6th Dec 2024
I’m Eleanor, and I appreciate you taking the time to read about my story.
In summer of 2023 I chose to create a new re-designed artistic website parallel to creating an online presence for my psychotherapy practice. With greater mindfulness of energy consumption, I was delighted to find my way to Green Hosting.
My intention was to share my work with my local community, while also establishing the wider presence that being online generates. I really value the responsive and helpful service offered by Green Hosting, to guide me through this process of setting up my websites.
Here is a little introduction to my story:
As a Psychotherapist in Training, and a freelance artist and facilitator, I’ve spent 15 years or so exploring and expressing aspects of internal and external environments, becoming more interested in the relationships we have with our experience. For example, how we relate to wellbeing, spirituality, our own nature, and our inter-dependant environment.
My initial training in Fine Art fostered an interest in the agency of therapeutic art, in an academic and fine art context. I also became conscious of the environmental implications of art making, which changed my process in the subsequent years - I started to work on projects that engaged people; created communication and collaboration. The completion of my BFA degree was, therefore, accompanied by an emerging curiosity in the deeper layers of experience. I developed socially-engaged arts work, with differing communities, while continuing my studies in Humanistic and Psychodynamic Counselling, followed by a training in Contemplative Buddhist Psychology. Along the way I worked and / or volunteered in adult mental health settings of various kinds.
I’m now (2024) in the final stages of training as a Mindfulness Based Core Process Psychotherapist and offer psychotherapy for adults in my local community in Oxford. Facilitating evolving creative projects through my arts practice offers group explorations of wellbeing and meaning making. I now find the fresh, expressive, and creative process happens in relationship with deeper contemplation.
I hope this gives readers a sense of how my artistic and psychotherapeutic work has unfolded and how the practices connect with one another.
To find out more about my work & origins you’re welcome to visit:
eleanorminneydrawing.co.uk and eleanorminneyresource.co.uk
31st Jan 2024
This Client Origin story is about a company that goes back a long way with us to the early 2000's. GreenFinder's founder Kate and I (Vic) were co-editors on a popular environmental blog and found support in each other and fellow entrepreneurs who were running ethical businesses, in a relatively new movement of putting people and planet before profit. Now GreenFinder has new owners. Libby and Lucy, over to you...
Hi, we are Libby & Lucy, the owners of GreenFinder, an online green directory. We took ownership three years ago from the founder Kate Haines. Here's our experience of running our own sustainable business...
As former primary school teachers we met several years ago whilst working on joint projects at Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum. It all started with a dog walk… Lucy met up with Kate and learnt that GreenFinder was for sale! Kate was keen to pursue and develop her passion for teaching outdoors and Lucy was keen to gain new skills. We officially took over in March 2021.
GreenFinder is an online directory, listing ethical companies and green products, which we also promote through our social media, newsletter feature, advertisements and competitions. We publish regular articles about sustainable business and lifestyle too.
Becoming the new owners of GreenFinder was a baptism of fire but we have acquired a whole new skill set and an incredible amount of knowledge. The company allows us to work flexibly; walk our dogs, scour charity shops and encourage recycling and reusing.
We are proud to support and promote some wonderful businesses; including Make Hay & Green Hosting who host our website.
Please take a look at our site greenfinder.co.uk and if you are a green & ethical company then contact us at [email protected] we would love to add you to our directory!
Find GreenFinder online:
Website: greenfinder.co.uk
X: @greenfinder
Facebook: greenfinder.gang
Instagram: @greenfinder_uk
11th Dec 2023
Here's a great story of some important work being done by a group of residents, campaigning to bring back a train service that will benefit a huge number of people, here in the UK and in Europe. Over to Stephanie Boucher, Bushra Akhtar and the Bring Back Euro Trains team to tell us more...
Bring Back Euro Trains is a residents’ campaign aimed at reinstating international trains services to the Kent stations of Ashford and Ebbsfleet. The campaign is organised by a core group on behalf of the many thousands of people who have signed the petition to this effect.
Eurostar have run international passenger services through the Channel Tunnel since May 1995. Most of these are direct city-to-city services between London St Pancras and Paris or Brussels, but before the pandemic a proportion of the trains would stop at one of the Kent stations. This provided direct links to Brussels and Paris for people and businesses across Kent, Sussex and the South East of England.
