Jamie’s Farm, Hereford

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Dave Pearson-Smith

Across the last decade Dave has worked as an English teacher in both inner-city London and rural Somerset, including teaching in an alternative provision and delivering the Duke of Edinburgh scheme to hundreds of participants. This has given him a real insight into the difficulties young people can face and provided him with effective strategies and a real passion for helping them to help themselves.

Living in the Brecon Beacons, he is a keen mountain biker, fell runner and hill walker – and he loves taking his own young children into the hills with him when possible! As well as exploring beautiful Wales, he has also travelled widely, including trekking in the Himalayas and cycling across parts of Europe.

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Warren Gittoes

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Alicia Davies

At Jamie’s Farm, Alicia uses her personal experience to guide her therapeutic horse sessions and activities with young people. She is passionate about young people and providing them with experiences that will support them to navigate through to their adulthood, and the importance of everyone having the opportunity to connect with the outdoors.

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Beth Walker

Beth trained as an Occupational Therapist at Cardiff University and has fifteen years of experience working with children and adults in the NHS, schools and the charitable sector. She believes wholeheartedly in the power of meaningful activity to promote health and wellbeing, and loves seeing young people building confidence, feeling useful, and having fun whilst on the farm. As Therapy Coordinator, she leads group meetings and spends time with the young people who visit the Farm, often working with the horses or walking the dogs whilst having conversations to help them piece together pathways for their future success on return to school. 

Beth grew up in nearby Monmouthshire and loves being outside and in nature. She lives on a smallholding with her horses, and enjoys growing vegetables and walking her dogs, Buddy and Gwen.   

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Jess Fish

Jess realised her passion for helping others while volunteering with vulnerable adults as a teenager. Having graduated from the University of Bristol with a BA in Archaeology and Anthropology, she was able to pursue a caring career. Jess spent many years in schools, colleges and childrens’ homes educating, supporting and caring for vulnerable children. Jess has joined the team in Hereford as Therapy Coordinator, where she leads many group meetings and spends time with all the young people who visit the Farm, having personalised therapeutic conversations in order to help them piece together pathways for their future success on return to school. Jess tailors her sessions to the needs of the child and particularly enjoys walking the dogs, being in the garden and being creative.

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Roger Ings

Before joining the staff team on the Hereford Farm, Roger was a dedicated volunteer. Born and raised on a Farm in Warwickshire, Roger studied Psychology and Social Work at University. After many years of travelling, labouring and exploring the world, Roger now lives near the Farm with his wife and 2 children and has a smallholding of his own. He works on all aspects of the Farm but is our green woodwork specialist and excellent at helping young people get an axe through even the largest of logs.

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Hannah Wallace

Hannah grew up in south London and loves all things food, from growing it, to cooking it and sharing it with others! It is this passion, combined with her love of the outdoors that led Hannah to become a Forest School Leader, working for children’s charities and alternative education projects in London and abroad.  Hannah studied Horticulture at London Zoo before completing a degree in International Development at SOAS university.  At Jamie’s Farm Hannah is able to combine these passions and share them with all those who visit and you will usually find her in the kitchen baking a tasty snack or two.

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Rob Ashworth

Since graduating from university in 2011, Rob has pursued his passion for the outdoors, nature, and travel. Through his work as an outdoor instructor, he has developed a love for sharing his knowledge and experiences, witnessing first-hand the positive impact the outdoor environment has on himself and people around him. Rob is a keen trail runner, climber, and hiker, and often spends his weekends exploring the Bannau Brycheiniog National park.  

On the farm Rob is passionate about gardening, food and farming! He loves spending time in the garden, spreading his love for growing food, composting, and increasing biodiversity. Rob’s favourite thing about the farm is growing and harvesting food in the garden, and then cooking it into a delicious meal for all to enjoy.  

food and sharing his love for the outdoors and farm life.

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Octavia de Ferranti

After gaining her master’s in psychology from the University of East London, Octavia began volunteering at Jamie’s Farm and has gradually become more involved. She now manages a new enhanced legacy initiative as well as providing delivery support across all the farms. A jack-of-all trades but master of none (!), she is happy to get involved with all sessions from cooking to farming, but she particularly enjoys the walks as there is usually a chance to get to know young people better in the relaxed environment. 

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Rob Carnie

Having studied horticulture and helped to run a market garden in his early twenties, Rob’s passion for healthy soil and healthy food has been channelled into the farm, garden, and kitchen alike. However, keen with a whittling knife and an experienced lamber, Rob has supported the charity in various roles over the years. He is also a qualified Forest School leader and has a deep appreciation of the local landscape, which he feels privileged to share and explore with those who visit.    

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Jac Ingram

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Afra Jurkiewicz

Afra trained as a music therapist and has many years of experience in working with people and music, both in the UK and abroad. She cares about building communities through music and art, offering experiences of health, well-being and belonging. Afra uses music and its elements as a tool for connection, communication and social interaction.

In her work with young people at Jamies Farm, Afra focuses on offering therapeutic experiences through music: whether its song-writing or sharing joy and creative flow through improvisation with sounds and movement. She plays a variety of instruments, including piano, accordion and banjo!

Having spent long summers on her family farms back in Southern Poland, she is also a keen gardener and enjoys spending most of her free time exploring the hills, rivers and waterfalls.