English LWA Member Organisers
The Landworkers’ Alliance is driven by its membership. Members organise in branches (England, Scotland, Cymru/Wales and Northern Ireland) and regions, sectors and identity groups. These member led groups have Organising Teams made up of members and supporters who are active in organising events, comms, campaigns and movement building.
Member organisers are the heart and soul of the LWA, rooting the work of the LWA in the fields and forests where it belongs. If you’re interested in becoming a member organiser, read more about it yma and get in touch with the Organising Team for the branch, region, sector or identity group you want to organise with.
Branches and Regions
Scotland Organising Team
scotland@landworkersalliance.org.uk
This email is only checked on a weekly basis so if you have a more urgent enquiry please contact Clem (Scotland Membership Coordinator) on clem.sandison@landworkersalliance.org.uk
The Scotland team organises gatherings, community meals, farm walks and skill shares, currently focusing on the following regions of Scotland – North, East, Central, South West. We are always looking for more Member Organisers, so get in touch with Clem if you’d like to find out more!
The LWA Member Organisers in Scotland are Suhail, Tom, Natalie, Abi, Josie, Kat, Jac and Meredith.
Further Info - Scotland Organising Team
Suhail Merchant (he/him) – a filmmaker & musician from Bombay with an 8-acre croft on the Isle of Skye. He and his partner are new entrants and have planted native trees and an orchard, with plans for poultry, dairy goats and a veg garden underway.
Tom Booth (he/him) – runs East Neuk Market Garden in Fife with his wife Connie where they have a CSA and supply local restaurants. Amateur cider maker, cricket fan and occasional dinghy sailor.
Natalie Jurdeczka (She/her) runs Millpond Botanicals – a small scale apothecary garden on the North-east coast of Scotland, with the aim of growing and supplying quality herbal medicines to the community.
Abi Mordin (she/her) is a founder member of Propagate, and a seasoned food activist. She runs a small market garden in Galloway – Hidden Veg – and co-founded a producer-led food hub for local people to access climate and nature friendly food.
Cymru Organising Team
cymru@landworkersalliance.org.uk
LWA members in Cymru get together for regional gatherings, site visits and pub meets. The Cymru organising team is Lou, Kate R, Kate M, Charlotte and Lydia.
There are also whatsapp groups for Mid Wales, West Wales, South Wales and North Wales, get in touch with cymru@landworkersalliance.org.uk to join.
Further Info - Cymru Organising Team:
Lou has been a climate and land justice activist, CSA member and local food systems advocate for the past decade. She is a new entrant landworker who, after spending a year WWOOFing across South Wales, are in the process of starting a commercial herb garden in Abergavenny.
Kate is a new entrant land worker growing mixed salad leaves, herbs & vegetables on a market garden on her farm in South Pembrokeshire.
Charlotte is a food grower, community gardener and trainee sourdough baker at Tyddyn Teg Cooperative Farm in Gwynedd, North Wales. She understands time from the perspective of a tree rather than a radish but is grateful and enthusiastic to be on the LWA organising team. As an organiser, Charlotte hopes to strengthen membership relations in the North; expand the supportive network of local farmers and foresters; and get more good parties happening up here like the ones those farmers down in Pembrokeshire have!.
Northern Ireland Organising Team
N.Ireland@landworkersalliance.org.uk
The newly-organised Northern Ireland branch has hit the ground running, with a public zoom meeting in partnership with Talamh Beo introducing the LWA and sharing ideas about how LWA members can organise across Northern Ireland.
Upcoming are in person events and further collaboration with other organisations working towards land justice, food sovereignty and sustainable landwork.
The Organising Team for Northern Ireland is Barry, Bea and Anthony.
Further Info - Northern Ireland Organising Team:
Anthony Clearn (he/him)– I grew up on a small family farm in County Armagh, I dabble in hobby growing fruit & vegetables.
Barry Ferguson (he/him)– I live and work on a small family farm near Newtownards (growing organic vegetables and keeping free range laying hens).
Bea Shrewsbury (she/her) – Just moved to Donaghadee from an off grid small holding in Cornwall. Very interested in food justice and community gardening and actively searching for a site with others in the Dee.
North England Organising Team
NorthEngland@landworkersalliance.org.uk
The Organising Team for the North of England is Rhian and Jenny. LWA members in the North get together for regular farm and site visits throughout the year. Get in touch if you want to host a visit at your site!
The North England region covers Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Lancashire Merseyside, Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear and the Tees Valley, East Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.
Further Info - North England Organising Team:
Rhian Williams, she/her – Grower at Kirkstall Valley Farm, Leeds. She enjoys hosting fortnightly calls with other northern England members, requesting cute animal/vegetable pictures on the regional whatsapp and helping to organise occasional gatherings.
Jenny Hanley, she/her – Community Gardener + allotmenteer based in Preston. Super keen on growing synergies between nature and cultivation.
East Anglia Organising Team
EastAnglia@landworkersalliance.org.uk
LWA members in East Anglia get together for site visits and pub meets, and share skills, resources and encouragement through a supportive and active whatsapp group.
The East Anglia organising team is Ryan and Joel.
The East Anglia region covers Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk.
Midlands Organising Team
Midlands@landworkersalliance.org.uk
The Midlands Organising Team is Becca, Brittany and Emma. They get together for pub meets, farm tours and every once in a while a bigger gathering.
The Midlands includes Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland, Birmingham, City of Wolverhampton, Dudley, Solihull, Walsall, West Bromwich, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands (county), Warwickshire, and Worcestershire.
Further Info - Midlands Organising Team:
Brittany Oakes (she/her). Birmingham. Events coordinator, balcony gardener and amateur kombucha brewer; interested in international solidarity, food sovereignty and food justice.
