Meet Lucy & Kirstien

Lucy is an experienced social care leader, consultant and coach with a strong background across children's and adults' residential care and specialist education. Her career spans roles including Support Worker, Ofsted Registered Manager, Performance Coach, Regulation 44 Visitor, Regional Operations Manager and Social Care Consultant, giving her a rich understanding of what enables safe, compassionate and effective care.

Her frontline and leadership experience led her to advanced study in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology, informing her specialist work in leadership coaching, trauma informed supervision, safeguarding, organisational culture and quality assurance. She now supports services across the UK to strengthen staff wellbeing, embed safe practice and build cultures grounded in compassion and accountability.

Lucy's commitment to community extends beyond her professional practice. She has contributed to nature based wellbeing programmes, volunteered with organisations supporting children and families, and served as the safeguarding trustee for a national children's mental health charity, deepening her belief in the power of connection, belonging and the natural world in promoting resilience and recovery.

At The Gathering Ground CIC, Lucy brings together her operational expertise and values led approach to develop nature connected, relationship centred pathways for care experienced young people. Her focus is on ensuring they are met with community, continuity and support as they move into adulthood, never left to navigate the transition alone.

Kirstien has been working with individuals, groups and frontline organisations to enhance wellbeing, resilience and growth since 1998, bringing nearly three decades of experience to her role as a director of The Gathering Ground CIC.

Her career began in international emergency response and Sure Start community development programmes, where she spent over a decade working directly with families, communities and frontline professionals navigating some of life's most challenging circumstances.

This frontline work along with personal experience fuelled her curiosity about people's resilience, motivation and wellbeing, and led to doctoral research that explored care workers' motivation and what enabled them to sustain offering compassionate quality care.

Alongside completing her PhD in Social and Organisational Psychology, Kirstien qualified as a psychotherapeutic counsellor (MBACP) and transformative coach, and has delivered training and coaching to frontline teams, health care organisations and leaders across the UK. Her work focuses on enhancing mental wellbeing and resilience, preventing burnout, and addressing post traumatic stress injury.

As co-founder of the Field of Possibility, she provides 1:1 nature based therapeutic coaching, training, retreats and community gatherings which expands people's connection with nature and enhances psychological wellbeing.

At The Gathering Ground CIC, Kirstien is committed to care experienced young people feeling empowered to transition into adulthood, accompanied by a deepening awareness of their inner resourcefulness, a sense of belonging in nature, and growing connection with community.