Anthony Farnsworth

Worked for Devon County Council as a Social Worker before joining the NHS in 1995. After working in Exeter for a number of years he moved to Torbay care Trust in 2006 and became Chief Executive of the Torbay Care Trust in 2009. After retiring from the NHS in 2015 Anthony has worked for himself in various senior roles in both NHS and Social care organisations.

Alan Griffiths

John Rostron

CEO of the Association of Independent Festivals.

Former CEO of the Welsh Music Foundation and co-founder of the Welsh Music Prize. He has also held consultant and advisory roles at Arts Council Wales and Sound Diplomacy, as well as having been a Development Manager at From The Fields.

Maggie Sheppard

Retired former local government senior manager and public sector accountant with good understanding of public finance, governance and reporting. Prior to retirement at the end of 2021 Maggie was head of pensions for a local government pension scheme and has led teams managing council procurement, contract management and social care finance in Cheshire.

Ruth James

Chartered accountant who started her career at Deloitte in the North West of England. Former director and lead member of the senior management team at Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK for over ten years with responsibility for a range of operational functions including HR, Workforce Planning, Payroll, Training and Brand & Communications. During a period of sustained growth, she held a role in identifying the requirements and delivering improvements to the tools underpinning the construction project delivery team’s activities.

Member of the board at Cartrefi Conwy and Chair of their subsidiary CIC Creating Enterprise. Trustee of Community Foundation Wales.

Mother of three young children and lives with them and her husband near Ruthin.

Caroline Gavin

Caroline Gavin is an accredited Coach with over 20 years’ experience leading teams and delivering strategic growth within the corporate FMCG environment, both in the UK and internationally.

Having worked in both PLCs and SMEs, across different sectors, Caroline decided to establish her own Coaching and Consultancy business, 4PositiveGrowth, in 2018, supporting individuals, teams and organisations achieve positive change and growth, through coaching, reflection, and action, to consistently perform at their best.

Alongside work, Caroline is also a mum of 3, swimming coach, and Local Authority School Governor. She brings a broad perspective, a coaching approach, and a wealth of strategic, sales, and business development experience to Making Sense CIO.

Interestingly, Ticky and Caroline first met around 25 years ago, when Caroline was assigned to support Ticky as her business mentor through the King’s Business Trust. Having remained in contact over the years, Caroline is delighted to be working more closely with Ticky once again, to help expand her positive impact through Making Sense CIO.

Ceramic artist

The ceramics I create reflect the history, wildlife and landscape of this wonderful island. I love the raw colour of clay so use terracotta, black, and neutral clays with a minimum amount of coloured glazes to make my pieces. I have been teaching ceramics for 16 years to groups of all ages and abilities.

Along the way I have also enjoyed co-ordinating large and small community projects, working with private business, local council, museums, charities, minority groups and the public.

Visual artist

Ella Jones, a Welsh artist, specializes in interactive artworks that delve into tactile perception, textures, and shapes. Her creations aim to spark meaningful conversations and promote learning, while also crafting inclusive art for commissioned projects and exhibitions.

Her artistic expression revolves around themes of play, curiosity, materiality, sustainability, and a deep connection to Welsh culture. Inspired by the Welsh landscape and her upbringing in rural North Wales, Ella’s sculptures and textile artworks embody a multisensory approach. She explores textures and materiality hands-on, resulting in visually captivating pieces. Her commitment to sustainable practices is evident in her innovative use of recycled materials and scrap fabric.

Multi disciplinary artist

I am inspired by my surroundings, experiences and memories. I accumulate found materials and objects towards my practice, often using them as subjects of symbolism within my work. I explore how precious items encapsulate stories, memories and emotions and can be a reflection of who we are. I am fascinated in how objects are a vestige of a person, life and time and are shaped by their surroundings. I am fascinated in ways of capturing moments in my work, through collecting objects as well as creating sketches documenting fleeting moments.

