Our Associate Trainers

Adrian Bethune

Associate Trainer

Adrian Bethune

Adrian is a part-time teacher at a primary school in Hertfordshire and delivers wellbeing-focused training in schools across Europe through his organisation www.teachappy.co.uk.

In 2012, Adrian was awarded a ‘Happy Hero’ medal by Lord Richard Layard at the House of Lords for his work on developing wellbeing in schools. In 2015, he was invited to speak at the Action For Happiness event, Creating A Happier World, on stage with the Dalai Lama.

Adrian is author of the award-winning, Wellbeing In The Primary Classroom – A Practical Guide To Teaching Happiness (Bloomsbury, 2018). He writes regularly for the TES and has contributed to several other books including Global Perspectives in Positive Education (John Catt, 2018), Children and Young People’s Mental Health Today (Pavilion, 2019), and Just Great Teaching (Bloomsbury, 2018).

Amanda Bailey

Associate Trainer

Amanda Bailey

Amanda trained to teach secondary science in 2005 after a career in industry. She currently combines her teaching and corporate experience at Dixons multi-academy trust as Chief Operations and Finance Officer.

Having meditated for a number of years and experienced the benefits for herself Amanda wanted to bring mindfulness to her students and teacher colleagues. She attended the first ever .b MiSP training in 2011 and has been involved ever since as a trainer and formerly as a trustee.

She has trained to teach adult mindfulness with Bangor University and continues to bring mindfulness teaching to staff and students whenever she has the opportunity.

Amy Burke

Associate Trainer

Amy Burke

Amy is an educational consultant who spent 15 years as a high school teacher and guidance counsellor in Canada and The Netherlands. She holds a Masters Degree in Contemplative Education from Naropa University and in 2012 she co-founded MindWell.

Amy is a facilitator for the CARE program (Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Educators) and supports the Community of Contemplative Education through Mind & Life Europe. She is also a Mentor for Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme, UK) teen retreats and works internationally in schools and universities providing workshops and retreats for educators, students and parents with a focus on self-care and stress management.

Andy Hix

Associate Trainer

Andy Hix

Andy is passionate about mindfulness because it has changed his whole experience of being alive. He used to feel that every day was a stressful struggle to make it to the end without anything going too badly wrong. He now feels immeasurably calmer, happier and able to connect with people, thanks to his practice. He loves sharing his enthusiasm with teachers and students alike, and feels deeply motivated to help address the mental health crisis that young people are facing.

He is CEO of The Mindful Banker, a company that specialises in supporting financial services companies in improving the wellbeing of its staff. He has taught at organisations such as PwC, Credit Suisse, Lloyds Bank and Deloitte. He also teaches in schools, prisons, and offers 1-2-1 coaching, writes a blog and hosts a podcast called The Mindful Banker.

He loves his job because he sees, feels and hears the positive impact it has on people every day. Andy is a practising Buddhist and also enjoys improv.

Chris Barker

Associate Trainer

Chris Barker

Chris was introduced to mindfulness in 2012, as a stressed Head of Department in a large secondary school, via a .b foundations course. It was a revelation and changed the way he approached life, both inside and outside of school.

Chris’s enthusiasm for mindfulness led him to take several MiSP qualifications expanding the ages he was teaching mindfulness to including adults in schools. His aim was simple: to share the gift of mindfulness with others, just as somebody had kindly shared it with him.

In recent years his move to supply teaching has enabled Chris to undertake 2 years of post-graduate mindfulness study at the University of Exeter. He now offers mindfulness to those with a cancer diagnosis (or other life-threatening condition including Covid-19), those who are bereaved and also those experiencing issues with eating and weight management (MB-Eat programme).

Christalla Alekkou

Associate Trainer

Christalla Alekkou

Chris has over 26 years’ experience as a primary school teacher, working extensively with vulnerable pupils as a Nurture specialist teacher. She currently delivers the dots and Paws b programmes to pupils in North London. She is inspired by the children’s response to mindfulness and how it has helped and empowered them to navigate through tricky situations. As well as her own continuing mindfulness practice, Chris also writes songs for children and uses music as a way to connect and become more mindful. Chris has been a Paws b MiSP trainer since 2016, and has piloted and delivered dots training since 2021.

Clare Winter

Associate Trainer

Clare Winter

Clare is a leader at an outstanding pupil referral unit and is the School Mindfulness Lead and SENDCo. She has worked in special education in the UK for over 17 years and is passionate about helping disenfranchised young people to flourish by building resilience and positive mental health. She also highly values the need to support staff and offer them strategies and tools to remain healthy. Over the last seven years she has slowly built and embedded the mindfulness offer in her own provision and throughout local schools and parent support networks. Clare is trained to teach the Mindfulness in Schools Project’s .b, .breathe and .b Foundations curriculums.

