Our Team
Together with the team below, our volunteers, allotmenteers and customers all form a vital part of the wider, ever growing team at Bosavern. We try to find the right niche for every person as we get to know their strengths and interests, and we encourage everybody involved to become a Member.
As a charitable organisation are ultimately responsible to our Members who elect people to the Board at the Annual General Meeting each Autumn and delegate the day to day management to the Board Directors.
Hugh Taylor, Head Grower
Hugh, along with his partner Alice, moved to the Farm when Bosavern Community Enterprises was first established and together they began the huge undertaking of setting up the vegetable growing production, while also renovating the Farmhouse and outbuildings. Hugh has been tending the vegetable crops and caring for the hen flock ever since. Passionate about organic farming, wildlife and education in sustainable agriculture, Hugh is a highly experienced, award-winning Head Grower, much treasured and highly respected by all at Bosavern and by sustainable growers elsewhere in Cornwall. He has recorded numerous farm activities over the years in an expansive photo library and blog.
Katie Kirk, CDO and Society Secretary
Having attended Cape Cornwall School in her teens, Katie studied Environmental Sciences at Derby University, worked for Friends of the Earth Parliamentary Unit, gained substantial community development here in W. Cornwall and qualified with a PGCE for teaching adults in informal settings. In her spare time Katie enjoys reading, moorland walks and folk singing. Katie first joined Bosavern in 2020 to co-ordinate our award-winning Training & Work Experience project for two years and then served for 2 1/2 years as Chair of the Board until Feb 2025. As CDO Katie co-ordinates our strategic forward plans, partnerships, projects, funding and communications and dovetails this with her delegated (non-voting) Society Secretary role, supporting the Directors.
Dilys, Finance Officer
For many years, Dilys has worked for not-for-profit organisations and community-based projects. She provides the financial backbone for the farm operations, managing day to day accounting, invoicing, year-end reports, tax returns and pay roll. Dilys has been instrumental in securing funding for our projects and continues to keep our funders happy by managing claims and reports with support from Julie.
Lilith Adler, Events Co-ordinator
Lilith has been involved in the Farm since its origin in 2010 (more) along with her family. Over the years she has volunteered in a variety of roles: in the shop, at markets, with the chickens, harvesting veg, helping with admin work. She recently graduated with a degree in politics with law from the University of Exeter, studying a variety of environment and climate focused modules. Lilith is now employed at the Farm as a part-time events coordinator to facilitate educational visits, community events, and workshops over 2024/25.
Ross Packer, Assistant Grower
Ross brings a wealth of gardening and horticultural experience to Bosavern having worked at St Michael’s Mount; at Tresco Abbey Gardens on the Scillies; as private gardener to Lord St Leven and in recent years he managed Kernow Inferno, producing a range of chili products. Ross has a calm and kindly manner which is perfect for supporting and teaching growing skills on Tuesdays and Thursdays
Frances Rippon
Frances has worked in mental health for 35 years and teaches mindfulness courses in the NHS. Originally from Hull, she settled in St Just in 1999 to raise a family and to live in closer community with people and nature. She has volunteered at the farm since its transition to community ownership – helping to organise seasonal events, growing crops, staffing the shop and St Just farmer’s markets. She will be part of the team tasked with developing the farm shop. Frances is a trustee of Bosavern Community Farm Charity and her other activities include St Just Care and Repair Cafe, Shindig Cloggers, Tai Chi, singing and enjoying our wonderful environment.
Elizabeth Hemphill
The influence in her teens of clarion voices such as Rachel Carson and Eve Balfour led to woofing, crofting in Shetland, office manager (predigital) at Sustrans, creating market garden. Then 20 years in Greece learning to restore degraded land. I’ve been in Cornwall 20 years creating forest garden, working at Archie Browns PZ shop, coastwatching for NCI at Cape Cornwall. I recently moved to St Just, and joined team of volunteers at Bosavern farm shop mainly.
Ali Richer
I moved to St Just in 2003 and I still love it! I’ve Woofed at Bosavern, worked at the Youth Hostel in Cot valley, sung in choirs and, after working at the Dog & Rabbit Cafe as my own boss, I’m now enjoying being part of the shop team at the community farm.
Peter Davies
The Kenidjack Allotments Association manage the allocation and reallocation of allotments at the Kenidjack site, on behalf of BCE. Peter (Chair) is originally from a farming background in mid Wales. He and his wife, who is a native of St Just, have lived in the parish for almost 40 years raising their son and daughter. Peter entered the mining industry as a mineral technologist after studying at Leeds University and spent his career working for both UK and overseas mining companies including Central Asia, CIS countries and Russia. After taking retirement two years ago, Peter now provides selective consulting services through his own company based in Cornwall. He and his wife secured a plot at the Kenidjack Allotment site 4 years ago and both enjoy their time and efforts spent in the beautiful Tregeseal valley.
