group Charity Staff

Kate has volunteered for Park Life for many years – in the early days manning the urn to make tea or baking home made cakes and treats for Park Life events. Her role has developed over the years, she was initially one of the first trustees taking responsibility for events, in particular organising and running the annual fun day which she has done now for the last 7 years.

Kate did a season as Chair of Trustees before stepping down to take on the paid role of Community Hub Manager. You will now find her two days a week in the Park Life office, supporting bookings for the hub and developing the work and passion of the charity.

Kate has 3 children and is married to Owen. When she is not working for Park Life, she also works for Devon County Council as a Social Work Manager. She loves spending time with her family, friends and neighbours, enjoying the lovely Heavitree community and the wider joys of Devon.

Erica and her family moved from London to Exeter in 2021 and very quickly discovered what a valuable resource the park was, from a place for her young daughter to play, to walking the dogs, and more importantly making new mum friends in the playground.

She moved here before works were due to go ahead with construction of the community Hub and Cafe, and was excited to see what the plans were and to be able to use the facilities.
When the position for Charity Administrator was advertised, she jumped at the chance and has enjoyed being able to get more and more involved with all the various community projects that Park Life organises.

Outside of work, Erica is delighting in all the wonderful new things Devon has to offer, she has just taken up Paddle boarding with her daughter and looks forward to being able to explore a bit further afield in the near future.

Penny has lived in Heavitree – right beside Heavitree Park – since 2006 and after enjoying a multitude of Park Life events and believing in the community ethos of the charity, she felt inspired to do more and join the team.

Penny became a trustee in April 2018 and started her employment in August 2022. She is tasked with all things HR & Governance related. She was also on the build (interiors) team for the Hub and Cafe, which she found really exciting and is very proud to have been able to have a say in the overall aesthetic of the building.

Penny has two children and spends her days loving life with them (when they are not at school!). They are a very active family who enjoy nothing more than exploring this wonderful part of the world that they call home and consequently, they own far too many bikes, surfboards, paddle boards, running shoes and wet suits!

Ben is married to Claire and they have three boys. Ben teaches part time in a local secondary school and works for Park Life part time.

His hobbies include swimming, travelling, listening to music, reading, surfing, playing football and basketball, wild swimming and hill walking.

Ben has lived in Exeter his whole life and Heavitree for the last 20 years. He is passionate about community development and believes that parks can have a big say in helping places like Heavitree become an even better place to live, work and spend leisure time.

In Park Life Ben is the Community Project Manager and sits on the Chairty board of trustees and the Cafe board of directors.

Ben is supported by an amazing group of staff and volunteers of vision, passion, skills and experience in this area. At present, Ben is also responsible for over-seeing Park Life’s partnerships, sports and physical activity and played a significant part in the charity’s coronavirus response. He also helps with some event organising.

Ben loves nothing better than a chance to tell the Park Life Heavitree story over coffee so if you have any questions or ideas please get in touch: ben@parklifeheavitree.org.uk