Core Project Team
-
Miki Ashton
Project Director
Miki’s varied career has seen her work as a product designer, artist, restauranteur, interior designer and website developer.
Read more about Miki Ashton
Her journey to the Gardeners’ House came when she worked with the Hypatia Trust, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the charity, and where the initial seed of our project was conceived by its founder, Melissa Hardie-Budden in 2016.
Miki has been involved with the Gardeners’ House project from its inception, initially running the development and delivery of the project as a volunteer, then serving as Project Coordinator, and ultimately becoming the Director in January 2025.
-
Kate Picknett
Project Administration
Kate is responsible for co-ordinating the finances for The Gardeners House project including working with major funders.
Read more about Kate Picknett
She runs the office at the Gardeners’ House in Morrab Gardens and oversees all things relating to finance and administration of the charity.
Kate has a background in finance and project management and has worked in the private, public and charity sectors in Cornwall for the last 25 years.
She is a keen advocate of the benefits to both mental and physical health of being in the outdoors.
-
Emily Goddard
Collections Manager
Emily has a background in collections care, exhibitions and preventative conservation. She has worked with a wide range of different collections over her career.
Read more about Emily Goddard
Emily was born and bought up in Cornwall and has lived here most of her life. She finds the stories behind objects and archives fascinating. She loves the outdoors, walking around the coast paths, beaches and moors spotting flora and fauna, and swimming in the sea.
She will be helping us to curate and manage our extensive collection of artefacts, with over 2,000 pieces in storage. She will also be looking at ways we can continue to grow that archive.
-
Daisy Wright
Children & Youth Engagement Lead
Daisy has studied horticulture and field botany, and her early caree saw her running art, craft and nature workshops and joined community projects.
Read more about Daisy Wright
She worked St Ives Secondary School as the Horticultural Tutor, overseeing horticultural and nature based projects to help children engage with the outdoors.
She has also worked as Outdoor Learning Coordinator at Alverton Primary School in Penzance,
Daisy has trained in Emotional First Aid and being trauma-informed, having worked with and taught by people with individual learning needs, she loves to welcome everyone into learning about nature and their place in it.
Daisy’s role at the Gardeners’ House will be working with children and young people across West Cornwall, from school visits to youth groups.
-
Eleanor Turnbull
Gardener
Eleanor is an artist and gardener based in Newlyn. Bringing a holistic, slow and creative approach to the sensory garden, Eleanor adopts the use of hand tools, biological pest controls, nutrient recycling, seed saving, and other wildlife friendly methods, with a mission to promote biodiversity and sustainability in maintenance gardening.
Read more about Eleanor Turnbull
After training in Sculpture at The Slade School of Fine Art and juggling a fashion career in London, Eleanor moved back to Cornwall and retrained in horticulture seeking a career less rooted in consumerism and craving meaningful connection to the environment. Since, Eleanor has forged a healing and life changing balance between gardening and art.
Eleanor divides time between maintaining local gardens, making art, and sometimes merging the two. In the art world Eleanor is nicknamed Rockpool Girl, most known for guerrilla casting out in the landscape, and taking impressions of puddles and rockpools. A most recent horriculture and art collaboration with Some Interesting Apples documents biodiversity in community orchards by casting bird beak impressions on Cornish apple varieties.
-
Hannah Roberts-Burt
Site Manager
Originally from the Midlands, Hannah moved to Cornwall in 2014 and has fully embraced everything our beautiful county has to offer.
Read more about Hannah Roberts-Burt
With an extensive background in hospitality, property management and maintenance coordination, Hannah works as our site manager.
She oversees all things related to the smooth management of the Gardeners’ House – from our alarm systems to our room bookings, from maintenance issues to IT infrastructure.
Hannah is passionate about collaborating with skilled professionals to bring projects to life and ensure everything runs smoothly.
-
Rachel Booth
Business Development Officer
With a career in advertising, design and latterly arts fundraising, Rachel returned to Cornwall and set up Newlyn Fermentary in 2021.
Read more about Rachel Booth
Rachel is a member of the Fermenters Guild and has contributed to ‘Where The Leaves Fall’ a magazine exploring humankind’s connection with nature. She has also contributed to the journal for OmVed Gardens; a green-scape and learning hub in North London.
Alongside her role as co-founder and workshop facilitator at Newlyn Fermentary, Rachel works with us on income generation for the Gardeners’ House – from venue hire to membership opportunities – and explores avenues for business development.
Since childhood, Rachel has had a meaningful relationship with the natural world – and a developing respect and understanding of the inter-connectivity between human and planetary health.
-
Grace Stephenson
Business Development Apprentice
Graduating from Falmouth University with a BA Hons in Fashion Design in 2024, she is a self-motivated designer, immersed in her approach through dedication to craft and construction – exploring this through means of foraging in hedgerows and engaging with the wonders of natural dyes.
Read more about Grace Stephenson
Having grown up in West Penwith, Grace is extremely driven by the connection between, people, nature and landscape. Particularly the importance, and power, in community and how this intrinsically inspires more sustainable practice. Her work is rooted in a deep respect for nature and the world around us, which is communicated throughout her practice, and which remains her guiding tenet.
She is a keen researcher, and passionately explores the connections created through people, craft and the living world in both historical and modern environmentally conscious contexts.
-
Kimara Street
Volunteer Co-ordinator
At the Gardeners House Kimara’s role is to support our growing team of volunteers. She recruits, trains and supports our band of helpers, who are essential to the workshops we run and the collections management of our archives.
Read more about Kimara Street
It is a key part of our work to create volunteering opportunities for our local community.
Kimara’s background is in Environmental Science and she is especially passionate about the marine environment.
Born and raised in Penzance, Kimara has lived here most of her life, and in her spare time enjoys getting outdoors, mostly out on or in the water, as well as gardening and crafting.
She also works part time in inshore fisheries management and research and previously worked as a wildlife guide on an ecotour sailing company based in Penzance Harbour.
-
Laurel Miller
Fundraising
Laurel Miller is The Gardeners’ House project fundraiser. She has worked on the project since the early days and co-ordinated the consultant team that developed the successful application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for £2.2million.
Read more about Laurel Miller
Her expertise is in fundraising in the heritage sector, with a background of working at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, following a 20-year career as a heritage education and outreach specialist.
With a passion for the environment and a background in archives, Laurel loves working on a project that will bring nature to the fore in the heart of Penzance.
-
Lauren Webb
Marketing and Communications
Lauren Webb is our freelance marketing manager. She runs a communications consultancy, Roscoe Communications, helping tourism, arts and culture organisations in the South West make an impact with their marketing.
Read more about Lauren Webb
Her client list, past and present, includes Eden Project, St Michael’s Mount, The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Hall for Cornwall, Chelternham Ladies College, St Austell Brewery and Tate St Ives.
She helps The Gardeners’ House project with both strategic marketing support and day-to-day delivering integrated marketing campaigns across multiple channels.
-
Eric
Team Morale
Eric is the office dog and is responsible for team morale.
Read more about Eric
With a long record of sensing people’s moods and when a snack might be available, he supports all members of the team.
Now a little wobbly on his paws, he is mastering the building lift, demonstrating that the Gardeners’ House is accessible for all.
