Meet the team

Space to Breathe seeks to make Wellbeing Simple. Our team each bring different skills and approaches but each is deeply versed in wellbeing skills and able to bring imaginative and pioneering approaches to any settings.

ANDY FREEMAn - Director and lead wellbeing worker

Andy is Co-Director and Founder of Space to Breathe. Andy founded Space to Breathe after working in the charitable and faith sectors.

Andy brings 20 years of experience in emotional support work in charity and voluntary sectors. He is a qualified Mental Health First Aider with MHFA UK, in Safeguarding (Level 3), CBT and in the Power, Threat, Meaning Framework. He has an MA in Theology from Oxford Brookes and researched issues around contemporary spirituality and wellbeing. He has experience in Youth Work and as a trainer/lecturer (Oxford Brookes, Durham University).

Andy lives in Sheffield and has has five grown-up kids. Andy loves to watch films, loves music, to garden, to bake bread and he also loves Cricket. Andy is a performance poet and has produced two books of his work - Cadence Cries & Rhythms of Sorrow.

You can follow him on Instagram @andyfreeman2016
You can contact him at andy@spacetobreatheuk.com

FRAN SAINT - WELLBEING WORKER & RESTORATIVE YOGA TEACHER

Fran joined Space to Breathe in 2023 having previously worked in an NHS Mental Health Trust in the North East as a Peer Support Worker in Inpatient Services and as a Peer-Supported Open Dialogue (POD) Practitioner in Community Services.

She took the plunge to realise a long-term dream of training as a yoga teacher in 2021 and relocated to Sheffield a couple of years later. Fran enjoys being out in nature, learning and being creative, keeping active, spending time with friends and family and doing craft projects and DIY. She co-ordinates many of our group work offers and has a passion for making yoga classes more accessible to people struggling with their mental health.

She is a certified Relax & Renew® Restorative Yoga Teacher having trained with Judith Hansen Lasater, and is currently completing further training to be certified at 'Advanced' level. Fran feels incredibly privileged and honoured to create safe spaces in her classes in which people can just 'be', taking steps at their own pace to regulate their nervous system and care for their whole being.

You can contact her at fran@spacetobreatheuk.com

STEVE HIBLE - PEER SUPPORT WORKER, TOWNSHIPS 1

Steve joined Space to Breathe in 2023 having previously worked as an Expert by Experience with Rethink Mental Illness. Steve works with us as a Peer Support Worker, as part of the city-wide Peer Support Worker covering the Townships 1 Primary Care Network.

Steve likes local history, loves being around nature and regularly enjoys nature and wellbeing walks. Steve also enjoys a wide variety of music, films and TV series, particularly science fiction.

You can contact him at steve@spacetobreatheuk.com

REBECCA COOKE - PEER SUPPORT WORKER, PORTER VALLEY

Rebecca joined us in December 2023 as part of the Sheffield-wide Peer Support Framework project. Steve works part-time as Peer Support Worker for the Porter Valley Primary Care Network.

You can contact her at rebecca@spacetobreatheuk.com

SARAH MORAN - counsellor

Sarah is our resident counsellor. She is working with Space to Breathe during her training and offers 1 to 1 counselling and therapy sessions for individuals we work with. In Sarah's spare time she enjoying climbing and netball. You can contact her at sarah.moran@spacetobreathe.eu.

nicky redsell- director

Nicky is another of our Directors. She loves to innovate and has extensive experience of growing ideas and projects collaboratively. She has been a trainer at Ridley Hall Theological College, alongside providing pastoral and spiritual support for those based there. Much of this work has been through the Centre for Pioneer Learning.

Nicky lives near Cambridge with her husband, Corin. She loves friendship, soup, growing vegetables and is a fan of independent coffee shops.

You can follow Nicky and her thoughts on life at http://nickyredsell.wordpress.com/

Space to Breathe also works with a number of consultants as part of our larger community of practitioners and we call this there Space to Breathe collective.

Find out about any job vacancies at Space to Breathe

Who and what are Space to Breathe?

Companies House info

Space to Breathe was founded in 2017 as a Community Interest Company by Andy Freeman, our Director and Lead Wellbeing Worker.

The ideas and passion for the company started a lot earlier than that though, initially as a side project whilst Andy worked in the charitable sector and then as part time self-employed work for several years. Then the company was formed and our formal history began.

Space to Breathe exist to create conversations around mental health and wellbeing through the creative arts, non-religious spirituality and positive psychology. We then work with the NHS, organisations, charities, businesses, communities and individuals to create tailored and contextual responses and projects aimed at enabling everyone to live as healthily as possible.

Our work takes us from working with patients within the NHS systems, to working alongside charitable and voluntary sector organisations in wellbeing projects, to working with businesses and organisations to help them create cultures and workplaces that foster wellbeing, to supporting the mental health of key workers, to then working in communities and with individuals.

We work predominantly in the Sheffield and South Yorkshire region but are growing new work in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and across the UK.

Our work is varied but primarily we seek to:

Offer support in emotional regulation, awareness and stability. We look to provide tools and techniques that enable healthy wellbeing.
We work with stress and anxiety relief and focus on these two areas of wellbeing.
We teach mindfulness, meditation and reflective practices.
We use creative methods to approach wellbeing from art/creativity to physical tools, to holistic approaches such as Restorative Yoga.
We offer a menu of groups, one to one and online work.
We also have a team of coaches and counsellors who can support our work.

In the past we’ve worked with clients as varied as Christian Aid, the Greenbelt and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, the Good Things Foundation, Twinkl and Sheffield Health and Social Care. You can find out some more about past projects and case studies and read our latest Impact Report below.

Case Studies and Testimonials

Download our latest Impact Report

OUR VALUES

We work with three core values:

Kindness - we are motivated by kindness and want to act kindly to everyone we work with, whether individuals who need care, organisations we partner with, suppliers or contractors or anyone else who connects with the work we do. We allow kindness and generosity to guide our decision making.

Empowerment - we are motivated by empowering people to make their own choices and to feel empowered to respond to their own wellbeing in ways that feel right for them. We believe that the right care, in the right context with the right resources should enable everyone to experience some form of recovery.

Inclusion - we are aware that often barriers are placed infront of people that can restrict their choices or their ability to access help. These can be economic, cultural, racial, age or gender related or geographic. Wherever possible we see to overcome these barriers by working contextually, adapting support to people’s needs and seeking to fill gaps and offer help where other help doesn’t exist.