The stops at the Kent stations were discontinued at the start of the COVID pandemic and not reinstated when the pandemic ended. Eurostar have stated that they won’t revisit this decision until 2025 at the earliest, and even then, the return of Ashford and Ebbsfleet as Eurostar stops is not guaranteed. Eurostar say their focus is on servicing the more profitable routes to help pay down the debt they incurred during this crisis period.
Meanwhile, the international terminals at Ashford and Ebbsfleet lie idle along with all the infrastructure that was built to handle such traffic. Hundreds of businesses and thousands of people had moved to Kent to take advantage of its international train services: they now have to make an expensive and time-consuming detour via London St Pancras to get on a Eurostar, only to come back through Kent on their way to the continent. Many opt for less environmentally-friendly ways to travel instead.
In March 2023, Ashford resident Bushra Akhtar put a post up on a community website asking if anyone else like her had been impacted by the loss of the Eurostar in her town. The response to this simple question was overwhelming and sparked a huge online debate, with people voicing their struggles and concerns.
On the back of this post, the petition was started and the first residents’ meeting was organised in early June 2023. The meeting allowed people to come together to discuss if, collectively, the residents could do anything to help reinstate this service.
It was at this first meeting that the ‘Bring Back Euro Trains Residents Group’ was formed. A core group drawn from a variety of sectors, such as IT, Financial Services, Education, Public Affairs and Marketing, now meets regularly to discuss proactive ways to facilitate the return of international services to the Kent stations.
Many other Eurostar stops were axed during the pandemic (Calais-Fréthun, Disneyland Paris and more), but our campaign focuses purely on the stops at Ashford and Ebbsfleet which would have the greatest impact locally.
Competitors to Eurostar are starting to look at taking up the spare capacity on the cross-channel routes. As a result, we have changed our campaign from its original focus on Eurostar to include any train operator willing to take on the route between London and the continent. To reflect this, we chose the name Bring Back Euro Trains.
Our aim is to conduct research, liaise with local authorities and keep the issue in the public eye. We believe there is an immediate as well as long-term growth opportunity for any transport provider who services the Kent-Europe route. We want Eurostar and its competitors to recognise the demand in the South East for European train travel.
For the UK taxpayers who funded HS1’s infrastructure including the more recent £10m signalling system at Ashford Station, it is important that Kent’s European connections be restored to ensure a return on that investment. Each day without this service is a sunk cost to taxpayers.
Our Bring Back Euro Trains website serves as a focal point for contact, news and information about our campaign and about cross-channel trains in general. It makes the petition accessible at the click of a button.
Climate change is a real concern for residents in Kent. Not having a European train connection has taken away the choice of opting for sustainable travel for locals. According to Eco Passenger, taking a train to Paris from Kent compared to flying would cut carbon footprint by as much as 90%.
The UK government has a legally binding duty to reduce carbon emissions. We believe that train travel, in Kent and across the UK, can help meet those obligations.
We are looking to partner and collaborate with individuals and organisations who want to see a return of Cross-Channel trains connections between Kent and Europe.
In particular, we need regional champions in other parts of Kent (outside of Ashford) as well as business representatives who will support this initiative.
Find Bring Back Euro Trains online:
Website: bringbackeurotrains.com
Bring Back Euro Trains Change.org Petition
Bring Back Euro Trains on Facebook
Bring Back Euro Trains on LinkedIn
17th Apr 2023
When I first read this client origin story from the founders of Thinking Outside, I could feel their energy bouncing through their words. Here they are with a refreshing, effective, important and frankly fun sounding way to do things differently...
Hello. We’re Sophie Lovejoy and Sara Corcoran from Thinking Outside Ltd, and we passionately believe that you and your team would do well to get out more.
Do you dread team days? Stuck inside a meeting room all day and often not covering the topics that really need to be discussed, do they really deliver what businesses need? Often the louder voices dominate the conversation, and it can be harder to engage the full breadth of ideas and experience present. Many people feel uncomfortable talking in this setting and dread being asked to contribute, preferring to keep quiet.
There is growing evidence that taking your thinking outside in nature gives better and longer-lasting results than traditional team events. More and more businesses are adopting this approach and seeing an increase in productivity, creativity and wellbeing as a result.
