Sims Hill Shared Harvest is a member-owned and co-operatively run business. We are made up of veg share members, supporter members, workshare members and paid grower members. Our legal structure is that of a company limited by guarantee operating in the style of a co-operative with multi-stakeholder rules. Within this structure the day-to-day running of the business is handled by its Board of Directors, who are elected every year by the members at the Annual General Meeting. There are (approximately) five open members’ meetings throughout the year where the members come together and help make the major decisions that guide Sims Hill, including the last meeting of the year where the budget for the next financial year is adopted.

Project staff:

Joanna Poulton, Co-Lead Grower: Jo is our newest Co-Lead Grower as of November, 2024. Following an exciting career in TV Production Co-ordinating, Script Reading, Researching, and Script Co-ordinating Jo  decided to make a career change into organic Food Production in 2021, training in Horticulture with Newton Rigg in 2022 and The Plot North Lancashire. She has worked with FoodFutures North Lancashire where she found a passion for community engagement and recognised the power of place-based networks and has taken this passion to Transition Together as a Network Weaver. She is a keen activist with an interest in social justice and climate justice. She is also currently co-ordinating a campaign advocating for a Basic Income For Farmers.

Madeleine Yarwood, Co-Lead Grower: Maddy came to us in 2023 from being a trainee at Trill Farm Market Garden which introduced her to highly efficient systems and fast turnovers, and also has worked at The Community Farm, where she was introduced to field scale production, trained up on the tractor and supported volunteer groups; including running sessions with Impact, Groundwork South’s project supporting refugees and non-EU migrants.

Sarah Burroughs, Co-Lead Grower: Sarah comes to us in 2024 with experience of being a trainee at Fresh and Green Vegetables in East Devon, a long-standing veg box scheme, and has also worked at Strode Valley Organics and Five Acre Farm where she learnt to grow high-quality produce in fast-paced environments. Sarah has experience in funding and editing from part-time work at a Sudanese news organisation in exile in The Netherlands.

Board of Directors:

Anna Perego Anna came to us with experience of working in several community food growing projects. She also has a background in working within the migrant solidarity sphere for many years. Anna was our trainee grower through most of 2022 and was our interim Assistant Grower at the end of the year, and then joined our team as a co-head grower for the 2023 season. Anna coordinated, alongside the rest of the growing team, our grant-funded mentoring project that offers weekly horticultural and social sessions to those who have been affected by the asylum system in the UK. Anna has stepped down from being a Co-lead Grower but will continue to bring her fundraising skills and her enthusiasm for growing and working with people affected by the asylum system to the project.

Madeleine Yarwood: (see above for bio.)

Sarah Burroughs: (see above for bio.)

Freya Widdicombe has been a professional gardener for over 10 years and has always had a passion for gardening without chemicals and with respect for the rhythms of nature. Her experience being self employed allows her to build enormously on her planning and organisational skills and this is something she uses to help Sims Hill.

Julian Harrison joined Sims Hill as a member in 2016 and has been involved in volunteer days throughout his membership. He built the pick-up shed for St George and was part of promoting the project in the neighbourhood. He has an MBA and work experience in business, so is well placed to support the project on financial and business aspects as well as bringing energy and motivation to other aspects of the cooperative.

Mike Secker now lives in Dorset and has stepped down from being an elected Board member, but still serves as a co-opted Board member and continues to inspire us with his energy and enthusiam for community-based growing projects. Mike is also the Company Secretary.

Chi Kwong Lam, who goes by Angus, was born and grew up in Hong Kong. His family moved to Bristol in 2021. He joined the traineeship programme at Sims Hill between April to October 2022.  Angus is passionate about growing food and indigenous culture. He worked in various agroecological and community-based NGOs for more than 25 years. Angus is also an active member of Hazelnut Community Farm in Bristol, helping to lead the gardening programme during the Sunday services and supporting the social integration of Hong Kong migrants.

Tierney Smith: Tierney has over a decade of experience supporting environmental charities strengthen their communications, including developing ambitious communication strategies and creative content, increasing their membership and fundraising base, building movements and shifting the discourse on climate change. While her professional experience has been largely focused on systemic climate challenges, she’s deeply passionate and excited by all the local action helping to ingrain more sustainable lifestyles and is keen to bring her experience to support such projects.

Bekki Pugh: Bekki works for AWP Bristol Mental Health Recovery Teams. She is the Connecting With Nature Coordinator and runs allotment groups for service users attached to the three recovery teams for North, South and Central Bristol. The job is all about providing an alternative space in MH services to improve health and wellbeing through food growing and gardening. She has been doing it for two years now and is always looking to learn more from other communities. She does volunteer referrals by an individual basis and she  thinks it’s important to interlink local food systems and communities like Sims Hill within the NHS mental health system.

Jessie Seal: Jessie likes working together with others to grow ideas and produce. Her experiences and interests are quite eclectic; she has been involved in direct action protests, has her own allotment, a small textiles art practise and is a long standing member of the Street Goat collective. She likes fixing things practically and thinking about the world analytically. ‘Professionally’, she has managed a homelessness advice project and worked across different food banks and with many different communities in Bristol. Last year she was the Sims Hill delivery driver and she currently works for an organisation investigating complaints from social housing residents. She believes in the work of the Sims Hill Shared Harvest and wants to support the model to sustainably continue.