Tam Martin Fowles Founding Director/CEO Tam is our CEO and lead trainer and facilitator.. She founded Hope in the Heart in 2012, the same year she developed the AccepTTranscend Model for Transformation, the basis for many of her creative personal development workshops and courses. Living in East London, Tam is a writer, poet, international group facilitator, innovator, trainer and consultant, as well as a wife, mum, and nana. She is committed to challenging and changing the paradigm surrounding psychological/mental health distress. Tam is a visiting lecturer at several universities, and a Master Facilitator of the UN-endorsed Virtues Project. Passionate about social change, her experience of mental health distress in early adulthood and neurodiversity throughout her life positively informs her work and life. .
Sophie Coxon Director/Community Development Coordinator Sophie is HITH's Community Development Coordinator and Refugee Support Worker. Based in South London, she is a group faciliator, traninee counsellor, and Master Facilitator of the Virtues Project . Sophie works with other local organisations on collaborative projects and delivers weekly workshops in Brixton and Battersea, plus bespoke sessions within established community groups. Sophie's personal experience of mental health issues and neurodiversity inspire her work in supporting and empowering others to overcome challenging circumstances.
Tomi Alijbery Director/Facilitator Tomi is a Hope in the Heart facilitator and all-round support worker. A London-based refugee with a law degree, she has a passion for human rights and social change. Her own experience of finding relief and a voice through Hope in the Heart workshops has helped to give her a unique insight into how we can help refugees and others with lived experience to feel welcomed and heard.
Tomi is committed to using her experience and skills to raise awareness about Hope in the Heart's services and make the workshops more approachable and accessible to all.
Forough Piroozie Director/Facilitator Forough is a creative facilitator on some of our workshops. As a former participant she has a thorough understanding of the workshop experience from both sides. Forough is a talented artist and designer who, as well as having a BA in International Affairs and MBA in Business Administration, she has recently gained a diploma in Creative Practice in Art, Design and Communication at Lambeth College. Her father was an exiled Iranian diplomat and she grew up in Qatar, her mother's home country. As a women's rights activist with a significant social media following it became unsafe for Forough to stay in Qatar and she is now a refugee based in London.
Ami-Mai McKenna Facilitator Ami-Mai started her journey with HITH in 2020. After participating in our London workshops and taking part in exhibitions in Plymouth and London she became a committed volunteer before joining our staff team. Based in South London, Ami-Mai is a qualified EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher and a talented multi-disciplinary visual artist. She brings these skills to HITH’s creative workshops along with the value of her lived experience, which includes mental health issues, trauma and ADHD . Empathy and insight gained through this personal experience fuel her passion for creating safe and nourishing environments for workshop participants.