THE CHERRY TREE PATHWAY
WHO We ARE & CONTACT INFO
OneSpirit is a non-denominational charity committed to fostering spiritual growth and interfaith understanding. Welcoming people of all faiths and none, it provides a respectful and inclusive environment. Founded in response to the Holocaust, its mission is to promote global peace through dialogue and empathy.
OneSpirit’s training programme equips individuals with skills in deep listening, spiritual accompaniment, and nonviolent communication. It also encourages inner work, including personal spiritual practice and self-reflection, drawing wisdom from diverse world faiths. The aim is to empower individuals to embrace their authentic selves and serve others with compassion and purpose.
Drop all preconceptions of what a training is! This is a radical process which reveals what it means to live a fully authentic and connected life. It requires courage, humility, kindness, and tenderness to self and others. If you are happy being a sheep in the world and sleepwalking through life, this course is not for you. If you yearn to know yourself, show up in the world as your true self and deepen into the Great Mystery of Life then buckle up! This is the commitment you need to make to make change for the Good happen.
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Elizabeth, 2024 Graduate
Who We Are & What Our Training Is
OneSpirit’s Spiritual Development and Ministry Training programme has evolved as a groundbreaking response to the ever-changing challenges of our modern world.
With over 25 years of experience, we guide individuals on a journey of inner leadership and spiritual growth, adapting our methods to meet the evolving needs of humankind.
As an educational charity, we are dedicated to fostering the evolution of human consciousness through sacred service.
By deepening compassion and respect for ourselves and others, we create intentional, loving relationships.
We believe that by opening ourselves to such relationships, we encounter the Divine and learn to live more deeply and authentically.
Our ministry training invites participants to discover their inherent worth and sacredness while recognising and honouring this in others.
By cultivating genuine intimacy with ourselves, others, and the Divine, we each contribute to the unfolding evolution of consciousness across humanity.
The training takes a holistic approach to self-development and ministerial outreach. It explores what it means to be human through practices such as deep empathic listening, inclusivity, respect for diversity, and reverence for personal faith and spirituality. Honouring the wisdom of the world’s religious and spiritual traditions, we emphasise community, connection, and relationship—with one another, the Earth, and the Divine.
Grounded in these principles, our curriculum nurtures your innate capacity to make peace with your experience of the world. It equips you with the insights and skills needed to develop inner leadership and engage meaningfully in sacred service. We welcome all who feel called to deepen their understanding of Self and Spirit — whatever form that may take for you. Together, we embark on a shared journey to explore what it truly means to be human.
Our Vision
A world in which humanity awakens in an inclusive, global spirituality that encompasses us all in a field of love and life.
Our Mission
To work towards evolving consciousness in the world, by facilitating open-hearted people to awaken to inner leadership and their capacity for forgiveness, reconciliation and peacemaking.
Our Touchstones
Inclusivity, compassion, authenticity, spiritual transformation.
Meet Our Team
ALAN (he/him)
Executive Director
Alan was a builder, tree-feller, furniture maker, and woodturner before he started work in the charity sector supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Now with over 17 years of experience gained across the fields of mental health, youth justice, and drug and alcohol services, Alan’s work is driven by his passion for innovation and finding creative solutions.
He led a national programme to roll out gatekeeper training in Wales to equip frontline services and community members with the skills and confidence to prevent suicide and advised the Welsh Government on the development of a national suicide and self-harm prevention strategy.
Alan has five grown-up children and two grandchildren. In between work and shed-building (Alan believes you can never have too many sheds) relaxation takes the form of long walks with the dogs, reading, painting and meditation.
DANIELLE (she/her)
Finance Officer
Danielle left her native Texas in 1983 intending to travel around Europe for a year or so. She never went back – and is now settled in the UK with dual nationality. She is fluent in French and speaks a little Spanish and Italian. She comes from a business background in sales, theatre design and architectural administration, and along the way also picked up bookkeeping skills. She trained as a labyrinth facilitator in 2002, which then led her into training as a OneSpirit interfaith minister.
Ordained in 2006, Danielle took on the role of Finance Officer with OneSpirit a year later. She trained as a teacher in The Spiritual Laws of Prosperity with Rev Maggy Whitehouse in 2013 and now incorporates that work as a way to support students with their fees and money/scarcity issues. Her hobbies are crafts, knitting, swimming, walking on the beach, watching movies and dancing the Dances of Universal Peace.
MADDY (she/her)
Learning Design Specialist
Maddy has always had a deep interest in spirituality and went on to complete a degree in Theology and Religious Studies. Maddy then trained and worked as a secondary school Religious Studies teacher before moving into SEN education, working holistically with young people with autism; seeing first-hand the power a holistic approach to education can have on the lives of young people. She then returned to university, completing a master’s degree specialising in feminist Biblical studies in relation to motherhood, identity, and Goddess spirituality.
Having always been passionate about social justice work, Maddy was drawn to working with OneSpirit to reconnect with others committed to building a compassionate and thriving global community.
