Francis Gilbert

Dr Francis Gilbert is the Principal Investigator for the Parklife project, which he has been organising and running since 2022. He is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Educational Studies at Goldsmiths.

Laila Sumpton

Laila Sumpton is a freelance poet and educator working with museums, schools, universities, charities and parks on poetry projects. She has worked with older and younger writers in Walpole Park, Brookmill Park, Ladywell Fields and Fordham Park amongst others.As a youth advocacy and engagement specialist she has supported young campaigners on a range of topics including girls rights, peacebuilding and the environment. 

Fiona Plant

Fiona Plant is a teacher, education consultant and writer. She lives in south-east London

in Lewisham, the borough where the Parklife project was born. She co-authored and co-edited the secondary school age Toolkit session plans and resources, adapting the ideas and research of the original team of Parklife students at Deptford Green School and developing a scheme of work which are accessible and easily adapted.

Laura Dempsey

In 2020, in the wake of school climate strikes, Laura established GenEarth (formally Volunteers for Future) a social enterprise with a vision to help young people thrive on a healthy planet. GenEarth are on a mission to deliver action-led programmes in schools that equip young people with the skills, tools and confidence to build a better future for all. They are powered by collaboration - engaging climate innovative people and partners, and to date have directly engaged over 17,000 young people.

Rebecca Deegan

Rebecca is a lobbyist and has campaigned on a range of issues, including climate change and nature. In 2020 she founded I Have a Voice (IHAV) a social enterprise that shows young people how they can speak up effectively and lobby for change on the issues that matter to them and their community. Each year IHAV supports thousands of young people to learn about our democracy and to engage with their elected representatives, including through the Park Life project. She still lobbies alongside running IHAV and is currently lobbying for more private investment into the UK's Net Zero transition and on behalf of a disability charity.

Yanning Tan 

Yanning is a web designer and a graduate of Goldsmiths' Media and Communications BA program. With a strong passion for web and graphic design, Yanning combines creativity with technical skills to craft engaging and visually appealing websites. As a key contributor to this very site, Yanning ensures our online presence is both functional and beautiful.