OK look, we didn't want to have hands holding each others' wrists or people in suits punching the air as an image that reflects us a team. So we chose an image that does, taken from Paris is Burning, a documentary we all love and frequently reference on our courses. If Foundation for Change was a film, it would be this one. 

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Bob Bharij | Chief Executive | Ashoka Fellow

I vowed never to have anything to do with psychology again when I finished my degree in the subject at the age of 21. It’s not without a sense of irony that I now find myself leading an organisation that advocates the study and practice of psychology as a means to make living in the world that little bit easier.

I began working in the substance use treatment sector in 2004 and quickly became passionate about helping people create lasting change, not just through traditional therapeutic interventions, but by fostering greater self-awareness. By doing so, they could take charge of their own transformation and move beyond the identity of being a 'service-user' or an 'addict'. In 2006, I became a certified yoga teacher, and over the years, I’ve blended my experience in both areas. This has given me a deep understanding of how the mind and body work together, particularly in relation to trauma and its effects on the body-mind connection.

I believe that everyone has a story, that every body tells a story. I believe it important for people to build a relationship with themselves, their bodies, and the world around them, and that making sense of the past is crucial in moving forwards into the future.

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Antonia Griffiths | Communications & Admin officer

When I moved to London newly sober I struggled to find a support group or recovery community I could identify with. When I began the Knowledge for Change course, my brain began to light up and things that had always confused me about my past and my addiction began to make sense. I became sponge-like during the Psychology for Change course I did afterwards and absorbed everything I could. 

Slowly I regained some peace, empathy and an understanding of myself that I could build a new self-confidence from. I threw myself into all sorts of volunteering and returned to my love of painting and colours and the creative part of me I had neglected for so long. When COVID-19 put everyone into lockdown I re-engaged with Foundation for Change through the Making Sense Of... podcast. Looking back on the topics I had originally learnt, I saw how valuable and empowering the courses had been for me. I began to volunteer with FfC and was then offered an apprenticeship.

I am so excited to be part of a team of people who see and treat addiction differently. I hope to combine my own experience of FfC with my love for creativity to communicate just how powerful the FfC approach is.

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Bex Exell | Senior Training & Visual Identity Officer

I began volunteering at Foundation for Change after completing the Psychology for Change course in December 2015, followed by the year-long NVQ Level 3 Accredited Practitioner Training program in 2016. 

The contrast between my previous work in the creative and service industries, where productivity and output was valued above everything else and my time at FfC was massive. My experience as a trainee facilitator at FfC, which takes a person-centered approach, helped me reconnect with a sense of meaning and purpose in my life. I was supported to set up a qualification-based training program called Clothing for Change, that taught individuals the basics of tailoring, making clothes and how to bring creativity into recovery. I continue to run the associated brand that raises funds for FfC through selling handmade items. 

I now deliver training days on both Psychology and Feminism for Change. I also bring my background in illustration into my role overseeing our visual identity where I aim to capture and convey the magic of the training room in our visual communications. I’m continually inspired and personally enriched by every one of our trainees. I see the way our learning environment encourages people to see their own personal experiences and knowledge as having incredible value and not something to be ashamed of. That’s when the shifts come: people reconnect to their personal autonomy, make choices about how they want to live and build the connections that feel meaningful and right for them - an example of the transformative power of learning right there. 

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Heather Black | Training & Community Coordinator

I came to Foundation for Change team as a volunteer, having completed several FfC courses and grown significantly through each one. I was searching for something to fulfil my need to do something deeper with my life and volunteered to co-run the Clothing for Change course, having some experience of sewing and working for a clothing label. 

I studied history and anthropology in my forties to try to understand the world we live in and where our society comes from, having rejected it for most of my life. Learning about psychology with FfC gave me a greater understanding of myself on a personal level, showing me where my patterns of behaviour and thinking came from. Through this, I became able to be a little more understanding and forgiving of my destructive life choices. The FfC approach somehow seemed to resonate with my background of communal living, a punk ethos and my history of rejecting ‘straight’ society.  

I went from being a participant, to a volunteer to a member of staff. A large focus of my work is our Feminism for Change course. Helping to develop and facilitate this has been an amazing experience and I feel privileged to be in a position to support women to better understand how the patriarchy shapes their lives. 

FfC’s ethos of self-learning radically shifted my understanding of personal development. Empowerment is a loaded word these days but to be able to explain things to people for them to empower themselves is the ultimate DIY ethos that I am proud to be a part of. 

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Jayne Bullough | Head of learning & Programme Development

Education has always been an important part of my life, both personally and professionally. I love learning and my passion and belief in the transformative power of education are part of what brought me to Foundation for Change.

For ten years, this passion and belief has been shaped by and dedicated to working within a Rape Crisis centre as part of the ending violence against women and girls’ movement. Here I developed and delivered sexual violence training and prevention programmes to children and adults from all backgrounds, along with providing specialist support to survivors of sexual violence and abuse. I am excited to combine this knowledge and expertise with that of Foundation for Change.

I feel inspired by Foundation for Change’s unique approach to supporting people with a history of substance use and I am excited that a feminist perspective is being applied to this area. Foundation for Change’s philosophy in viewing addictions and using substances as a way of coping and responding to trauma particularly resonated with me, and I love that at the heart of the organisation are the voices and realities of people with lived experience. The Head of Learning and Programme Development role combines several loves, passions, and interests, and it is such a privilege to be part of the Foundation for Change team.

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