Associate Tutors

Akke Schuurmans comes from the Netherlands but currently lives in Kenya. She has a great passion for working on social change and has worked in this field for over twenty-five years.

Alison Mitchell works for the Retreat Benevolent Fund as Mental Health Development Officer, raising awareness and asking questions about mental health.

Alistair Fuller is head of the Ministry and Outreach team at Britain Yearly Meeting. His work focuses on helping seekers to discover Quakers and on nurturing and supporting Quaker communities.

Ann Conway-Jones is an Honorary Research Fellow at Birmingham University, who combines her biblical scholarship with enthusiasm for teaching adults.

Anne Ullathorne has a lot of experience of clerking committees and local and area meetings. She has been clerk of Meeting for Sufferings, the standing representative boby of Quakers in Britain.

Ben Wood is a Woodbrooke Associate Tutor, a visiting researcher at the Centre of Religion and Public (University of Leeds). He has previously taught Theology and Religious Studies at Leeds Trinity, the University of Chester, and the University of Manchester.

Beulah Reeler lives in a small village in South Africa. She is a teacher and has been part of at least five Barefoot Guides either as facilitator, writer and/or editor.

C. Wess Daniels, Ph.D. is the William R. Rogers Director of Friends Center & Quaker Studies at Guilford College. He lives in Greensboro, North Carolina with his wife, Emily and their three children. Identifying as a “convergent Friend,” Wess is a bridge-builder and boundary-crosser and is interested in teaching liberating faith and practice, and the revitalization of faith traditions that work toward justice. Prior to teaching at Guilford, Wess was a “released Quaker minister” at Camas Friends Church in Washington.

He is the author of, “Resisting Empire: The Book of Revelation” (2019) and is active in the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

Catherine Putz is a Quaker, celebrant, Area Meeting Clerk, and served as co-clerk on Central Nominations Committee

Chris Skidmore is a former clerk of Yearly Meeting who has been part of the ‘Being a Quaker Clerk’ team since 2017, teaching both at Woodbrooke and online.

Christine Habgood-Coote worked as a GP and medical educator. She has served as co-clerk of Central Nominations Committee.

Clare Bonetree is a Turning the Tide facilitator, an artist with a social sculpture practice, and a peace and environmental activist. She runs courses on ‘Doing Hope’ for activists. In all this work, Clare is interested in how we can work with that deepest part of our humanity – the capacity to be with ourselves through connecting our inner and outer worlds, in order to take action for the benefit of all beings. Clare has worked in the UK voluntary sector for nearly 20 years in equalities, policy and participation roles.

Craig Barnett is a Quaker who works with refugees in Sheffield. He is co-founder of the City of Sanctuary movement and currently serves on the Book of Discipline Revision Committee.

Deborah Shaw is a life-long Friend and seasoned retreat leader who delights in spiritual exploration in the company of others.

Diana Lampen has taught yoga and relaxation for thirty-three years; in Northern Ireland, her pupils found her work most helpful in reducing the stress of the conflict.

Diana Luther Powell is a Friend and Quaker Prison Chaplain. She is a dance teacher by training and has worked in many areas of education.

Effy Lee is an American Friend with interest in intersectionality and inclusion in a Quaker context.

Eleanor Chornoboy writes her stories in “Just 5 Minutes” (J5M). She writes for herself and then sometimes she shares her stories.

Fred Langridge’s recent Quaker service has been as part of Yearly Meeting Agenda Committee, as a local meeting clerk and treasurer. Fred loves clerking and transferring learning from Quaker discernment processes to other contexts. Fred’s casual interests include practical theology, science fiction and linguistics.

is Ministry Programmes Co-ordinator and Spirituality Tutor. She has responsibility for the Equipping for Ministry programme. She works to facilitate learning and enable a deepening of spiritual experience.

Gilly Charters came back to Quakers in the 1980s. She has served with Eldership and Oversight teams and enjoys inreach and outreach.

Dr Grace Milton is Principal Investigator of The Hyphen Project as part of the Cadbury Centre at the University of Birmingham.

Helen Chambers is an elder with oversight and trainer with Quaker Life children and young people’s team.

Ivan Hutnik is a member of the QPSW conciliation group and Restoring Relations, with an interest in early Quaker history and the intersection of personal and social transformation.

Jane Muers is a long-term Quaker and a retired clinical psychologist, currently involved in mental health concerns and chaplaincy.

Jasmine Piercy is a British Quaker living in Slovenia. She is a Woodbrooke Associate Tutor and serves as an elder and facilitator for the Friends network around the world. She previously coordinated the Quaker Voluntary Action working retreats programme across Europe and has a background in education and the arts.

Jenny Tipping has been studying Nonviolent Communication (NVC) for five years and is hoping to fully certify as a trainer with the Centre for Nonviolent Communication in autumn 2020. She loves to explore how NVC can address issues of power and privilege and is very influenced by the work of Miki Kashtan. She has been a Quaker since 2013 and through NVC seeks to live out the peace testimony in her personal and working life

Joanne Klassen is the originator of Life Writing for Transformation™. Her passion is discovering the liberation, grace and guidance that can flow from our hearts through our pens.

