Meet Our TEAM
Staff
Xeni Robinson
Nourish Torridge Project Manager
Xeni’s background is in Outreach and Widening Participation into Higher Education. She has completed qualifications in counselling skills and children’s mental health as well as the Breastfeeding Peer Supporter qualification through Healthy Babies UK and is now an accredited CLSP (Certified Lactation Support Provider) through the GOLD Lactation Academy, she is an accredited baby massage practitioner and Mental Health First Aider.
Xeni knows that the UNICEF Baby
Friendly Initiative is key to healthy, happy babies and mothers and wants to support parents to make informed decisions to build close, loving, and responsive relationships with their babies and achieve their breastfeeding goals.
“I have such fond memories of going to breastfeeding group every week with both my daughters when they were babies. The group gave me so much support and encouragement, empathy and friendship, and the confidence to carry on breastfeeding. I feel very honoured to be working for Early Nourishment and I hope I can now give back to mothers who come to the EN groups the same support that was given to me (including a warm welcome and a hot cuppa!).”
Attasara Herrera Martel
North Devon Project Worker
Attasara (Atta) runs our South Molton and Little Pebbles groups as well as helping to run our Barnstaple drop-in. She has completed perinatal and breastfeeding peer supporter training and is a qualified baby massage practitioner, she holds courses and workshops around North Devon. Atta is also a Mental Health First Aider and she has experience with children and families having worked around North Devon with her face painting business. With a little one of her own she is passionate about helping families bond and connect and understands the importance of those crucial first 1000 days.
Vikki Bowker
North Devon Project Worker
Vikki is a mum of 3 (two teens and a toddler). You will find her at our Barnstaple and Ilfracombe drop-ins.
She has completed perinatal and breastfeeding peer supporter training, as well as completing training in safeguarding children & vulnerable adults, SEND awareness training, holding a CertHE in Psychology and is currently studying for a BA (hons) Childhood and Youth Studies with a keen interest in how disabled children view themselves.
“I attended Early Nourishment groups when my youngest was a baby and received so much help and support with breastfeeding. Knowing I could attend a non-judgemental and welcoming group for advice or just to vent made those first months of motherhood that much easier!
The opportunity to work with Early Nourishment will allow me to help other parents feel less alone and become more confident in their own abilities.”
Board of Directors
Charlotte Ovey
Director
Charlotte is a primary school teacher, breast feeding peer supporter and mum of two. Charlotte is our Safeguarding Lead.
“I’m a fierce believer in both the importance of breastfeeding and in women supporting women. Early Nourishment is an essential service to so many parents across the whole of North Devon and Torridge. I’ve seen first hand how it brings families together; allows women to feel heard; and creates a safe space for so many. I’m absolutely delighted to be appointed a director and I can’t wait to help Early Nourishment develop and continue to support many more women for years to come.”
Chloe Prince
Director
Chloe is a trained therapist and has an extensive history in project management and budget planning. Chloe is our Treasurer and you may also see her at groups helping out.
“Having had tricky feeding journeys with both my son and daughter where I felt isolated and embarrassed, I know first-hand what a life-line services like Early Nourishment can be. It is so important that parents are supported to make informed decisions and feel empowered however they choose to feed their children. I am so excited to be part of an organisation that does that for so many families.”
April Castle
Director
Holly Lathbury-Wilson
Managing Director
Holly is an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) and holds a level 3 award in Antenatal Teaching. She leads antenatal courses in North Devon and delivers one-to-one infant feeding support and home visits to parents all over North Devon and Torridge. She also trains all our volunteers.
Holly has a background in Law and worked as a Legal Secretary and Paralegal for over ten years, she has also worked as a clerk for local school governing bodies so has a robust understanding of the strategic oversight needed on a Board of Directors.
Holly is an adult and paediatric First Aider, an accredited Mental Health First Aider, Baby Massage practitioner, and has also completed level 5 safeguarding training. She is chair of the Children and Families network hosted by Barnstaple Town Council. She also sits on the Breastfeeding Alliance Steering Group (an informal alliance of around 40 organisations working in maternal and infant health in the UK that aims to influence infant feeding policy and strategy at government level) and is a Trustee of the charity Lactation Consultants of Great Britain.
“I believe that all parents should have access to competent support that meets them where they are and is accessible and non judgemental. Parenting is so much more than looking after a child, it is the social and emotional needs of the whole family.”
Founders of Early Nourishment
Hannah Ashford
Founder
Hannah Ashford has been supporting local families since 2010 in a variety of roles including as breastfeeding counsellor & introduction to solids practitioner. She has
supported thousands of parents’ with regards to feeding issues, a mixture of local contacts & from working on
NCT Infant Feeding Line.
Hannah has a BSc Hons (Open) degree, formed using her Diploma of Higher Education in Breastfeeding Counselling and topped up with two level six modules from the Open University; ‘Approaches to Mental Health’ & ‘Young lives, parenting and families’. Hannah has had other roles in the community such as volunteering for the County Council to advise on cloth nappies and she founded North Devon Sling Library in 2012. This education and experience means Hannah has a wealth of knowledge in supporting parents, having had the privilege of hearing thousands of parent’s journeys.
Hannah is the CEO of North Devon Against Domestic Abuse (NDADA), and is passionate about supporting families to achieve their full potential.
Louise Oliver
Founder
Louise is the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Lead for the National Childbirth Trust and has a wealth of experience supporting parents. She helped to get Early Nourishment off the ground and with her dedication and knowledge has helped it to become the amazing organisation it is today.
Alice McCarron
Founder
Our Volunteers
Early Nourishment CIC would not exist without the dedication of our peer supporters who volunteer their time for free. We are passionate about the use of peer supporters as we value the contribution of those with lived experience. We are confident that our support follows the guidelines set out by the maternal mental health alliance for good perinatal peer support.
Our Support Is:
SAFE – we have a robust safeguarding policy & an experienced safeguarding lead; our online forums are moderated by our directors who have relevant professional training & experience.
ACCESSIBLE AND INCLUSIVE – we choose our venues on the basis of them being accessible to all, ALL of our groups & services are free to everyone. If unable to access our feeding drop-ins then we can arrange 1:1 support to ensure no one is unable to get support when they most need it.
COMPLIMENTARY – we work alongside statutory services, offering a service that is complimentary but not replacing the amazing work they do. We have links to refer women on for additional support if anything falls outside of our remit as a service. As a service we strive to ensure our governance allows statutory services to feel confident in referring to us.
INFORMED – our service has been designed on the basis of feedback from those who use it; we are constantly listening to feedback & being responsive.
RECIPROCAL – all of our peer supporters are part of the Early Nourishment family, it’s important to us that they get something out of volunteering with us. We offer accredited training, updates & supervision.
Here are some of our wonderful volunteers that you may see at our sessions
We know that accessing services can be difficult especially for those with additional needs or from minority groups. We aim to recruit volunteers from different backgrounds to enable our service to be diverse & help us bridge some of these gaps, as often these groups are even more impacted by increased social isolation
If you are interested in becoming a perinatal and breastfeeding peer supporter then have a look at our training page for further info.
We are also always interested in volunteers to help with other areas of the project so if you want to get involved or have an idea you think we could collaborate on then get in contact.