Grow Wakefield

Our Trustees

Our Trustees are volunteers appointed from the membership of the company and have involvement in how the company is managed and developed.

Being a trustee in a small, but developing, social enterprise like Grow Wakefield can be a wonderful personal and professional experience. Many people just don’t get the opportunity to join a board in their regular working life but the truth is that so many people have so many skills and experiences to offer – and, this is what we want to encourage; people who have some time to give and would like to get involved.

If you’d like to become a trustee please get in touch for more information.

Our current trustees and key staff are:

Andy Austerfield – CEO

Though a Johnny come lately food grower, I only started growing in 2009 at the age of 42, I’ve come to love the time I spend on my own gardenshare plot and the opportunity to learn and share what I’ve learnt at Grow Wakefield sessions.

This passion for growing and an awareness that rising fuel prices and climate change may bring a more uncertain future for us all inspired me to start our forerunner, Incredible Edible Wakefield, as a community group in 2010 and to try to take a leading role as the range of community, education, health and business initiatives we have developed has grown and grown.

Our unofficial motto – “If you eat you’re in” says it all for me.

Growing your own food is a pleasure that can be enjoyed by everyone, is amazingly fulfilling and has the potential to bring together communities that far too often find reasons to feel disconnected.

I’m immensely proud of what we have achieved together over the past few years and hope to be a part of the Grow Wakefield future we have ahead of us.

John Whiteman

I am not a gardener, I never got the bug to till the soil! However, I was energised by the Incredible Edible ethos and vision so, without getting my hands dirty at any point, I have found myself becoming a Director of Grow Wakefield.

Before I retired and finally escaped, I was a senior manager in local government dealing with disasters and emergencies. As someone with a background in project management, service and business planning I hope that I can bring those skills to bear in the development of what I believe to be an inspirational, incredible organisation. 

Stuart Boothman

I have been an organic gardener since my teens, am a member of a number of aligned organisations, from Friends of the Earth to the Soil Association, and from the Landworkers Alliance to Sustain and am also a member of the Green Party so, as you can see, food and food politics is one of my obsessions.

I have considerable experience of governance – as a school governor, as a trustee of the Phoenix Centre in Alverthorpe, and as a professional – I support school governors across North Yorkshire.

Suzanne Mitchell – Office Manager and Company Secretary

I’m a very enthusiastic vegetable grower.  I’ve seen the amazing benefits producing our own veg has brought to my own family: in the form of a healthier diet, better quality produce, fitness levels, a greater understanding of what we eat and how it affects us and last but not least happiness levels.

I’d like to see these benefits available to everyone and Grow Wakefield creates amazing opportunities for the residents of Wakefield to take their first steps into the world of growing your own.

Penny Veale

My Dad was the gardener in our family and interested me in growing. He taught me that sometimes simple is best and he grew potatoes in buckets every year – even when he was 85 years old!

When I retired, I wanted an allotment but the waiting lists were long and then I discovered Grow Wakefield. They had no plot for me when I first arrived so I helped out with the community beds where all the produce is shared by the group. I learnt a lot from the plotholders and when a plot came free I took it on. I enjoyed having my own growing space to try out different vegetables. Tools weren’t a problem as we all shared the ones in the shed and there was also a greenhouse to start off our seedlings and for growing tomatoes.

Now I am part of a garden share team in an unloved space that Grow Wakefield found for us. We grow fruit and vegetables and share our produce with the owners as well as ourselves.

I find gardening calming and relaxing – a world away from the job I had working with the media. Now I use the skills I gained to help Grow Wakefield spread the word about the work they do with so many individuals and groups from all walks of life.

Phil Wheeliker

I am resident in Outwood, Wakefield, where, since 2009, I have run my own small company that is a blend of Psychotherapy Services and Management and Leadership Training Delivery.

Apprentice trained in Factory Administration, I am a former RAF Supply Officer who then spent many years in the corporate world specialising in project management, business transformation and rescue and learning and development. I rose to board level holding titles such as Chief Operating Officer, Chief Learning Officer, Director of Learning, Director of Operational
Training and Programme Director.

I hold relevant qualifications in Accountancy (both Cost and Financial), Information Technology, Learning and Development, Marketing Management, Project Management, a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and a Master of Arts Degree in Psychotherapy and since 2024 I’ve worked within the charity sector as Trustee, Non-executive Director, Board Chair and Committee Chair.

Having led a Halifax Mental Health charity to CIO status between 2022 and 2023, I am currently working with GW’s CEO and Chair, assisting with their next application for full charitable status and being qualified in Walk Leadership, Camping Leadership, Bushcrafting, Survival and First Aid, I have been volunteering as an instructor with GW’s Wellbeing in The
Woods programme.

Sisca Ligace

I joined GW months ago when finding out about the mini-plots opportunity.  I had previously joined the city’s waiting list for the standard plots and knew I should expect to wait a couple of years at the very least, so the opportunity offered by GW to have a mini-plot to grow vegetables was both a wonderful surprise and an incredible opportunity to start that long awaited journey.

I have a background in the legal sector, being qualified as a French lawyer and working in the UK for the last 8 years as a legal consultant who now advises businesses on various legal matters. I have moved to Wakefield almost a year ago and have felt the need to find ways to connect more deeply with the local community through ways of serving it. I feel that joining GW as a director to participate in its steady growth and amplified impact, will be a formidable way of doing that. I believe my presence will also allow GW’s board of directors to benefit from the diverse perspective that my unique personal and professional experiences can bring.

I believe that with the increasingly pressing issues of global warming, adverse health effects of the food industry practices and soaring mental health issues, an organisation such as GW has a central role to play in educating and empowering local communities to live a greener and therefore healthier and more connected life.

Andrew Johnson

After a 40-year career in the HR profession, I am now able to pursue fully my alternative interest in environmental and community activism. I am a Trustee of Just Transition Wakefield and long-time member of Friends of the Earth.

Growing food locally is really important.  It reconnects us with the land, provides a range of social, health and economic benefits and helps communities to withstand adverse circumstances.

Having just secured an allotment at St Johns I shall be participating at the sharp end!  Grow Wakefield’s successful work in the community is to be greatly admired.  So I am delighted to be supporting its activities and the positive outcomes it delivers for people.

 

Grow Wakefield