Meet the Team

Miki's varied career has seen her work as a product designer, artist, restauranteur, interior designer and website developer.

Her journey to the Gardeners' House came when she worked with the Hypatia Trust, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the charity, and where the initial seed of our project was conceived by its founder, Melissa Hardie-Budden in 2016.

Miki has been involved with the Gardeners' House project from its inception, 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.

Kate is responsible for co-ordinating the finances for The Gardeners House project including working with major funders.

She runs the office at the Gardeners' House in Morrab Gardens and oversees all things relating to finance and administration of the charity.

Kate has a background in finance and project management and has worked in the private, public and charity sectors in Cornwall for the last 25 years.

She is a keen advocate of the benefits to both mental and physical health of being in the outdoors.

Daisy has studied horticulture and field botany, and her early caree saw her running art, craft and nature workshops and joined community projects.

She worked St Ives Secondary School as the Horticultural Tutor, overseeing horticultural and nature based projects to help children engage with the outdoors.

She has also worked as Outdoor Learning Coordinator at Alverton Primary School in Penzance,

Daisy has trained in Emotional First Aid and being trauma-informed, having worked with and taught by people with individual learning needs, she loves to welcome everyone into learning about nature and their place in it.

Daisy’s role at the Gardeners’ House will be working with children and young people across West Cornwall, from school visits to youth groups.

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.

Hannah is 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.

Hannah works on practice-led change, curating spaces and activities that inspire joy, awe, and curiosity towards a more cohesive community. She focuses on creating inclusive environments where people, especially those at risk of low mood or older adults, can explore their own connection to the world.

With a career in advertising, design and latterly arts fundraising, Rachel returned to Cornwall and set up Newlyn Fermentary in 2021.

Rachel is a member of the Fermenters Guild and has contributed to ‘Where The Leaves Fall’ a magazine exploring humankind’s connection with nature. She has also contributed to the journal for OmVed Gardens; a green-scape and learning hub in North London.

Alongside her role as co-founder and workshop facilitator at Newlyn Fermentary, Rachel works with us on income generation for the Gardeners’ House – from venue hire to membership opportunities – and explores avenues for business development.

Since childhood, Rachel has had a meaningful relationship with the natural world – and a developing respect and understanding of the inter-connectivity between human and planetary health.

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Graduating from Falmouth University with a BA Hons in Fashion Design in 2024, she is a self-motivated designer, immersed in her approach through dedication to 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.

Laurel Miller is The Gardeners' House project fundraiser. She has worked on the project since the early days 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, Chelternham Ladies College, St Austell Brewery and Tate St Ives.

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

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.