Co-Director, Co-Founder & in-house teacher
Lisa Pugh
Originally a trained secondary school teacher (Food & Art) Lisa now lives with Marc, sharing a simple and sustainable life in yurts in Deer Wood since 2014.
Previously she had spent many years living in chronic pain and fatigue from the condition known as Fibro Myalgia. Since moving to the woods the full immersion in nature enabled her to make not just a full recovery but be stronger than she has ever been before, on every level.
This not only re-kindled her love for life but also gave her a profound understanding of the self; she is now able to share this knowledge and help facilitate the healing of others if they are ready.
Lisa is also a Reiki Master under the name of ‘Green Woman Reiki – Energy Synergist.’
Co-Founder, Site Manager & in-house teacher
Marc Biddle
Marc is qualified in Dip permaculture ed’, RFS Dip Arboriculture, and Permaculture Diploma under Bill Mollison, he also has an NVQ 3-4 Carpentry. He worked for The Eden Project in Cornwall, involved in the earliest stages of the organisations set up- plant and tree cultivation and landscaping and construction over a four year period. To this day he occasionally continue to work for Eden in an advisory and contractural capacity as a Bamboo specialist carpenter and teacher. (Golden Oak Landscapes )
Age 14 Marc made a heartfelt pledge to dedicate his life in service for the Earth. The loss of habitat and species, across the globe shocked him to the core which motivated him to action. He saw a clear solution was to get involved in planting as many trees as he could, which was the motivation behind the Deer Wood Native Tree Nursery.
Co-Director & Well-being Advisor
Lizzie Francolini
Lizzie has had an eclectic career working within the Therapeutic, Wildlife Conservation, Conservation Psychology, Marine Social Science, Sustainable Building and Regenerative Farming Sectors. This experience has evolved to become EarthUncovered - offering therapy combining the well-being benefits of a therapeutic relationship with outdoor activities, and education about how to build a healthier and sustainable future.
Lizzie joined the Deer Wood family back in 2017 as a Trustee and has been an active volunteer and advisor ever since. Now a Director, Lizzie is collaborating with us to design an integrated conservation psychology approach to both our well-being activities for beneficiaries and corporate Green Teambuilding days as well as designing lessons for the new Woodland Horticulture courses.
We are looking for like-minded, motivated and skilled people to come and join the Deer Wood family. If you feel you have the passion, time and dedication to share we would love to hear from you.
We wear many hats as a small CIC but the areas that we require the most help in are:
- Admin for running courses and book-keeping/accounts
- Applying for funding
- Report writing for funding bodies
- Digital skills - website, social media, advertising
And people with practical skills & knowledge in:
- Woodland management
- Carpentry
- Horticulture
- Landscaping
- Blacksmithing
Volunteering at Deer Wood
Initially all work would be of a voluntary nature as we are a new CIC, but we provide a hearty hot plant-based lunch and give free or subsidised access to all our in-house courses and events to those who regularly volunteer at Deer Wood.
THE DEER WOOD TRUST C.I.C.
Company No: 14810543