I bring playfulness to my work, creating a visual language through colourful mark making and patterns, adapting them to the subjects in my paintings. I enjoy exploring colours and how they can ignite emotions and stories within the viewer. I am fascinated by perception. I explore this through contrasting colours, three dimensional work and two painting methods, illusionism and abstraction.

Printmaker

Working on community projects, Tara explores transforming marks into printmaking. Having worked as a Ceramic Artist, her projects experiment with pattern and texture. She has worked on Arts and Health workshops across Denbighshire and as part of a team of artists on the cARTrefu project with Age Cymru.

She is committed  to sharing her practice and has a passion for creative engagement in all settings across Wales and beyond.

Expressive arts

My work varies from creating sensory theater for children, elderly people or people with needs; create a physical story by using yoga shapes, using singing, rhythm and sound therapy instruments to communicate and to support well-being.

Artist

Nadia supports Ticky and the team in delivering accessible arts experiences for all, drawing on a diverse background in the Third and Public Sectors.

Throughout her career, they have championed inclusivity, facilitated meaningful arts experiences, and built strong relationships, projects, and partnerships. Passionate about demystifying art, Nadia believes creative opportunities are a fundamental human right and essential for well-being, working across schools, galleries, museums, and care settings to make art accessible to everyone.

Multi disciplinary artist

I am a multi-disciplinary maker and creator, who is curious about the world and embraces the endless possibilities of collaborating with people.

My work in Arts in Health is often playful and process led. I always aim to make the work I co-create accessible and achievable, giving participants of all ages and abilities the freedom to use and enjoy their own creativity in a safe no fail – no judgement environment.

Since 1997 my work has taken me to Welsh castles, terraced streets, hospital wards, residential schools, youth clubs, abandoned chapels, fine theatres, busy classrooms and the occasional mountain top.

Visual artist

I’m a visual arts practitioner & facilitator with a fine art/ sculpture background. After 22 years in art education, I moved into arts facilitation specialising in  local heritage, trauma- informed practice and creative learning.  I deliver projects using a wide range of materials and techniques such as mixed-media, print and sculpture, within various settings including schools, museums & galleries and well-being programmes.

I am particularly interested in projects that explore ‘forgotten stories’ from local social history and enjoy collaborating with participants to develop creative responses to historical source materials and personal and collective experiences of time and place.

Participation in shared learning of this kind enables meaningful connections to be made with both our surroundings and each other, all of which have a positive impact on well being.

My personal practice involves the use of repurposed and natural materials to create objects that also relate to these themes.

Historian

Hi Katie here, I am a freelance historian with experience working in Museums, who specialises in dementia friendly, interactive and accessible/inclusive reminiscence, the curation and sharing of reminiscence handling objects 1940-1990 in care settings and the wider community. When we hold an object in our hands it comes to life with stories and sensations, animated by memories, sparking conversation and non-verbal connections between us as individuals, care staff, loved ones and carers. Through person led and multisensory experiences, we step back in time together.

I have had the pleasure of holding lots of memory cafes and reminiscence events, curating collections for Denbighshire libraries and working closely with care homes, community groups and Making Sense CIO on Care Creatively and other projects.

Making Sense CIO has a passionate team working across North Wales and beyond to make creative experiences accessible and enriching for everyone. We partner with a diverse range of organisations and institutions to achieve this goal.

Here are just a few of the inspiring groups we collaborate with:

• Local Authorities: We work with councils like Conwy, Flintshire, and Denbighshire to develop resources and in-person sessions for people of all ages.
• Art Galleries: We run sessions for families as well as adults within contemporary galleries such as Mostyn, Ty Pawb and Ruthin Craft Centre.
• Care Homes: We partner with both private and council-run care homes to bring the joy of creativity to residents.
• Schools: We collaborate with schools across Wales to ignite curiosity and spark a love of learning through multisensory experiences.
• Heritage Institutions: We work with organisations like the National Trust and CADW to breathe new life into historical sites, making them accessible to a wider audience.

This is just a glimpse into the vibrant network we’ve built. We believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to connect with culture and creativity, and we’re committed to making that happen.

Would you like to partner with us?