The OutoftheBox Team

OutoftheBox is a not-for-profit social enterprise, founded in Sheffield in 2021 (Registered company number 13552676).
The organisation is led by Kate Caroe, with oversight and support from a board of advisors and a team of OutoftheBox Mentors.

Kate Caroe
–  Sheffield –

Kate is Director and co-Founder of OutoftheBox Training & Consultancy. She has home educated her six children following the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason. She is also Chair of Trustees of Steel City Choristers. In the past she worked in media planning and was a Trustee of Salmon Youth Centre in Bermondsey.

Professor Dianne Willcocks
– York –

Dianne is on the Advisory Board for OutoftheBox. She was the first Vice Chancellor of York St John University, and is a social gerontology researcher. She is now Chair of Wilf Ward Family Trust, a trustee for York Older People’s Assembly; a patron of OCAY, and a Vice Chair for York Museums Trust. www.diannewillcocks.co.uk  

Lorna Warren
– Sheffield –

Lorna is on the Advisory Board for OutoftheBox. She was a senior lecturer at the University of Sheffield and a member of the Healthy Lifespan Institute (HELSI). She remains a trustee of Sheffield Carers Centre but now spends more time sharing stories with fellow walkers and wild swimmers.

Rev Ian Wallis
– Sheffield –

Ian is on the Advisory Board for OutoftheBox. He is an Anglican Priest, theological educator and academic, specialising in biblical studies. Now retired from stipendiary ministry, he recently returned to St Mark’s Church, Broomhill, Sheffield, to serve as an Associate Priest Theologian.

Claire Allen
– Bristol –

Claire looks after the OutoftheBox shop

Ruth Dawson
– Sheffield –

Ruth attends to our book-keeping. This position will soon become vacant and we will be recruiting for a successor to Ruth. 

Lucy Davies
–  Sheffield –

Lucy is the technical guru behind the OutoftheBox website

Operations Team

Jennie Fytche
– Lincolnshire –

Members Chats

Jennie organises our programme of Members Chats, and impact stories.

Jennie has spent her career working with children and young people in the NHS, within charities supporting churches, in the social care sector and in primary schools.
Jennie trains and mentors in pastoral care, listening skills, children’s and youth work and bereavement care. 

Claire Helton
– Nashville, USA –

Story Circles and socials

Claire looks after our Members’ Story Circles and our social media accounts. She runs online training courses and is our main point of contact in the US.

Claire works in hospice bereavement care with a background in chaplaincy and congregational ministry. She uses OutoftheBox in grief support groups, chaplain visits, retreats, and spiritual formation groups.

Angela Morrison
– York –

Story Development

Angela curates the OutoftheBox story library and oversees the Story Development team.

Angela has lived on three continents, working in education, community development, and with public libraries in a broad range of communities.
As an Anglican priest, she shares OutoftheBox stories as a rich offering within spiritual accompaniment. 

Catherine Benbow
– Shropshire –

Governance

Catherine supports OutoftheBox on governance and pastoral issues. 

Catherine was a medical consultant with the Leprosy Mission. She loves everything about OutoftheBox and uses it in a local primary school, in spiritual direction and as a creative, limitless tool when meeting people to explore … something … whatever that might be.

Mentors Team

Helen Bell
– Cambridge – 

Helen works as a mission practitioner within the United Reformed Church to encourage and equip people to listen to and be changed by what children can teach us. Helen loves being alongside multigenerational families, initially as a clinical psychologist and then in church, community and charity sectors. Helen is a Circle of Security Parenting facilitator.

Judy Yeomans
– Lewes –

Judy has spent much of her adult life in the company of children, first as a speech and language therapist, then as a mother and children’s worker in church. She is a registered Play Therapist with PTUK and a primary school governor.  

Monika Doering
– Nottingham –

Monika is Hospital Chaplain at the Nottingham University Hospitals, and she is a member of the organising committee of the International Jewish Christian Muslim (JCM) Conference in Germany. She is a priest in the Church of England with Permission to Officiate (PTO) at St John’s Beeston.