John Lampen is a trainer in creative conflict handling and author of ‘Mending Hearts’. John’s books also include The Peace Kit (for children), Answering the Violence: Encounters with Perpetrators and Love Growing in Us: Questioning the Quaker Peace Testimony.

Jon Martin is Communications Manager at Woodbrooke and was responsible for digital outreach and advertising in his previous role with Quakers in Britain.

Jude Acton is a life-long Quaker, experienced P4C facilitator and the Children & Young People’s Officer of Quaker Life.

Judith Roads is absorbed in exploring and sharing ways of giving service to Quaker meetings through appointed roles.

Jules Fell works with people individually and in groups to better know and express their whole selves, including their spirituality, employing mindfulness as part of her work and in a voluntary capacity. She sees herself as a lifelong learning project.

Kate McNally is a member of Belgium and Luxembourg Yearly Meeting and lives in Quaker House Brussels, where she works on issues of migration and anti-racism.

Kathleen Bell’s research for her 2019 Eva Koch scholarship focussed on mistakes made by Quakers in the past and how knowledge and understanding of these might inform our understanding of the Religious Society of Friends now and in future. As a writer and experienced Creative Writing tutor, Kathleen believes that creative and imaginative approaches can help us gain greater understanding of the lives of others and work towards a better and more just society. Kathleen attended her first Quaker Meeting in her teens and is a longstanding member of the Society. She has a particular concern for questions connected to privilege, diversity, inclusion and power.

Lina Jordan is a convinced Quaker and Integrative Psychotherapist in private practice. She is interested in the ways in which contemplative practices facilitate exploration and meaning making, and encourage us to initiate changes within ourselves and in our environment.

Linda Craig is a recent Clerk to Woodbrooke Trustees, Trustee of London Quakers Property Trust, and an interim manager in the voluntary sector.

Linda Murgatroyd is clerk of the Quaker Arts Network. She is interested in different ways in which we can hold spaces for the Spirit to act, for example through the arts and spiritual accompaniment as well as through more traditional meetings for worship and discernment. She is increasingly trying to to build ecological considerations into everyday decisions.

Lucy Aphramor is a Quaker, poet, and dietitian. They are interested in helping  people make sense of food and body stories.

Maddy Pennington is the author of The Christian Quaker: George Keith and the Keithian Controversy.

Martin Layton is a Friend and teacher. His interest is in exploring how Quaker spirituality strengthens lives of active witness.

Martin Pennock is a linguist who, as an experienced clerk and elder at local, area and national levels, has always sought to leaven his respect for Quaker discipline with humour.

Melvyn Freake is a retired social worker who has served as and clerked both elders and overseers.

Natasha Zhuravenkova lives in Moscow. She is a Russian Friend, historian of religion, translator and staff at Friends House in Moscow. Natasha co-facilitated the Quakers in Europe online courses on Moodle. She was a facilitator and continues participating in the Experiment with Light sessions.

Rachael Swancott lives in Shrewsbury in Shropshire with her fiancé Nicola. She is a lifelong Quaker and experienced facilitator. She works for a medium sized NGO, working with farmers in nine countries across Africa focussing on different country specific issues, e.g. gender equality and climate change. Rachael, like many, feels very overwhelmed by the ‘state of the world’ at the moment and is very much looking forward to working with Friends to continue the work towards effective allyship.

Ros Baverstock worked in mental health. She has particular interest in Eldership and in nurturing spiritual life.

Rosie Carnall was an Eva Koch scholar, developing a Quaker P4C resource pack. She is an experienced Quaker and facilitator.

Shad Woolgrove has been practising mindfulness since 2000 and has been a mindfulness teacher since 2013. She trained as a Mindful Self-Compassion teacher with Christopher Germer.

Sue Tyldesley, a Quaker based in North Lancashire, is a textile artist who uses creative embroidery.Sue is a member of the Embroiderers Guild and enjoys sharing her skills including feltmaking, machine embroidery and Quaker Tapestry.

Susan Katz Miller is the author of The Interfaith Family Journal and Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family. Her original surveys of multiple religious practitioners in US interfaith families are often cited in the academic literature. A former correspondent for Newsweek and New Scientist, she has spoken on interfaith families at The Parliament of the World’s Religions, the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly, The Wild Goose Festival, and many other venues. Find her at susankatzmiller.com or on twitter @susankatzmiller.

Therese Bentley is a Certified Trainer with the International Centre for Nonviolent Communication CNVC. She is a qualified teacher with an MA in education. A grandmother, Therese has a particular interest in personal development, interpersonal relationships and spiritual growth. She has run retreats at a Christian Retreat Centre.

Tom is Professor of Disability Research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.  He has worshipped at Newcastle, Geneva, Norwich, Wymondham, and Westminster Quaker Meetings.  He is a social scientist and bioethicist who has worked particularly on disability and on genetics.  His books include Disability Rights and Wrongs, Genetic Politics, and Disability – the Basics.  He has been involved in the disability rights movement for more than 30 years and has been involved in the arts for nearly as long. He currently broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 4.