Becca (she/her). Head Grower at Five Acre Community Farm in Rugby, a keen home brewer, and also on the LWA UK Coordinating Group.
Southwest England Organising Team
SouthWestEngland@landworkersalliance.org.uk
The Southwest England region is packed with agroecological landworkers and producers! The organising team try to signpost people to relevant local networks, represent LWA at bigger events and organise regional gatherings and assemblies.
The Organising team for Southwest England is Jimmy, Megan, Hetty and Harley.
The Southwest covers: Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, City and County of Bristol, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Isles of Scilly.
Image: Jimmy Thomson
Further Info - Southwest England Organising Team:
Megan Willoughby (she/her). Lives at an off-grid, fossil fuel free, woodland community in Somerset. Happiest when playing with wild herbs and making recipes over a fire.
Jimmy Thomson (he/him) Bristol based market gardener. Passion for food, farming, health, housing and land.
Hetty: I adore growing food for my community. Trees and the Sea and Summer, I love too. Passionate about Food Sovereignty, working on it in Kernow.
Southeast England Organising Team
SouthEastEngland@landworkersalliance.org.uk
The Southeast region of the LWA organises gatherings and meet ups, spanning social events, member assemblies and peer to peer learning through site visits.
The Organising Team for Southeast England is Ed, Christabel and Ross, supported by a wider steering group.
The Southeast region spans Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, The Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex, Greater London.
Further Info - Southeast Organising Team:
Ed – Runs a market garden in Hampshire and helps care for a herd of community owned conservation cattle. He’s keen on connecting local food production to global justice movements and stewarding landworker knowledge across generations.
Christabel Buchanan (she/her) Oxford based land justice organiser and lover of herbs
Ross Adamson (He/Him) – Brighton based grower – into CSAs and all things no dig!
Identity Groups
OOTL Organising Team
lgbtqia@landworkersalliance.org.uk
Out On The Land (OOTL) is where Land Workers’ Alliance LGBTQIA+ folx come together to build solidarity, to network and connect, and raise the voices of queer and trans landworkers.
The OOTL Organising Team is Beni, Zoe, Hester, Anna, Nancy, Lucy and others!
Photo credit Anna Barrett, banner by Rachael Clerke
Further Info - OOTL Organising Team:
Beni Stewart (they/them) Gloucestershire based veg grower with roots in the London community food growing world. Also on the LWA coordinating group.
Hester she/her/they – Based in East Devon Hester is a market gardener and is interested in an abolitionist, queer and anti racist politics of land justice.
Anna Barrett (all pronouns) Currently running a market garden for a Michelin green starred restaurant in Bristol, seasonally available as a lighting designer for large scale outdoor events. Always finding joy in nature and up to some queer business or other.
Lucy Robbins (she/her). Lives in London and spends time on her family’s farm in north Gloucestershire, she is researching food systems and is most happy cycling around or finding new music and gigs.
Arran Denning (They/Them) is a Market Gardener, Educator and Forest Gardener based in Devon and is interested in accessible, community oriented training pathways for new entrant land-workers.
FLAME Organising Team
youth.flame@landworkersalliance.org.uk
FLAME (Food, Land Agriculture: a Movement for Equality) is the youth wing of the LWA. FLAME holds gatherings and skillshares, connects young people passionate about agroecology and landwork,and campaigns on issues of climate and land justice.
The FLAME Organising Team are Buzz, Lawrence, Camille, Emma, Alanna and Lauren.
Image credit Jyoti Fernandes
Further Info - FLAME Organising Team:
Lawrence Weston (he/him) Organising skill sharing and landwork training opportunities for FLAME members, whilst growing organic fruit and veg. Based in the West Midlands.
Camille she/her, London based and studying for an MSc in Agroecology
Emma Eberhardt (she/her) agroforestry graduate with a background in coppicing and market gardening working on an agroforestry delivery project in Cornwall
Alanna Bonita Hill, born 1998 (she/they), interested in paludiculture, the fens, food forests, traditional medicine and crafts. Keen folk dancer and loves a sing-song! Organises with FLAME
Lauren Jennings (she/her) London based kitchen gardener. Loves all things – fungi and edible plants. Organises in FLAME.
Women and Diverse Genders in Forestry and Landwork
wdg@landworkersalliance.org.uk
The Women and Diverse Genders identity group has a particular focus on the experiences of women and gender marginalised people within the Forestry sector, but is also open to people from other sectors.
It seeks to to build solidarity and community through creating a safe and supportive space for women and gender diverse people within Forestry and land work, working towards creating a more positive work culture, and organiseing events which facilitate the sharing of skills and knowledge in a way which places women and gender diverse people at the centre of sharing.
Further Info - WDG Organising Team:
Sasha Georgiades (they/them), Devon. hedgelayer/ aspiring green wood craftsperson/ grower
Keziah Rose (she/they), Wales. Forestry worker doing mostly motor manual work (Chainsawing) in PAWS restoration and Continuous Cover Forestry managed sites
REAL Organising Team
REAL@landworkersalliance.org.uk
The REAL Organising Team is Dot Tiwari and Jaden.
REAL – Racial Equity, Abolition and Liberation – is a group for black and people of colour members of the LWA. REAL is working towards equity and equality through developing racially inclusive networks of support and participation within the movements for Food Sovereignty, Agroecology and Land Access for farmers, growers, foresters, agriculturalists, food processors, land-based workers and BPOC who seek a closer connection to nature.
This group is involved in developing a learning history of experiences of people of colour in the LWA in order to work towards a racial liberation strategy.
If you’d be interested in getting involved, get in touch with REAL@landworkersalliance.org.uk
Sectors
Forestry Organising Group
forestry@landworkersalliance.org.uk