Thinking Outside clients talk about the richer and deeper conversations that are possible walking side by side and how the use of outdoor spaces results in deeper relationship building and more innovative thinking. What we do is especially relevant to the post covid world, building strong relationships across members of teams who spend much of their time interacting through their screens.
As well as providing team days – clients find our approach particularly effective for teams that aren’t running as smoothly as they might like – we can support with formulating strategy, developing a vision or reimagining a process. Our events are designed to be inclusive so all members of your team can be equally heard and involved. What we don’t do is outward bound-style challenges… we walk, talk, build connections and get commitment to action.
Our office can be field, forest, riverside, hill or park. In fact anywhere that works for our clients.
We have known each other for over 20 years and both have a focus on developing teams and individuals, despite having done different things throughout our careers.
Sara has a background in Organisational Development (OD) and HR so making workplaces the best they can be and developing organisations, teams and individuals has long been at the heart of her purpose. After a career culminating as Director of HR and OD helping to establish a new university, Sara qualified in 2020 as a Coach and established a private practice, working with Senior Executives and their teams.
Sophie has had a portfolio career and alongside her OD work in and with universities, she has done a range of things, from running rocket car workshops in schools for Bloodhound Education, to managing a café at a music festival for a few years. She’s also conducted over three hundred funerals in two decades working as an independent Humanist celebrant.
When Sara was introduced to the concept of coaching “in and with nature”, they soon discovered that this way of working played to both their strengths. This led to a conversation in early 2021 about working together and the creation of Thinking Outside.
Since then, we have worked in various locations across the UK with clients from a variety of sectors. In every case, we’ve found that getting teams and groups to take their thinking outside has deep and lasting results. An added bonus is that we reckon that happens around three times as quickly as we could achieve inside a meeting room. Our clients tell us that working in this way is hugely beneficial, and even the most sceptical of attendees have become converts to our approach. In fact, sometimes they become our biggest advocates and want to know when we’ll be working with them again!
Our passion and purpose is about helping teams and organisations develop and meet their goals alongside enjoying, appreciating and nurturing our natural world, having a heap of fun along the way. We still can’t believe how lucky we are to wear hiking boots to work!
Find Thinking Outside online:
Website: thinking-outside.co.uk
Instagram: instagram.com/thinkingout2021
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/thinking-outside-ltd
Facebook: facebook.com/ThinkingOut2021
18th Jan 2023
Hi, I’m Priya, founder of upcycled accessories and kidswear brand, Pri Pri. All designs use pre loved saris and are handmade by a charity in India that helps to upskill and empower underprivileged women with training in tailoring.
The concept was born out of my love for Indian clothing, those luxurious fabrics and rich colours have always appealed to me. One of my first sewing memories is from when I was 10 years old and Patti, my Indian grandma, taught me how to use a sewing machine. It led to my first little business venture, using zips from the big sacks of rice at home to make pencil cases and raise money for charity. It was my grandmother who also first introduced me to the zero waste concept. Every scrap of fabric would somehow be put to use.
Zero waste/sustainability is what I guess we call it now, but coming from a generation and a country where throwaway fashion wasn’t really considered an option, she made sure I learnt the importance of these values too.
This passion started a very long time ago but it’s something that has stayed with me through my life. I didn’t study textiles, I didn’t have a career in design, but I’ve just always loved making and repurposing stuff. When my niece was born, I found myself drawn back to the treasure chest of my mum's beautiful old saris and had the idea of making little party dresses for our new family member. The colourful fabrics were so vibrant, and the silk so soft, that they were ideal for remaking into kids’ partywear. After a few encouraging comments, I added some dresses to the online marketplace Etsy, and it became my side hustle.
In 2021, the business moved from being a side hustle to my primary job. I decided to outsource the making of my products and I found a wonderful charity to work with, back in my grandmother’s home of Mumbai, to help make up my designs. The organisation trains underprivileged women in tailoring, upskilling them and enabling them to gain employment at the end of their training. Research shows education and empowerment in women leads to living a healthier, happier life and can break the cycle of poverty, and it has been great to hear how many of the women who work on Pri Pri designs, feel more confident after their training and employment.
Find Priya online at:
Website: pripri.co.uk
Twitter: @PriPriCoUk
Facebook: facebook.com/PriPri.co.uk
Pintrest: pinterest.co.uk/PriPriStore
Instagram: instagram.com/pripri.co.uk
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