about Birches Head get growing
EVERYTHING IS FREE, KINDNESS IS OUR CURRENCY
Growing our community together, we believe that ‘kindness is our currency’ and the key to creating a stronger community. That’s why we offer everything free of charge at the point of delivery, with the aim of supporting self-sufficiency and systems of community exchange. Our mission is to empower individuals and promote personal growth, By working together, we can create a more sustainable and equal community, where everyone has access to the resources they need to thrive. Join us in our mission to make a positive impact on the Birches Head area!
Growing our community one carrot at a time.
Meet our community
Paula Rowcliffe
Chairperson
Hi! I’m Paula and I’m a retired teacher who specialised in working with young people who have Autism. I was also the regional area manager for the Northwest for ASDAN, who are an awarding body and accreditation network, and I also completed a secondment working for Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s Aiming High Short Breaks initiative. After retiring with a few long-term health conditions, I decided that sitting still wasn’t working for me and so I came up with the idea of running a group around the things I could do at the times I could do them – then other people started turning up with cake and it all kind of snowballed from there!
Jean Bowers
Vice Chair
Jean is our newly appointed Vice-Chair. She has been Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent and a local councillor for the Birches Head and Northwood Ward area. Jean brings with her a wealth of knowledge of the area and understands the needs and priorities of local residents. She is also committed to improving the local area and building a strong community spirit.
Debbie Curless
Secretary
Debbie is a qualified Social Worker who now mentors and assesses student social workers to gain accreditation into the profession. Debbie has worked with me since about 2004 when we trained as Person Centred Facilitators to help to implement Transformation For Change in the area alongside the Chief Education Officer and Chief Officer For Commissioning and Procurement at the time. Our work also included developing a system for implementing personal budgets to enable people to choose how to spend their money, as opposed to being offered a service that might not meet their individual needs.
Liz Walsh
Treasurer
Liz works as a Cancer Care Co-ordinator. Her role is quite unique and it enables her to work in a range of settings to help promote cancer screening initiatives and to support people in the community with their diagnosis and treatment. Liz is passionate about advocacy and looks for the gaps in service provision and finds ways in which needs can be met and she bakes great cakes!!
Among our wider team, we also boast a range of knowledge and experience through retired managers, teachers, events team leaders and the Secretary of our local Residents’ Association! We are all volunteers and no one receives any payment for the work that we do for the community.