Alan Bancroft
Alan spent most of his working life at the BBC. He became Finance Director for BBC Broadcast Ltd, a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. Along the way he had spells working in HR, at BBC Outside Broadcasts and the Open University, as a premises manager at Television Centre, and as a commercial policy advisor in the BBC’s Legal Department. Other than his involvement with Bosavern Farm, Alan has left the world of work and is currently doing a PhD on Harold Wilson’s last government. After 4 years of fulfilling the ole of Treasurer for BCE, Alan is no longer a Director but continues to provide sound financial and general management advice to the Board.
Matt Buckhurst
Matt is an early retired Creative Director, originally from Redruth. Having spent 30 years in London as a graphic designer. Now living with his wife in Pendeen, he renovated an old Wesleyan Chapel and has an allotment at the farm. He is also Club Secretary of Pendeen Rovers Football Club looking after the day to day running of the club and secured the funding and produced the plans in redeveloping the clubhouse and changing rooms. As a graphic designer he does the match photography, designs & prints matchday programmes and creates the various graphics for event posters, social media posts and website content. He also gets his hands dirty line marking the pitch every week, come rain or shine! Matt brings his creative skills to help the board with all matters around design, branding and marketing for the farm and provides a liaison point for our Allotment groups.
Holly Whitelaw
Holly has enjoyed a varied career alongside her environment and academic pursuits, including teaching in India and Tanzania, as a photographer and spending over a decade as a picture editor on national papers & magazines. She has had shops, sold solar and biodigestores and has worked as a cook, gardener, cleaner and in marketing and telesales. She is a founding director of Regenerative Food and Farming and Cornwall Climate Action Network and set up and manages Gleaning Cornwall. She is also on the steering group of Sustainable Food Cornwall and lectures on the multiple benefits of regenerative agriculture and the links between soil, human and planetary health. She enjoys gardening and volunteers for St Just in Bloom. Holly is supporting Hugh with our 2025 application to the Rural Payment Agency (Sustainable Farming Incentive) and she also supports the Board’s legal duties by working with staff and volunteers to ensure our site is safe.
Dom Goetz
I grew up in London and Paris but moved West to do an Environmental Science BSc at Plymouth Uni in 1995. I’ve lived in west Cornwall since 2000. After graduating I spent a year working on ecology projects in Vietnam and Tanzania, plus a stint working in the London office of the Sustainable Agriculture, Food and Environment Alliance. In 1999 I got side-lined by an interest in Sustainable Construction so went and worked on building sites, learning about straw-bale, cob, rammed earth, masonry and timber-frame construction. I collaborated with Cornwall Sustainable Building Trust to run and write courses for professionals and students. I’ve also worked as personal trainer and lifeguard, plus I’ve delivered talks on the science and politics of climate change on behalf of Extinction Rebellion. Dom has been a volunteer Tutor prior to joining the Board in 2022. He is looking forward to helping create a new Nature Trail route around the farm as a project in 2025.
Ian Willsden
Born in Macclesfield, Ian studied at Sussex University where he first became involved in environmental action. He worked as a YHA Warden in the Lakes and then founded an eco group which set up a food co-op, a garden sharing scheme, a community allotment and more. During his career, Ian has worked as a Detached Youth Worker, Teacher, Home Tutor and has been active on many committees (Cheshire Schools Table Tennis Association, Cheshire Schools Cricket Association, West Bridgford Horticultural Society). He moved to Cornwall in 2013 and became a Director at Bosavern Community Farm, helping to run an allotment club at Cape School, joining the St Just Town Council climate action group and playing an active part in St Just in Bloom. During his time at the farm, Ian gave popular talks and taught courses on wildlife and organic gardening. Ian returned to Nottingham in 2021 to be near grandchildren where he is now a committee member of Stoke Lane Allotments, setting up a demonstration wildlife allotment with Notts Wildlife Trust as well as fulfilling the role of Charity Trustee for Bosavern, remotely.
Rob Pickering
Rob has over 35 years’ experience of working in, and managing not-for-profit organisations, giving advice and guidance to community organisations and to individuals in a range of areas (state benefits, Carers’ support, and domestic energy). He has been central to the formation of a number of community organisations and is one of the Founders of Bosavern Community Farm. Rob is a seasoned Fundraiser and Project Manager, and having held most of the Bosavern management roles at one time or another, is now a Trustee of Bosavern Community Farm Charity and has a delegated non-voting Membership Secretary role for BCE supporting the Shareholder Members.
Terry Sutcliffe
Terry is a lead member of the Bosavern Tree Group, a group of volunteers who meet weekly on Sunday afternoons to plant hundreds of trees each Winter and to provide after-care. As well as weeding, mulching and removing guards from the trees in the woodland, they have helped plant windbreaks around the farm and they are raising oak saplings from acorns.
SK
SK has a delegated (non-voting) volunteer role as our Health & Safety Officer and helps us a great deal with our maintenance, repairs and various other aspects of running the farm
Rose Wiles
Rose is an allotment holder with 10 years experience working in hospitality and event management in the UK and abroad. She lives and works locally and, with her partner, is in the throes of renovating their listed St Just home.
