Volunteers

EmpathyLab exists because of the generosity of an amazingly talented group of supporters who have helped us create the activities, tools, relationships and events that are already helping build empathy skills in children across the UK

Fritha Lindqvist

A former primary school teacher and passionate advocate of children’s literacy and reading for pleasure, Fritha Lindqvist has been a communications professional in the children’s publishing industry for 16 years. She has worked with many talented authors and illustrators including Cressida Cowell, Sophie Anderson, Lauren Child, Nadiya Hussain, Dermot O’Leary, Hilary McKay, Mick Inkpen, James Mayhew and David Almond. Since 2017 Fritha has been a freelance children’s books consultant working with a variety of publishers. She proudly supports the work of not-for-profit organisation EmpathyLab.

Ali Richardson

Ali's early career was in advertising and marketing, until she left the corporate world to set up her own bespoke cake design business. When her children were very young, she diversified into book sales and managed a Dorling Kindersley home sales team. Her most recent role has been Library/Website Manager in a Winchester primary school. After hearing EmpathyLab's founder, Miranda McKearney speak at a Patron of Reading conference, she offered to become a pioneer school trialling the new EmpathyLab resources and ideas. Now retired, she is working closely with Miranda on a variety of EmpathyLab projects and is passionate about the power of stories and poems to help young people recognise their feelings and build their empathy skills.

Amy Naylor

After completing an MPhil in Critical Approaches to Children’s Literature at the University of Cambridge in 2018, Amy is now working towards her PhD in English Literature at the University of Liverpool. Her thesis examines representations of female mental illness in contemporary British Young Adult fiction. Amy’s love for children’s literature and media extends beyond her studies; she has worked with children both as a party entertainer and as a preschool worker. Amy is particularly passionate about encouraging young people to empathise with those who suffer from mental illness through literature.

Mary Edwards

Mary is a primary teacher and former children’s bookseller. She can mostly be found reading or writing fiction and poetry for children and young adults, and is a passionate believer in the power of stories to educate, empower and inspire. She has volunteered with EmpathyLab since January 2019, developing empathy-based teaching resources for primary and secondary schools.

Pippa Probert

Pippa has been working as an English and Drama teacher for over 20 years and has had the opportunity to work in both the state and independent sectors and from KS1-5. She came to the EmpathyLab training in February 2019 and felt that it was the single most important training she has attended. She is now a very vocal(!) advocate for mental health and wellbeing and would love to see empathy and kindness systematically taught throughout schools so that children have the tools to maintain good mental health through out their lives. She is thrilled to be able to volunteer for EmpathyLab.

Caroline Woolley

Miranda and Caroline met on a train into London back in 2017. Caroline is a Chartered Forensic Accountant with over 20 years in the risk and insurance industry. As EmpathyLab continues to grow, she gives input to its financial strategy and gives Miranda and the team any other support she can.

Caroline leads the London office and investigative accounting practice in the UK and Europe for Meaden & Moore. She has developed and presented seminars on Forensic Accounting, natural catastrophe and supply chain related topics at conferences for a variety of organisations including, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the United Nations, RIMS, FERMA, and AIRMIC.

She mentors females and graduates in her own industry, and supports other organisations where she can. She chaired the Marsh Women’s Exchange, championing balance and diversity and offering support to females and others. She has received the Business Insurance “Women to Watch” award and was recognised by Insurance Times for Business Interruption Centre of Excellence training.

Martin Simmons

With a background in psychology, mental health and senior management in education, Martin has an eclectic range of skills, including leadership & strategic coaching, E-Learning, personal development and creative problem solving. Since semi-retiring in August 2018 he taken on a small portfolio of strategic, coaching, and leadership consultancy assignments and is managing an innovative E-Learning project for the Enterprise M3 LEP.

He is currently writing a novel and hopes that his interests in literature, mindfulness & psychological well-being will complement Empathy Lab’s fascinating and pioneering work.