About me

My name is Mark and I have been working in the not for profit sector for over 25 years.  I graduated from University in 1998 and following a short stint as a publicist I began my journey helping communities and not for profit organisations as a freelance Community Development specialist in 1999.  At that time I was based in Devon and worked mostly for third sector groups based in Devon and Cornwall.  

Much of my initial work was facilitation of groups via workshops and focus groups and development of community and stakeholder consultation methodologies.  These methodologies were both digital and face to face.

Within a couple of years, my work started to spread across the rest of the South West of the UK and nation-wide.

As business developed, I set up organisations to support it. I was Founding Partner with Common Places LLP, covering community development work across the South West of England particularly.  As a Director of Boase Goodman, I set up bespoke community development tools for decision making, organisational assessments and a range of other organisational areas.  I was also Co-founder and CEO of Lemon Gazelle CIC, providing on the ground assistance to not for profit, community and public sector bodies.

Post-Covid, I chose to return to the work of my freelance days.  I found this work the most satisfying; face-to-face, directly supporting organisations and groups and the key people in them.

I moved to Gloucestershire in 2024, which eased my access to places such as Bristol, Bath and the surrounding areas, where I had built up range of professional clients.  I was also able to focus my work on my most productive areas; those of mentoring, consulting and training.