Our Team

Emily is a community paediatric doctor at Hywel Dda University Health Board, supporting children with additional needs in West Wales. She is also an outdoor leader and educator, with specialist experience working with refugee children and leading teenagers on expeditions with the British Exploring Society. She loves swimming, singing round a campfire and making big, messy art.

Emily is the Specialist Needs and Safeguarding Lead at Child of the Earth. She manages our bespoke specialist services, working alongside our partners to provide outdoor experiences for children and young people with additional needs.

Jack Richardson

Co-founder and Executive Director

Jack lives on a community run farm in Pen y Bryn. He has been leading a diverse range of Forest School groups for the past 5 years across London, Kent and West Wales. He loves foraging, climbing trees, silly games and sharing around the campfire. He is a qualified Forest School leader and Youth Worker.

Jack is the Forest School Lead and Operations Manager at Child of the Earth. He runs the day to day operations, including managing all of our projects, working closely with schools and other local partners and fundraising. In addition he is the lead facilitator on our school sessions and forest school projects and delivers teacher training.

Jo Coggins

Director

Jo is a mum of two energetic teens, a psychotherapist and well-being coach. She has a long career history in community based projects using creativity, the environment and relationships to support health and connection. She is a passionate advocate for using nature as the base for supporting people, especially children, to feel happier, healthier and more connected.

She offers her 30+ years experience in the community sector as well as therapeutic skills to support the delivery of Child of the Earth’s aims.

Kirk Rohan

Director

Kirk lives in Newport, Pembrokeshire. He is an ecological advisor at Natural Resources Wales. In his spare time he runs Temple Bar cafe where he makes delicious home grown food and bread for the local community.

Born and bred in West Wales, Kirk brings a deep understanding of the land, local knowledge and Cymraeg.

Jason Samuel

Forest School Facilitator

Jason lives at Brithdir Mawr, a sustainable off-grid community near Trefdraeth, Newport. He has trained as an actor, storyteller, carpenter and shamanic healer. For seven years he directed Cyrff Ystwyth, an inclusive community dance company, in Aberystwyth.

Jason is a facilitator on the Wild Boys! project.

Heather Baker

Forest School Facilitator

Heather lives in Newport at Brithdir Mawr, an intentional community. Since she’s settled her feet in the soil of West Wales she has been working at Plas Dwbl, the biodynamic college for students supporting them in their therapeutic education. She’s also been working in schools teaching food growing and co-runs a forest school group for parents and toddlers. Before now she’s been adventuring on foot and bike, in the world of anthropology and midwifery and being curious about this world.

Heather is a facilitator on our Wild Girls project.

Kristina Riddington

Forest School Facilitator

Kristina has a background in music and comes from a family of Finnish foresters. Bringing inspiration to her work from a childhood of running around the forest and lakes, playing, foraging, tracking, swimming, crafting, building treehouses, caring for the trees and long nights spent around the fire…

She has worked as a Forest School leader and craft facilitator in London and West Wales and loves pottery and natural crafts. 

Kristina trained on the Call of The Wild and Tending the Green Fire. She has Forest School level 3, Play Work level 3, Arboriculture and Countryside Management Level 3.

Alex Crampton

Forest School Facilitator

Alex is a multi-hyphenated Artist, flexing her creative muscle through theatre, illustration, storytelling and ceremony. She is self-taught and wishes to empower others through self-led creative discovery. She has worked as an educational practitioner in creative somatic expression for over 15 years. She is interested in stories of paradigm shift, positive systemic change and the natural rhythms within all living things. She is excited by adventure and the gamification of life. She is serious about enjoying herself – and how important it is for everyone to follow their sense of fun and pleasure. Alex finds her inspiration and grounding through wild nature. She’s a food grower, land worker, and loves abundant salads with punchy dressings.