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Stephen is a certified mindfulness teacher with over 30 years of experience, specialising in trauma-informed approaches that foster emotional resilience, clarity, and meaningful personal growth. He has worked with leading law firms, exclusive wellness retreats, and high-performing professionals, helping individuals and teams achieve lasting, positive change.

Stephen’s career began in the theatre, where he developed a deep understanding of creative process, communication, and human behaviour. This creative foundation continues to inform his work, enriching a mindfulness practice grounded in Buddhist psychology and evidence-based therapeutic methods. His distinctive approach blends presence, insight, and imagination—supporting clients to manage stress, enhance performance, and realise their full potential.

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Over the past 10 years David has developed and facilitated Drugs Awareness training sessions for both Sheffield’s Universities and all Sheffield’s colleges. He sits on the Drugs and Alcohol steering group for Sheffield University and is in the process of setting up a substance misuse treatment pathway.

He has designed and delivered bespoke drug and alcohol training packages to many audiences including Probation Officers, Yorkshire Ambulance staff and teachers.

David has a wealth of knowledge, experience and interest working with Minority and Ethnic communities; he previously worked as a substance misuse worker at Breakthrough Multi Ethnic Drugs Service. He has supported the newly resettled Karen community from Burma in 2007. David has also provided training and support to refugees and asylum seekers for many years.

David’s previous work with the Burngreave Drugs Project led to him co- developing the highly successful scheme called ‘Lives or Leaves’. The focus of the scheme was to engage with young people from the Somali/Yemeni communities in Sheffield encountering problems due to chewing Khat.
David is extremely skilled in working with young people involved in gang culture, he played an integral part in Sheffield’s ‘Communities Against Guns and Knives’ campaign.

Emilie Taylor is a Ceramic Artist working from her studio in Sheffield. Her large scale ceramics use heritage craft processes, particularly traditional slipware, to interpret and represent post-industrial landscapes. Emilie is interested in the pot as container and metaphor for how we seek to contain different communities within society. Beyond the studio she works with the communities represented in her work, and through interdisciplinary projects hopes to apply the alchemical quality of ceramics in a socially engaged context.

Emilie has completed residencies in the UK and abroad, and has exhibited at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Ruthin Craft Centre, Gallery Oldham and the Arts & Crafts House Blackwell. Her work forms part of public and private collections. She is also a HCPC registered Art psychotherapist.

Naomi Whitehead has over 25 years of experience working in a range of Social Care settings from Youth Offending Harm Reduction and Safeguarding to Substance Misuse and Strategic Management in Housing and Homelessness Prevention. She is passionate about delivering training, counselling and consultancy in the voluntary, public and private sector which maximises individuals’ and organisations’ capacity to achieve their desired outcomes and promote equality, creativity and solution building. For example in a training capacity – supporting private sector volunteers to develop client-led job coaching skills for their work with people who have experienced homelessness. In a counselling capacity – using solution-focused practice with individuals so that they can turn their lives around and achieve their stated preferred future. In a consultancy capacity – helping Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Yorkshire take a strengths-based way of working to the next level. In a project management capacity – coordinating the 1.5 million Shelter research pilot to divert at-risk 8-14-year-olds and their families away from offending.