Mandy Thorlby
– West Yorkshire – 

Mandy trained as a drama therapist and runs creative groups for children, young people and adults. She is interested in links between creativity and spirituality, and currently works as a trainer helping churches reflect on their practice with children, and as a creative wellbeing worker at a local food project.

Sarah Ducker
– Sheffield –

Sarah is a Baptist Minister and a Formation Tutor for training ministers. She enjoys meeting with people of all ages to help individuals and groups move forward with wisdom, compassion and authenticity. She loves children, has researched children’s spirituality, and seeks to journey with children as fellow spiritual pilgrims.

Sharon Lee
– Gateshead –

Sharon trained as a Nursery Nurse working within primary schools and in the local community supporting special needs children. She became a Lay Pastoral Worker in the Methodist Church and her role developed into a Families and Children’s Worker. Currently she is finding new ways to share OutoftheBox across the Circuit.

Anastasia Shishkina (Tia)
– Russia –

Tia is a Sunday school teacher. She brings OutoftheBox stories, Godly Play® and Deep Talk into her class to create deep connection with children. She is often invited to schools, retreats and meetings to strengthen trust, raise empathy and unite a circle. She used to minister to refugees and at-risk children in Siberia.

Natalie Rapp
– Nashville, USA –

Natalie shares spiritual direction and mindfulness with families. With a background in Montessori education and a love of storytelling, she walks beside children as they wonder, ask big questions, connect with nature, and explore what matters most in life.

Rondy Kyle
– Edmonton, Canada –

Rondy has over 30 years of lay leadership in the United Church of Canada. Rondy has worked with children in inner city communities, done crisis intervention work with vulnerable youth, and spent many summers at camp. She has been a Godly Play® storyteller for over 14 years.

Joke Vermeire
– Belgium –

Joke lives in Eeklo. She is constantly looking for ways to wonder, to be creative and to have fun with children, as a teacher of religious studies, a church volunteer and with her own four children. Joke is a Godly Play® trainer and has translated the OutoftheBox stories into Dutch.

Yusuf Costu
– Turkey –

Yusuf is a life coach who is passionate about holding space for people to encourage them to be their most authentic selves. Through his own healing journey he has come to appreciate the value in learning to love oneself, and strives to bring more self-love into the world.

Jean Pienaar
– South Africa –

Jean trained as a town and regional planner but soon found herself working with rural communities, facilitating workshops and then lecturing. She pioneered Messy Church and explores intergenerational ministry in her local area of Johannesburg.

Would you like to be an OutoftheBox Mentor?

If you are someone who uses OutoftheBox regularly and loves supporting others, and would like to be part of the team helping to build up the OutoftheBox movement, we would love to hear from you. Our Mentors are from a variety of backgrounds and professions. They support Members however they can, in local story circles and online Members meetings. They take OutoftheBox to conferences and festivals and write articles about it, where ever opportunities come naturally to them.  As the organisation grows we will be looking to slowly expand our team, following the process below:

Required criteria:

  • Membership of OutoftheBox
  • Attended an Explore OutoftheBox course and/or substantial experience of using OutoftheBox in your own contexts
  • Attended several online Support Network sessions (Members’ chats, story circles or story development sessions)
  • Experienced and skilled in holding space in other contexts
  • Takes initiative and has an entrepreneurial mindset 

The application process:

  • Express interest in applying to become a Mentor by emailing [email protected] and having an informal conversation
  • Read the Mentors’ Agreement and the Mentors’ page of the website
  • Complete the application form
Application form
  • Interview with Director and one or two other Mentors, and lead a Story Circle attended by the Director and another Mentor
  • References will be taken up
  • Probationary period as you get involved in helping lead the OutoftheBox movement and attending International Mentors’ meetings. This will be for at least six months before both sides decide whether you sign the Mentors’ Agreement for the following year