Lifestyle Health Ambassador Leaders

Individuals

Over the coming months and years we look forward to building a community of people who, through their work, helps the Foundation to communicate and educate about the key Lifestyle Health areas, including ‘Movement and Play’ ‘Arts and Crafts’, ‘Social and Emotional Interest’, ‘Food and Drink’ and ‘Gardening and Nature’, and by doing so, support our vision and mission.

Darryl Edwards

Darryl, a former investment banking technologist, was invited to be a Lifestyle Health Foundation Ambassador because of his drive to inspire people regardless of age, ability or disability to transform and support their mental and physical health by making physical activity fun and engaging. 

After almost two decades working as a technologist in investment banking, Darryl, who narrowly escaped losing his life in the London Tube terrorist attack, and who tragically lost his sister in 2016 to cancer, transformed his health after adopting a back-to-basics approach to well-being. As a health and movement coach, Darryl now advises people on maintaining a healthy lifestyle—amidst the epidemic of obesity and other chronic lifestyle diseases.

He specialises in coaching children aged 4-to-94—fitness for those who dislike exercise as well as for those who relish a new challenge and is a best-selling author of the book Animal Moves.

Tansy Jane Dowman

Tansy believes deeply that connection to Mother Nature is a direct pathway to reconnection with your true nature and is determined to remove the stigma that comes with Nature connection practices. As a certified Shinrin Yoku Guide and Natural Mindfulness Teacher, she is driven by a purpose to reignite our relationship with this majestic planet we inhabit. To return to our place of origin and discover a sense of belonging that is waiting for us when we are ready to acknowledge and embrace that we ARE Nature. Also an outdoor empowerment coach for women, Tansy walks alongside her clients on their journey of wellbeing and personal evolution. Nature connection is at the core of her work, her passion, even her name which is a wild flower. Tansy is also a presenter on Wellbeing Radio with a show titled ‘Journeys into the Wild’ and was recently featured on ITV news for Mental Health Awareness Week and on BBC Radio Kent & Sussex to offer guidance during the Pandemic.

Angela Lockett

Angela is a counsellor and clinical supervisor with a special interest in the world of trauma and how it affects us. She has a passion for working with people. In 1999 she initially volunteered, before being employed to work for Home Start, an area-based programme to deliver services and support to young children and their families. Angela has also worked for Rape Crisis, Cruse Bereavement and works mostly now as a Clinical Supervisor supporting staff who support others. Over the years the people Angela has met have both inspired and encouraged her human approach to trauma. She believes being able to really hear what people need can help tremendously with the trauma of being diagnosed with a life limiting or life long condition. “The opportunity to learn and grow from people’s own experiences is important for our understanding of how to best provide the necessary and appropriate support.”

Sue Maris

Sue was diagnosed with ME/CFS for more than 20 years, and in Sue’s words “a condition that was a result of unresolved traumatic events in my life as a child but at the time I didn’t know that. A long term illness brings along its friend for the ride like depression, insomnia, anxiety, panic attacks, behavioural problems, disconnection, low self worth, no confidence, eating disorders, chronic pain, fears and addictions and mine was no different. In all my consultations and GP appointments no one discussed trauma and its effects until I happened to find a brilliant therapist, Dr Liz Hall who was trained in many different therapists but after 30- 40 years was curious about a modality that brought together both mind and body known as sensori-psychotherapy. This way of working helped me to learn how to be more resourced in the day, for the first time in a long time I had space in my head for thinking and then choosing to learn more about the mind and body connection. Fast forward 15 years and my quest for learning how the mind works, the mind body connection and how to heal trauma has taken me around the world. I have some wonderful, knowledgeable and challenging teachers stretching me to learn more and to grow more and I am so very grateful to all of them. I no longer have ME/CFS.

Chee Yeen

Chee Yeen Fung is a GP, Medical Educator and Founder of the “Dr. Me Project“, a volunteering programme which trains doctors and medical students to teach self-care in local primary schools. Chee Yeen is passionate about improving health inequality through better health literacy, and received the RCGP Specialty Trainee Award and ASME New Leaders Award for her work. Chee Yeen is also Board Member of the Self-Care Forum UK. Outside of work, Chee Yeen is a regular volunteer at her church.

Miguel Toribio-Mateas

Miguel is a proud Brit with a Spanish accent and a love of good food. Born to a loving Andalusian family whose life revolved around the experience of sharing a meal at the table. His early childhood memories are about hot summers in his aunty’s old farm in the countryside in Córdoba, surrounded by olive, quince and pomegranate trees, playing with the turkeys, the hens and the rabbits, and eating freshly made sheep’s cheese. He didn’t make it to medical school because of needle phobia, so he studied business and languages instead a his first degree through which he came to the UK with an Erasmus scholarship in the mid 90s. He never left. A self-confessed perpetual student, he went on to complete degrees in systems complexity, nutritional medicine, clinical neuroscience and, most recently, a doctorate in gut microbiome and mental health. Miguel’s happy childhood memories of food and family were tainted by the trauma of losing his older brother to a battle with cancer that lasted nearly 4 years. Looking back now with his neuroscience hat on, he can see how that early life trauma may have contributed to his ADHD, which was there all his life but was only formally diagnosed in his mid 40s. Miguel’s life experience has made him acutely aware of how personal matters that can sometimes lie dormant for years can play a big role in our health. He is currently the neuroscience lead at the London Agri-Food Innovation Clinic (LAFIC) and the Bowels & Brains Lab, hosted at the School of Applied Sciences of London South Bank University and run with a grant from the  European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), where he is part of a team running clinical trials to help assess the impact of fermented foods on the composition and function of gut microbes in humans whilst taking into account lifestyle factors that contribute to changes to the mental wellbeing of participants. He is motivated to put the person at the centre of the picture, whether it is research or healthcare. That’s his main drive as a member of the Primary & Community Neurology Society. He also has a role in R&D for a leading food manufacturer with a focus on gut-brain health, where he is applying these same principles of putting the individual first.    

Guy Portelli

Guy is best known as a sculptor, and enjoys an international reputation. His work is featured in numerous private and public collections across Britain, Europe and America, coming to the public’s attention with his BBC’s Dragons Den pitch in 2008.

He is perhaps best known for his Pop Icon series (2008), which reimagines famous musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie and John Lennon. The collection draws on an eclectic range of sources for inspiration — from Andy Warhol and comic book illustrations, to punk fashion trends and Las Vegas slot machines. The work pays tribute to their lost era of musical stardom, and you can enjoy some of this work at the Escape Art Centre, which he opened in June 2021 with owner of the Tonbridge Old Firestation, Richard Collins, which is the new home for the Centre.   

The arts have always been a passion for Guy and he has supported many projects designed to encourage children engage in the arts and crafts world to support both their physical and mental health.