Our Team

Karen Leason

Founder and Facilitator

"As a child, we spent all our summers living in the woods without electricity and other amenities and were guided by the night sky during evening walks. My early fascination with the stars became more earth bound when I learned that everything is made of stardust and the magic of photosynthesis creates life on earth. The revolution of the seasons, change and the elements connects me to everything."

Vicky Chown

Head of Urban Growing

"I find it tricky to separate myself from nature, especially in my role as gardener. So it's safe to say nature guides every aspect of what I do."

Tej Rawal

Assistant Food Grower and Seed Saving Network Coordinator

"As a gardener, I’m privileged to be a degree closer to what we call nature than many others are afforded. It’s a proximity that’s taught me humility in beginning to accept how interwoven the natural world is in every part of our lives."

Josephine Marchandise

Head of the Creative and Regenerative Kitchen

"The natural world is a place where we all belong, although disconnected. My role is for everyone to find a wilder way of life through food, from soil to plate. Fascinated by vegetables, soil, and plants. I am working symbiotically with the environment to create nutritious and healing food. Uniting and nurturing us all."

Diva Garg

Events Manager

"My primary motivation in any life and work is developing ways to be kinder to our planet and ourselves."

Kiran Lee

Ecologist

"I have a fundamental curiosity for nature. Each species represents millions of years of evolution shaped by ecological interactions. Understanding and preserving this natural history makes me feel alive."

Sol Polo

Curator and Programme Manager

"Curating comes from the latin curare, meaning taking care of. In the context of OmVed, I undertake the task by listening to the knowledge and creativity generated around caring for an edible garden and offer opportunities for the public to engage with that knowledge and be inspired to turn to these practices for their health and for climate resilience".

Will Hearle

Photographer and Film Director

"I took up photography as a way to deal with anxiety. If I ever felt an unfounded urge that I should be doing something I would take my camera and go for a walk. I am drawn to the ways in which nature quietly emerges in the urban sphere. I am taken by nature's complexity, from the granular level to expansive vistas. I try to incorporate that layering of information into my work, it makes an image feel rich and organic."

Joanna Ayre

Marketing and Communications

“My role is to bring OmVed’s ideas, creativity and beauty to audiences beyond the garden, and to inspire people everywhere to deepen their own connection with nature. I am fascinated by nature’s complexity, there’s so much to learn. Spending time in the natural world is how I switch off from the digital world.”

John Gaffney

Landscape Gardener

“Nature for me is the purist form of beauty. I hope to help create moments of beauty across the wider landscape in OmVed.”

Georgia Dowling

Assistant Head of the Kitchen and Holistic Chef

“My first thought about the natural world is “nature does it best” in my opinion all the answers lie in nature and our connection to it. I love seeing and understanding what I eat and thinking about how this not only fuels but nourishes us and can connect us to our surroundings."

Corrie Wingate

Nature Based Arts Facilitator and Schools Project Manager

"I grew up in semi-rural Lancashire, spending my childhood outdoors exploring wildlife and creating amongst nature. These formative years fostered a deep appreciation for and respect towards the natural world. As an artist and arts facilitator, I love engaging with children, guiding their creativity, and teaching them about our crucial role in caring for the environment."

Lyson Marchessault

Landscape and Kitchen Gardener

“Gardening and nature to me feels closer to our roots, how we used to live, but also something very intangible, something so big that it feels like you can’t really understand it. You can go into the micro and plant a seed, but also you can be in a range of mountain and just be blown away by its grandeur.

Within Omved I see this too, I can focus on the task like potting tomatoes, and then zoom out and see the entire garden as an ecosystem. I also feel much more attuned with my body, with the seasons, seeing what’s really happening and being much more mindful with everything around you. You just pay much more attention to everything."

Katie Bonner

Admin and Events Coordinator

“Early moments immersed ankles deep in wildflowers and tracing rugged coastlines were the seeds of my deep affinity with the natural world. A relationship that drives the narrative of both my creative practice and work within the outdoor sector. Facilitating opportunities for others to nurture these same connections remains a core motivation in my life."