When she’s not working, Maddy loves to spend as much time as possible outside exploring the world around her. Having recently become a new mom, she is connecting with the world in totally different ways than she ever had before. She loves travelling to different places (near and far!) with her favourite places being India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Her time in these places taught her to always look for the sacred in the everyday.
KAILEE (she/her)
Communications & Marketing Lead
Kailee’s lifelong fascination with diverse cultures has taken her around the globe, both as a traveller and educator. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Global Studies online from Arizona State University, which gave her the flexibility to explore the world while pursuing her studies. With minors in History and Women and Gender Studies, Kailee turned her passion for communication into action, teaching English to children in Italy and China.
Originally from Boston, her academic journey continued in Scotland, where she completed a Postgraduate Diploma in History, focusing on the religious, cultural, and gender dynamics of the Middle Ages. Her creative talents extend into social media and marketing, where she believes inclusive communication can spark innovation and connection.
Previously, she worked in Washington D.C., serving as an Inclusion Programme Coordinator, advocating for youth engagement, disability rights, Indigenous rights, and gender equality. She remains passionate about intersectional justice and empowering marginalised communities.
In her free time, Kailee enjoys reading, rewatching Indiana Jones movies, listening to music (too loudly!), and experimenting with vegan recipes. A solo traveller at heart, she loves meeting new people and experiencing the world’s rich cultural diversity.
LAVINIA (she/her)
Community Development Lead
From London to Jamaica to Liverpool and many flights in between, Lavinia has always been passionate about community building and the many forms this can take. Her goal is to empower individuals to recognise and harness their power and influence within their community spaces.
Within her local community, she functions as a project manager, consultant, and support for local organisations on initiatives that focus on area regeneration, social justice, and empowering individuals to take ownership of their community’s transformation.
Alongside her role at OneSpirit, Lavinia is actively engaged in community projects focusing on mental health and emotional well-being. She’s committed to creating inclusive, diverse environments that speak to and actively support their members. She believes in building communities where everyone feels seen, heard, and valued. Additionally, as a Hypnotherapist and Healing Practitioner, she works with people one-on-one and in groups to support their healing journeys through generational and intergenerational trauma.
When not working, Lavinia enjoys watching Star Trek, reading Sci-Fi, and being defeated in rock paper scissors by her son.
KIM (she/her)
Operations Manager
Kim has been an operations manager working in charities and not-for-profits for over 15 years. A passion for easeful and supportive processes and procedures is underpinned by her ability to problem solve and hold space, with a way of seeing under the tangles and layers to the heart of the sticky matters.
Having grown up in South Africa she wonders and feels deeply into what divides and separates people from each other, the other than the human world and the earth and what are the pathways back into connection. These wonderings have led her to the way of the council, grief tending and transformative justice spaces, learning and facilitation.
Kim is also an avid reader, practicer of Ashtanga yoga, dancer in her living room, carrot cake maker, succulent enthusiast, mountain hiker, aunty, barefoot walker, wild swimmer and potter.
Get to Know Us
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Kim: You don’t always have to share. To be clear – this isn’t don’t share – this is about feeling into where you are and choosing if you want to share, if it feels right within yourself, if you have the capacity, It is about boundaries in a world that promotes over-sharing, over-giving and not enough self-care. Share because it feels good not because it’s an obligation or someone tells you to. There have been many moments in my life where I haven’t had enough energy, time, crisps to go around, there have been times where I have felt I must give of myself, there have been times when sharing would negatively impact – it’s okay to say no, it’s okay to hold close to my chest.
Lavinia: No one is coming to save me.
Kailee: No – no matter what the context – is a complete sentence.
What is your favourite book or author?
Kim: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and Imajica by Clive Barker.
Maddy: Be Here Now – Ram Dass
Lavinia: At the moment it’s Great Cosmic Mother: Rediscovering the Religion of the Earth by Monica Sjöö and Barbara Mor.
What is your favourite song(s)?
Kim: Here Comes the Sun – the Nina Simone version and Talking About a Revolution by Tracy Chapman.
Maddy: Going to California – Led Zeppelin.
Lavinia: So so many depending on my mood, but a good start would be…. She Works Hard for the Money by Donna Summer, Creep by Radiohead, and Anything by Bill Withers, Roni Size & India Arie.
Kailee: My 2024 Spotify Wrapped revealed I listened to an incredible 155,834 minutes of music — so as you can tell, I have music playing morning, noon, and night! I love a wide variety of music, from rock and indie to classic country. Some of my all-time and current favorite songs include Sisters of the Moon by Fleetwood Mac, Carnage by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, Catch the Rainbow by Rainbow, Honey by Dean Martin, and Perfidia by Phyllis Dillon.
Alan: I’ll have to cheat as I can’t narrow this down beyond these 3: Wandering Angus by Richie Havens (from the poem by Yeats); Here Comes the Sun – The Beatles; The Wedding – Abdullah Ibrahim.