About me
Hi, I'm Clare
I spent more than 30 years working with offenders, motivated by the belief that we all have the capacity to learn, change and develop throughout our lives.
I have always engaged in learning and I am currently studying horticulture and garden design, as well as adding to my coaching toolkit with my coaching programme Coaching in the Green: gentle and mindful coaching delivered in the natural environment.
I am an optimist, an occasional extrovert, and find joy and comfort in small wonders: I have been heard welcoming bees into my garden and congratulating buds when they burst. Sometimes we need to get a different perspective on our lives and the natural world offers a new view for me every day. I bring all this to my coaching practice as well as the creativity of being a designer - I have a degree in three-dimensional design and spent several years working as an art teacher.
I am a member of the Climate Coach Alliance, as the natural world, living sustainably and social justice are core values for me.
My background
For 25 years I worked with offenders and ex-offenders to help them prepare for employment. I've taught, managed public sector education contracts, designed and managed budgets and supervised and managed teams of staff, volunteers and contractors in a variety of settings. I have worked in senior management at local, regional and national levels.
In 2007 I set up and was CEO of an environmental and social enterprise business which offered serving prisoners seamless progression from vocational training to work experience and then to paid employment. The charity won a number of prestigious awards and is still running the programme for offenders.
I trained as a coach and mentor in 2012 and worked for 8 years coaching adults with neuro-differences eg dyslexia, ADHD, ASC and chronic illness, I am myself neuro-diverse and experience this as a strength.
I served as a Trustee and Non-Executive Director at the Centre for Alternative Technology from 2015-2019, sitting on Marketing, HR, Health & Safety and Education committees.
I spend my free time with my friends and family, in my garden, taking photographs, making questionable facsimiles of animals using needle felting, and work on environmental and community projects as a volunteer.