I am currently Mayor of Ilfracombe and a town and district councillor.

My voluntary journey started at a young age, similar to the guys from Spark UK. I was organising various sports teams and events within my community from around the age of 16. I am a chartered accountant and soon got involved as treasurer on many committees. Having grown up in Ilfracombe I was always frustrated with the lack of services and facilities so got stuck in fund-raising and fighting to improve them. I founded Ilfracombe Sharks Youth Rugby in 2014 when my Children were young, where we have given hundreds of children the chance to enjoy the many benefits of sport, both physical and mental over the years. I also own a Home Care business with my wife, Kerry, Combe Home Care Ltd and we led the Town in becoming a Dementia friendly Town. My journey includes Band leader, Scout leader, School Governor, Councillor, Manager of various sports teams and Director of One Ilfracombe a pioneering group to help our community in all areas including Environment, Health, Mental Health, Youth and Businesses.

Personally I have suffered from Anxiety and would say my high functioning anxiety has probably helped me achieve most of the above. However I am very aware it is a tough journey and after years I am in a good place and understand first hand how it works. This has given me a passion to explore mental health and try and help anyone on their journey. Combined with my passion to help my community, especially the Youth’s I am excited to be involved with Spark UK who I have been following since they started all their amazing work.

Paul has worked in the youth sector for 20 years after qualifying as a Primary School Teacher. He has worked with Young Offenders as a Youth Justice Practitioner as well as Project Managing Mental Health Recovery Programmes for Young People, an LGBTQA+ Support Network and has spent the last 10 years as Programme Manager for the Anti-Bullying Ambassador Programme as part of The Diana Award.

Paul is committed to unlocking the potential of any young person to achieve their ambitions, develop their confidence and thrive at any chosen vocation or cause they are passionate about.

Paul is delighted to be part of the Advisory Board to help SPARK UK to support them in their future ambitions

Paul Jetten is currently a Senior Manager in Child & Family Health Devon Child & Adolescent Mental Heath Service, having been the Joint Clinical & Operational Service Lead for the Mental Health Support Teams in School, Paul has recently taken over as the Operational Service Lead for the Eating Disorder Pathway.  Paul is a BABCP Accredited Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and  BACP Accredited Gestalt Counsellor and has been a lecturer at Exeter University on the CWP & EMHP Practitioner and Supervisor Courses 

 Paul has been worked in Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services since 2009 and was part of the national  training initiative "Emotional First Aid" (hosted by Solent NHS Trust)  delivering early intervention to mental health difficulties to staff working in Primary & Secondary Education.  During his time with Emotional First, Paul designed a Peer Mentor programme with a group of young people from Schools in Southampton, before working with Students at a sixth form college to translate the material to their age group.

Paul experienced his own difficulties with substance use and mental health and following a period of homelessness, chose to use his experiences to help others training as a volunteer mentor before working in the voluntary sector.  Paul has a passion for helping children and young people to overcome their difficulties and achieve their potential.  In his spare time, he is usually either walking his dogs or messing with guitar pedals.

Hi, I'm Cristina Castro, co-founder and partner at Grow Your Brand With Impact and Ignite Your Offer. I have also been working for the last decade on a personal project to help revolutionise the education industry. My background is in International Commercial Strategies across several industries from Australia, Asia, the USA and Europe.

Mum, wife, friend and mentor

Donna runs a successful wellbeing company called 'Smile Box' and is Mum to a teenage son and a crazy border collie dog. She is also an NLP Practitioner with experience of coaching in a team environment and on a one-to-one basis. By delivering solutions to the corporate sector and within the education space, Donna helps raise awareness around positive mental health action and is passionate about removing the stigma around mental health and is really excited about joining the Spark UK Board and making a difference to mental health provision for adolescents.

Laura works in widening participation at Birkbeck University of London, collaborating with community partners to break down barriers to education. Breaking the stigma around mental health in all communities is paramount and Laura is passionate about co-producing with those who have lived experience to support better lives at a grassroots level. Championing disabled learner's access, Laura has made practical changes for inclusive outreach and chairs the NEON Disabled Learner's working group. Previous experience includes a master’s degree in Social Justice and Education; and creating and facilitating workshops around issues of power and oppression, including racism, homophobia and Islamophobia. Committed to inclusive pedagogy, Laura focussed on specialist provision such as Pupil Referral Units and Special Education Schools. 

Laura is looking forward to bringing these insights to the Spark UK advisory board as mental health conversations are so important for all.

Anita Kate Garai is a teacher, anxiety & confidence coach, voice coach, and emotional wellbeing consultant and speaker.

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She is the author of four children's books and teaching resource, Being With Our Feelings: A Mindful Approach to Wellbeing for Children (Routledge,2022.) Anita has worked in schools and organisations for over 30 years, classroom teaching and leading on social, emotional and mental health, and music, drama and creativity.

She has been a behaviour and emotional wellbeing consultant for local education authorities, setting up emotional development programmes for 4–16 year olds and delivering training for staff and school leaders. Anita holds a BEd Hons from Cambridge University, and an Advanced Diploma in the Therapeutic and Educational Application of the Arts from The Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education (IATE), London and is a qualified Embodied Massage and Reiki therapist. Anita follows her own practices of mindfulness, movement, therapy, creativity, meditation and yoga, and continues to study child development, pedagogy, psychology ,mind-body science and wellbeing. She loves spending time communing with nature and has a fluffy cat called Molly.

Anita says she is both delighted and honoured to be on the Spark advisory board