David Bignell

Associate Trainer

David Bignell

David has worked in primary education for 30 years: eight as a classroom teacher, five as a Deputy Headteacher and seventeen as a Headteacher in three different schools. He is currently Principal at Deanwood Primary School, part of the Howard Academy Trust.

David has worked closely with the Mindfulness in Schools Project since 2015 and has inspired many a pupil and adult with his Mindfulness training through the Paws b programme for primary pupils, the .b programme for secondary pupils and the .b foundations programme for adults. In addition he has trained with colleagues from the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University and the Oxford Mindfulness Centre to deliver the Frantic World course to adults.

David has recently set up Medway Mindfulness to bring Mindfulness to the children and the adults who care for them in the Medway Towns.

Debbie Hu

Associate Trainer

Debbie Hu

Debbie is a consultant psychiatrist, specialising in child and adolescent psychiatry and psycho-oncology at the Tainan Municipal Hospital in Taiwan. She is also a University Lecturer. Debbie is a certified MBCT teacher and a trainer through the Oxford Mindfulness Foundation and is also trained in Mindfulness-based Supervision through the Mindfulness Network. She has extensive experience teaching MiSP .b and Paws b courses for children and teenagers and MBCT family programmes for cancer patients, workplaces, university students, healthcare professionals, and general populations. She is passionate about widening access to these curricula and promoting well-being and flourishing in Chinese communities.

Dominic Morris

Associate Trainer

Dominic Morris

Dominic began practising mindfulness in 2009 and has worked as a trainer for MiSP since 2013. He has a background in schools, having worked as a languages teacher in secondary education.

In addition to mindfulness teaching and supervision, Dominic currently offers mindfulness-based psychotherapy, and is completing his MA at the Karuna Institute, Devon.

Elinor Brown

Associate Trainer

Elinor Brown

Elinor is a primary school Wellbeing Lead. She is trained in all MiSP’s curricula and is also a BAMBA listed adult mindfulness teacher, trained at Bangor CMRP. She has offered mindfulness in schools since 2015 and delivers workshops for students and staff at the University of Cambridge. She is a .begin instructor and a trainer on dots, Paws b, .breathe. Her approach is informed by ACT and NVC and she is also a trained yoga teacher registered with Yoga Alliance.
Practising mindful awareness has had a transformative effect on Elinor’s life and work and she is passionate about supporting everyone in school communities to find ways to take care of themselves, each other and the world around them.

Elizabeth Williams

Associate Trainer

Elizabeth Williams

Liz is passionate about the potential of mindfulness to help staff and learners in all sectors of education to cope, connect, flourish and empower change. She teaches mindfulness to children and adults with a particular focus on education, building on a long career in education starting as a primary teacher and headteacher and ending as Head of Children and Young People’s Strategy in the Welsh Government. It’s a real privilege to be part of this team helping to make a difference to the mental and emotional health and wellbeing in schools, colleges, youth settings and families.

Liz has been co-leading the development of a mindfulness toolkit to help schools in Wales strategically plan the introduction of mindfulness in the most effective way to support the developing Whole School Approach to mental and emotional health and the Health and Wellbeing Area of Learning and Experience in the new curriculum for Wales.

As an associate of Mindfulness in Action she is part of a team developing and delivering Mindfulness for Education Leaders in partnership with the National Academy for Education Leadership Wales’ Innovation Programme.

Emma Naisbett

Associate Trainer

Emma Naisbett

Emma has been teaching in Primary Education for over 23 years. She has completed training with Bangor University and The Oxford Centre of Mindfulness and teaches mindfulness to children, teens and adults. Since 2013 Emma has been responsible for developing mindfulness and well-being as part of the curriculum in her school. As well as teaching mindfulness throughout key stage one and two, Emma also offers mindfulness courses to parents, families, school staff and the wider school community. She regularly leads mindfulness and well-being workshops, training and retreats for educators, families, schools as well as offering courses to the general public. In 2016 and 2018 Emma delivered A Frantic World course and MBCT for Life Course to teachers as part of the MYRIAD project led by the Oxford Mindfulness Centre. She often speaks at and leads workshops at a variety of local authority, headteachers and well-being conferences. Emma is a lead trainer for the Mindfulness in Schools ‘Paws.b’ curriculum and is passionate about sharing mindfulness with all children and their families.

