About us

The Big Leaf Foundation is a product of first-hand experience with displaced young people. The experience of arriving in a new country is, for many, overwhelming and incredibly difficult. They are often cut off from everything that is familiar to them, leaving them vulnerable to loneliness, isolation, anxiety and boredom. Our team saw an opportunity to change their situation and help them feel a sense of inclusion within a network of their peers and the wider community.

Our values

Image © Vicki Felgate
Trust & Transparency
Nothing is more important than trust, because so many of our young people have experienced a world in which they can trust nobody. It's essential that we build a relationship based on trust with our young people, and that they have confidence we will always act in their best interests. We achieve this by maintaining high standards of openness, honesty and transparency at all times.
Equality
​We create a safe, inclusive environment free from bias, prejudice and hierarchy. We want our young people to grow and explore their potential in a non-judgemental space in which all participants are equal. Empathy and compassion are our watchwords.
Growth
​Everything the Big Leaf Foundation does is focused on promoting the personal growth of our young people. We want to help them move beyond the status they have been given as a “displaced persons”, and to understand and explore their unique potential as individuals.

Our team

We're a small team of dedicated volunteers and we're looking for more people to join us.
​Find out how you can get involved on the support us pages.
Images © Big Leaf Foundation

Kayte
​Co-founder & Projects Manager

Kayte has worked with displaced people for many years. Her frustration with the “one size fits all” approach to helping displaced people settle in the UK led her to experiment with running extra-curricular activities, like sports and creative arts, alongside intensive academic programmes. This approach led to a marked improvement in outcomes for her students and encouraged her to make her methods more widely available through Big Leaf Foundation. Kayte is a lecturer in English, translation and ethnolinguistics and runs cross-cultural communication seminars for international corporations. She also holds a Masters with Distinction in Refugee Care, with a particular focus on therapeutic approach in education for displaced young people.

Vicki
​Co-founder & Trustee

Vicki is a trained teacher at further and adult education level and has over 12 years experience in the charity sector. She taught briefly in a prison environment, has worked with adults with addiction, ran practical conservation projects engaging adults with mental health statements and was also the Youth and Education Coordinator for Friends of the Earth for several years, before focusing on work with refugees. Vicki was instrumental in the establishment of Elmbridge CAN, a small charity helping to resettle refugee families locally. She ran the first summer camp with Kayte in 2017 and it was this incredible experience that inspired her to help set up Big Leaf Foundation.

Jocelyn
​Treasurer

Jocelyn is an experienced IT professional, with a background in sales and consultancy. She currently works for an innovative SaaS company with a strong focus on social responsibility. Jocelyn is an immigrant to the UK, arriving with her family, aged 13.
​She's been involved in youth work for many years, and is passionate about supporting young people of all backgrounds to realise their potential.

Sarah
​Trustee

Sarah is our newest Trustee. Her diverse work with young people spans more than 20 years. Since qualifying in Youth and Community Leadership she has worked within small charities and large national organisations, leading on programming, facilitation, monitoring and evaluation, training, fundraising and governance among other things. Her work involves developing community cohesion in both isolated, rural and urban environments with a particular focus on disengaged and disenfranchised young people. These experiences fuel her ongoing commitment to inclusion and to support positive change for the long term.

Fabian
Volunteer Project Leader

Fabian is a recent graduate of the University of Portsmouth where he studied Environmental Geography. He loves taking on new challenges and has a passion for volunteering to make a positive impact. In his university days he was an ambassador for the Royal Geographical Society, a Green Living Assistant to improve student environmental practices as well taking on volunteer leadership roles in the Archery Club. 
Having experienced the change he could help bring about, through his involvement on a week-long trip with Big Leaf Foundation, Fabian was keen to join us to continue providing support to displaced young people.

Akira
Volunteer Project Leader

Akira graduated from Durham University in 2018 having read Human Geography. Growing up in a Japanese family in England has naturally led him to being interested in cultural differences and the way societies navigate these differences. His university studies have enabled him to explore these issues further and he's passionate about implementing this learning in the real world.
Having volunteered on the summer camp in 2018, Akira is keen to stay involved with the Foundation and is committed to helping create a world where every individual can thrive.