Our Staff

Find out more about the staff at Vana Trust and their roles in the charity

Katy

CEO of Vana Trust

Katy looks after the day-to-day admin work for Vana Trust on a part-time basis. She works closely with our founder, Nyasha Gwatidzo to ensure the smooth running of activities. Her work as a Personal Assistant spanning 35 years has encompassed the newspaper, music and oil and gas industries. She enjoys walking her dog, tennis, yoga and music.

Isobel

Project Assistant

Belle is the project assistant at Vana Trust. She helps to run activities, feed the animals, grow fruits and vegetables and run cooking and craft activities.

Belle has always been passionate about nature and wants to support wildlife through creating a biodiverse garden at Vana Trust. Through growing food, she wants to support people to understand the ways in which we are dependent on and connected to nature and the environment.

She studied philosophy at the University of Bristol where she specialised in ecological philosophy. While studying, she coordinated a volunteer run community cooking project, which aimed to reduce food waste while providing people with an unconditionally free meal every week. She then went to train in an organic plant nursery in a city farm in Bristol before joining Vana Trust in 2025 as an intern.

When she is not as work, she loves to dance to music from all around the world. She also likes to crochet and is learning to play the guitar.

Emi

Co-Manager

Emi is a Co-manager of the Vana Trust Organic Farm. She is responsible for the day to day running of the farm project, including planning and organising activities, volunteers, staff and administration with overall responsibility for horticulture.

Her role at Vana links many aspects of her life such as running outreach and workshop programmes for vulnerable adults and young people with a variety of SEN needs in schools, councils and refugee organisations in London, teaching and teacher training EFL for universities and schools in UK and Europe, running an international touring theatre company and most recently her leading role in the National Lottery Wildlife and Community Ranger project in her local village.

Emi retrained at Capel Manor in Regents Park, London gaining her RHS (Level 2 Theory and Practical) and City & Guilds qualifications in Horticulture, then worked in a plant nursery in Preston Bissett while volunteering at a therapeutic garden in Wendover and doing short courses at Thrive. She began at Vana as Farm Project Co-ordinator in 2024. She is passionate about nature conservation, organic growing and the link between neurodiversity and nature.

In her spare time she loves walking with her dog, camping with her husband in her VW camper van, travel of all sorts, dancing and celebrating with her friends, art and theatre.

Imogen

Co-manager inc Kitchen Project

Imogen is Co-manager of the Vana Trust Organic Farm. She is responsible for the day to day running of the farm project, including planning and organising activities, volunteers, staff and administration with overall responsibility for the animals.

She started volunteering at the farm 11 years ago and has been involved in day to day aspects of running the farm and fundraising. Growing up on a dairy farm has given Imogen a love of animals and the outdoors.

Seven years ago Imogen started running our Lunch Club, teaching food preparation, safety, cookery skills and food hygiene using as much of our lovely organic fruit and vegetables as possible.

Imogen has previously worked alongside her husband running their own business and before that as a dental nurse. In her spare time Imogen loves walking her dog and singing in a local choir, plus theatre trips with one of her daughters who is studying musical theatre.

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