Helen Marsh

Associate Trainer

Helen Marsh

Helen has been a teacher of young people and adults since the early 1990s, where she taught in Foundation Learning (SEND / SEMH), ESOL, Access to HE and Initial Teacher Training. She is passionate about learner-centred teaching and about finding creative and active ways to enable students to flourish through find their own unique paths. She researched using meditation to support on task learning during an MA in Education and went on to train to teach mindfulness-based approaches on the Teacher Training Pathway through Bangor CMRP and Mindfulness Network. She completed this in 2018/9 after 8 years of training and is now a competency assessed mindfulness teacher at advanced level. She teaches mindfulness to teachers, parents and pupils, as well as staff training in workplace settings. She is a trained mindfulness supervisor for trainee teachers for Mindfulness Network and listed by British Association for Mindfulness-based Approaches (BAMBA).

Iwan Brioc

Associate Trainer

Iwan Brioc

A mindfulness teacher for over 15 years, Iwan has an MA in Mindfulness-Based Approaches from Bangor University.  His thesis, reflecting his background as an applied theatre practitioner, explored the possibility of mindfulness through theatre and theatre through mindfulness and set out the theory behind a methodology called Context Oriented Arts (CoArts). As Artistic Director of Theatr Cynefin Iwan continues to direct and teach CoArts approaches internationally, whilst also teaching MBSR, MBCT and MiSP curricula online and in person.

Jason Steele

Associate Trainer

Jason Steele

Jason is the inspiring Founder and CEO of Raise The Youth, a not-for-profit that educates and cares for some of the most marginalised children and young people in Manchester. Mindfulness plays an important role not only in RTY’s work with young people, but in Jason and his team’s own capacity to deliver services in extremely challenging circumstances.

Jean Watson

Associate Trainer

Jean Watson

Jean is MiSP’s partner trainer in Australia. Jean is a qualified and internationally trained mindfulness teacher, consultant and secondary teacher, with a Masters’ Degree in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) from Oxford University. She has taught mindfulness courses in comprehensive schools, independent schools and further education colleges in England and Australia. Jean has a daily Mindfulness practice and engages in regular personal training and supervision.

Jem Shackleford

Advisor & Associate Trainer

Jem Shackleford

Jem has been practising meditation and teaching mindfulness for many years. With a background in secondary school teaching and the use of mindfulness to improve well-being in education. He is also a director of iBme UK, a non-profit organisation that provides mindfulness retreats for young people.

Julie Berentsen

Associate Trainer

Julie Berentsen

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Kamalagita Hughes

Associate Trainer

Kamalagita Hughes

Kamalagita has been practicing mindfulness for over 20 years and teaching it for over 10. She is a qualified teacher and lecturer with substantial experience in FE, Teacher Training and HE. She is experienced in delivering mindfulness in the school community, having trained to teach it from early years right up to adulthood. In 2018, she designed and delivered the first Mindfulness for Senior School Leaders course for the Central South Consortium Joint Education Committee, a regional local authority in Wales. She is the Education Lead for Mindfulness in Action and a Lead Trainer for the Mindfulness in Schools Project. She is also trained in Restorative Approaches and a Welsh speaker.

Kate Norfolk

Associate Trainer

Kate Norfolk

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Kevin Hawkins

Associate Trainer

Kevin Hawkins

Kevin has worked with adolescents and young people in various contexts for over 30 years – as teacher, school head, and social worker in the UK, Africa, and Europe. In 2012 Kevin co-founded MindWell, (mindwell-education.com) which supports educational communities around the world in developing wellbeing through mindfulness and social-emotional learning.

Kevin trained in mindfulness in Europe and the USA with Mark Williams (Oxford Mindfulness Centre), Jon Kabat-Zinn, Saki Santorelli and Florence Meleo-Meyer (UMass Medical School, Centre for Mindfulness), and with Dr. Amy Saltzman (Still Quiet Place) and he has taught mindfulness to students, teachers and parents since 2008.

Liz Lord

Advisor & Associate Trainer

Liz Lord

Michelle Harris

Associate Trainer

Michelle Harris

Michelle is a secondary school teacher. Her introduction to mindfulness through MiSP’s .b foundations course, in 2016, was life changing and the motivation to bringing the .b curriculum to her students as well as mindfulness practices to colleagues and parents, within the school community. Michelle is also an adult mindfulness teacher, trained at Bangor CMRP and the Oxford Mindfulness Foundation. As a former professional dancer and Head of Dance, she is passionate about exploring mindfulness to cultivate a deeper understanding of the connection between the mind and our physical body, in order to cultivate greater wellbeing for all.

