exeter University and town planning at PCL.

After eight years of working in local government, she joined a national economic development and regeneration consultancy in London, and in 1994 returned to Cornwall and set up a branch in Truro and then Exeter.

She worked on a wide range of projects including feasibility, funding and appraisal projects. In her spare time she chaired her local gardening club; was treasurer of a community arts building in Lerryn and of the West Cornwall Arts Society and is now treasurer of the Gardeners House project.

Neil is a design focused Architect with a particular interest in the meeting of old and new and in making energy efficient low carbon emitting buildings.

Neil is Conservation Accredited and is Director of Studio West Architects in which he practices. He has been a registered and chartered Architect for 15+ years.

Prior to forming Studio West Architects Neil worked as a Project Architect for Niall Phillips Architects (Latterly Purcell) on numerous HLF/Arts Council funded projects which were exclusively Listed Buildings and with
modern/contemporary interventions.

Trevor is an experienced Project Manager and Chartered Quantity Surveyor with a wealth of projects in heritage, arts
and the natural world.

For many years Trevor has had direct experience and success in grant aided work such as the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council, Historic England, Architectural Heritage Fund and ERDF programmes.

Past clients include Bristol Zoo Gardens, Avon Wildlife Trust, Devon Wildlife Trust, Cornwall Council and Clevedon Pier. Previous projects include Porthmeor Studios, Porthcurno Telegraph Museum, King Edward Mine and CAST Studios in Helston.