Nick Hall
The little we know about Nick for certain is that he won a prize at Pershore horticultural college in 1987 for his wildflower garden, and qualified as a school science teacher in 1997. In his youth he worked on several arable farms in Worcestershire and Herefordshire, mostly picking apples. He used to kayak in rivers and sea, but now he just does a bit of taichi. His favourite pastime is making up tall tales like the time he spent tracking wolves in Slovakia, or the month in a kungfu school in Southern China, or hitchhiking to Marrakech…. most of which turn out to true.
Laura Hodsdon
Laura grew up in York, worked for a while in Oxford, and moved to Newlyn in 2017 where she now lives with her husband. She works as a researcher at Falmouth University, looking at social justice in heritage and cultural landscapes. Passionate about locally grown food and getting back in touch with our relationship with nature and the environment, she is working particularly on funding applications to help Bosavern continue growing into the future. In her spare time she enjoys rowing, running, and wandering around prehistoric sites in West Penwith with her camera. First elected to the Board in 2023, Laura works closely with Katie to secure grant funding for the farm.
Hannah Smith
Hannah studied Land Management at university and is a qualified Chartered Surveyor with many years of property experience drawn from the diverse backgrounds of private, public, voluntary and community sectors. Today she is interested in sustainable, environmentally responsible construction and has recently been involved in a straw bale barn build. She has a Masters in Executive Coaching and has completed a Practical Residency in Sustainable Horticulture at Schumacher College. Here she learned the benefits of growing annual and perennial crops in an agroforestry system using organic principles, no dig/minimal tillage and with a focus on healthy soil care. She is passionate about the role local food and regenerative farming can play in building resilient communities, improving health and well-being and mitigating the effects of climate change. Hannah works for Devon Council supporting their County Farms. First elected to the Board in 2023 and having supported the Board in an Advisory capacity since 2021, Hannah is one of our longest serving Board members and as well as being a sound voice of reason in meetings, Hannah also offer a keen eye on contractual matters.
& Temporary Farm Cook
Kate Beckly
Kate has been a part of Bosavern Community Farm since its early days and was a member of the board of directors from 2014-2018, seeing it through the transition to community ownership. Over the years Kate has helped to organise community events at the farm, run workshops and various seasonal craft activities, and initiated the planting of the community woodland at the farm in 2015 and 2016. Kate has been involved in a number of community projects in fundraising, events and catering roles such as Summer forest school residencies, Lafrowda, Friends of St Just Library and the new skate park. Kate is a set designer, a keen grower and cook of veg, a crafter and environmental activist, who is passionate about the power of communities to work together to create a harmonious and resilient future. In January Kate was appointed (on a job-share basis with Polly Henderson) to provide temporary cover for our Farm Cook.
Polly Henderson
Polly is a recent arrival to Bosavern. She stumbled upon the very merry Bosavern Open Day in summer 2024 and decided this was a good place. She started to volunteer, and now has taken up the temporary Cookery Tutor role, job-sharing with Kate Beckly. Polly is a welcome addition and clearly loves the chance to get creative with vegetables and feed the hungry! Before coming to Cornwall in 2023, Polly lived in Spain for 15 years, raising her two sons and working both as a primary school Teacher in an alternative rural school and as an English Teacher. She sings and plays cello, penny whistles and percussion in Pagan Teapot and Rumba Diablo, and is happy to play for weddings, funerals or any old knees-up!
Karl Grupe
Leap frogging from the Canadian Prairies to the Pacific West Coast, across the pond to London landing in rural and rugged West Cornwall, the diversity of people and place formed Karl into a storyteller. He’s worked construction in Northern Manitoba in -40C, lived in house under construction cantilevering the cliffs off Bowen Island, photographed while hanging out of helicopters above the Yukon, had images published in Life magazine and The New York Times, swam from Alcatraz to San Francisco, raced Ironman’s in the Alps, grabbed a couple degrees in university and built a small, private school with his wife, Julia in London. After covid challenged the supply chain for communities he recognised the importance of supporting and protecting community farming. At Bosavern he packs and delivers veg boxes and supports the marketing Directors by researching, producing and hosting the Bosavern Farm Twist & Sprout podcast.
Jeremy Cole
Jeremy is an experienced learning support worker and art therapist who has an irrepressible passion for community catering and sustainable produce. His lunches are mindfully and cheerfully prepared, using up the farm left over seasonal produce and working alongside volunteers from the community, to develop people’s kitchen-confidence and to raise awareness of nutrition. Jeremy was involved in the early days of the farm years ago and we are delighted to have him back again in this new role. His vegetarian lunches always taste absolutely delicious and have brought ‘forkloads’ of feelgood factor to our volunteer days on Tuesdays and Thursdays! Currently our temporary job-share cooks Kate Beckly and Polly Henderson are holding the fort while Jeremy is on leave for a few months. We look forward to welcoming Jeremy back in due course.