Niamh Bruce

Associate Trainer

Niamh Bruce

Niamh has been working with young people and schools through mindfulness and meditation since 2005. Former Executive Director and Director of Programmes for the Sanctuary (A non-profit meditation centre) for over 10 years. Now continues to work for the Sanctuary, MiSP and others on a freelance basis.

Trained in MBSR and MBCT, Niamh has also developed several programmes. With a strong interest and role in Mindfulness and Young People, co-developed the Sanctuary Warrior Programme, MAT (Mindful Approach to Technology). Also, co-developed and delivered the M2M training for the National Youth Council of Ireland. Niamh also co-developed and delivered a level 7 HETAC Mindfulness module D.I.T. Ireland. Co-wrote the book I Can Feel My Toes Breathe (2010) and Art of Stillness in the Classroom.

Niamh is delighted and passionate to be an Associate Trainer for MiSP delivering the full suite of programmes. This relationship began back in 2011 and instrumental is bringing .b training to Ireland in her role with the Sanctuary. Niamh is the voice on the .b animations.

Above all Niamh has a daily practice and a passion for mindfulness and also for the sharing and learning from others, in the challenge and nourishment of integrating mindfulness into our lives.

Paula Kearney

Associate Trainer

Paula Kearney

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Sarah Gotting

Associate Trainer

Sarah Gotting

Sarah has been teaching in secondary schools in the South West for 15 years. 10 years ago she completed an eight-week MBSR course at the University of Exeter to see if it would help her to ‘teach’ mindfulness and meditation to students at school. This started a mindfulness journey of training, buidling a student mindfulness leader and mentor community scheme, training colleagues in the .b Foundations eight-week course and organising mindfulness challenges to support students’ own mindfulness journeys and experiences.

Sarah was very honoured to be asked to speak at the 2018 MiSP conference with her first ever student mindfulness leader, Jake. The students’ ongoing commitment and inspiration found in experiencing and practising these often life changing skills continues to amaze her!

Shui-Fong Lam

Associate Trainer

Shui-Fong Lam

Shui-fong is MiSP’s partner trainer in Hong Kong, and a Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Hong Kong. As the Director of the Jockey Club “Peace and Awareness” Mindfulness Culture in Schools Initiative, she promotes mental health of students, teachers, and parents through the training and research in mindfulness. She is a trainer of Teach Paws b, Teach .b, and Teach .b Foundations. It is her aspiration to bring these curricula to Chinese societies.

Sophie Sansom

Associate Trainer

Sophie Sansom

Dr Sophie Sansom leads the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice (CMRP) Teacher Training Programme for the Mindfulness Network (MN) and Bangor University (BU), and works as a mindfulness teacher, teacher-trainer and assessor. With a background in academia, her PhD explored features of mindfulness training in both secular and comparative religious contexts. Sophie has a particular interest in research and development in the field of mindfulness training and is the founder of the SiTT (Support for Integrity in Teaching and Training) Community.

Tim Anfield

Associate Trainer

Tim Anfield

Tim trained to teach mindfulness with Bangor University’s Centre for Mindfulness Practice and Research, and teaches mindfulness in schools and workplaces across South East Wales. He also delivers innovative mindfulness training and ‘mindful play’ workshops for parents and children, and is a co-chair of the Mindful Schools Wales group.

Tracy Firth

Associate Trainer

Tracy Firth

Tracy has been a primary school teacher/leader for 30 years and has taught in various prestigious international schools (Sri Lanka, Ecuador, Vienna and Madrid) as well as many schools in London and Cornwall.

She first trained to teach mindfulness in 2015, and since then has completed many trainings. She has taught mindfulness to her own classes as well as to hundreds of children in other schools.

Tracy was awarded a Masters degree in 2018 in ‘Outdoor and Experiential Learning’. She currently enjoys combining her passion for the outdoors and mindfulness with environmental storytelling whilst teaching and tutoring in Cornwall.

Trevor Adams

Associate Trainer

Trevor Adams

Trevor is a specialist outreach caseworker, and provides intervention provision in mainstream schools for pupils at risk of permanent exclusion. As well as, supports schools in promoting the positive behaviour of pupils. His aim is to reduce the need for permanent exclusions from mainstream schools and develop positive, honest relationships with our partner schools. As an organisation, he recognises that the needs of individual children within their schools differ widely and so, offers a broad and flexible range of services. Trevor is trained to teach .b, paws b and .breathe curriculum.