Board

Fiona Hamilton - Chair
Hayley Singlehurst - Vice Chair
Chris Sims - Treasurer
Jane Moss
Gill Gustar

Lapidus Journal Editor, from Spring 2011

Louise Green

Lapidus Administrator, from January 2011

Sue Sims

Board Biogs

Fiona Hamilton (Chair) is a writer and facilitator and works in NHS and complementary healthcare and other settings as a therapeutic writing practitioner. She teaches on the Medical Humanities course at the University of Bristol, on the postgraduate course in Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes run by Metanoia Institute London/Middlesex University, and on Plymouth/Exeter University's doctorate course for psychologists. She also works in schools and community settings on drama, poetry and writing projects, having previously managed a fringe theatre in Bristol and taught drama. She writes poetry, fiction and non-fiction, most recently chapters in 'Writing Routes' edited by Bolton, Thomson and Field (JKP, 2011), about journeys and the writing process.

Hayley Singlehurst (Vice Chair) is carrying out a cross-disciplinary doctoral study for the University of Northampton, funded by the School of Arts and the School of Health, which involves facilitating autobiography to explore the lives of those living and beyond with cancer. She has presented her work around the UK, Canada and Chile this year. Before this she worked as an occupational therapist within a secure hospital for children, adolescents and young adults. She facilitated engagement in occuaptions for those within intensive care units, expression (written or verbal) being key. She is the review editor for the academic journal 'The Journal of Applied Arts and Health', which aims to serve a wide community of artists, researchers, practitioners and policy-makers evidencing the effectiveness of the interdisciplanary use of arts in health and arts for health.

Chris Sims (Treasurer) is a chartered accountant who qualified in 1981. Since then he has had a number of senior roles in commerce, notably as Finance Director of Brandon Hire PLC, and of Bakers Dolphin Travel. In the last year or so, Chris has decided to aim for a more flexible work/life balance and consequently, as a director of Stratadigm Consulting Limited, has carried out a number of one-off and part-time financial roles. He will shortly commence as part-time Finance Director of City Academy in Bristol. In the voluntary sector, Chris has been Treasurer of organisations in the past, and is Chairman of the Finance & General Purposes Committee of Cabot Learning Federation.

Jane Moss is based in west London . She is a creative writing tutor for Kingston Adult Education and runs creative writing workshops in Kew Gardens. She has a special interest in creative and expressive writing in bereavement counselling and is working with the bereavement counselling team at Princess Alice Hospice in Esher to develop this further. Before she ran away to join the writing circus, Jane had a long career in arts management and marketing, working for West End theatres in London and the Arts Council in the East of England and nationally. More recently she was a communications adviser in the Home Office. She runs a partnership, Joined Up Writers, with her colleague Jess Kidd, chairs a theatre company,Theatre Is..., for young people based in Hertfordshire, writes poetry, and goes home to Cornwall and South Wales as often as she can.

Gill Gustar is a management learning specialist who works with managers and their teams to develop their professional and personal effectiveness. This involves encouraging reflection on motivations, behaviours and aspirations and their personal impact on the organisations they lead. Her interest in writing for developmental purposes stemmed from this work. She tutors for the Open University Business School. Joining Lapidus in 2006 encouraged her to take an MA in Creative Writing and Personal Development at Sussex University. She is currently using writing as part of her coaching and mentoring practice. She has published on the topic of self-managed learning and on the use of writing in coaching relationships and has had creative writing included in two anthologies. Gill is taking a Master's degree in Literature which foregrounds relationships and dialogues between texts and between writer and reader. She is working on a series of linked short stories. Her motivations to join the Lapidus Board are to make available her professional experience in Human Resources and Organisation Development and to broaden and deepen her engagement with the community of people writing for developmental and therapeutic purposes.

How Lapidus is Organised

There are over 200 Lapidus Members, mostly based in the UK, with interests that extend and communicate world-wide. Regional groups are comprised of members whose meetings are publicised and organised by a Regional Co-ordinator. The Lapidus Board is a hub whose aims are to support the regional groups and assist in their growth and development by providing information, networking opportunities, information and interaction on the website and by being informed about wider funding and organisational matters that influence Lapidus interests