Team

Head grower, composter and project manager, Liz oversees the wider delivery of the Compost Culture project and is passionate about food sovereignty in the city.

In charge of project storytelling (website, films, writing etc), compost related ‘odd jobs’ and phoning Wayne the manure man.

General Public have over a decade of experience of delivering ambitious, large scale public art projects in community contexts across the city. In 2023 their exhibition The Birmingham Allotment Project at The Library of Birmingham told an alternative social history of Birmingham via its allotment culture.

Originally established in 2014 as The Real Junk Food Project Birmingham, Incredible Surplus intercept food and other usable materials that would otherwise go to waste from supermarkets, restaurants and other sources, and provide them to individuals and community organisations on a “Pay-As-You-Feel” basis. Via her work with Incredible Surplus, Ann liaises with a vast web of third sector organisations as she fights 24/7 for social justice in Birmingham.

Marley currently runs our weekly sessions on Mondays (Kings Heath) and Wednesdays (Londonderry). He brings a wealth of experience from his involvement in the Climate Action movement, with XR and the Stop HS2 campaign. Currently studying a Mother Garden course at Fircroft College to help further understand the plants that we grow, the seeds that we save, this land that we tend and the people that we meet. Seed sovereignty advocate, wannabe compost king & master of knots.

The most up-to-date version of the Birmingham A-Z there is. Ezra is the project van driver moving food surplus, food waste, pallets, compost, plants & reclaimed materials around the city.

There have been so many hard working and committed Incredible Surplus volunteers who have helped us over the last few years. A special thank you to: Franklin, Wally, Mita, Vee, Princess, Peter, Brenda, Bev, Irina, Mike, Sally, Rabiya, Joe, Mauro, Diane & Tim, James, Lisa.

A man of many talents and great speed, Jimoh runs Crick Gardens composting programme with Faith. He also works with Incredible Surplus at Victoria Jubilee allotments on Fridays. Jimoh has been the chair of Birchfield neighbourhood Forum & Birchfield Big Local and has helped to establish the Birchfield Community association where he is the acting Chair person.

Faith is an artist, educator, and community activist who has worked extensively across the city in community contexts. She is also a director of GLUE Collective and an advocate for play and creativity. Faith works with Jimoh to deliver local garden maintenance services finding creative, economical and ecological solutions.

At Crick Gardens, they both deliver practical workshops and projects including 'Grow your own Soup' (sowing and growing organic food), basic carpentry + use of tools and different composting methods. Crick Gardens CIC has been developed from a piece of waste land by directors Abi Isaac and Faith and Jimoh and other local volunteers. It is an outdoor community hub with a bespoke oak shelter with earth oven and can be hired as a venue for workshops and events by individuals or other organisations and businesses. A warm welcome and a hot meal is always on offer at Crick Gardens.

Leading up TAWS involvement, Laura oversees compost related activity across the multiple TAWS sites. Laura is also helping to shape the 'Compost Forum'. Outside of her TAWS role, Laura is very active in climate change initiatives including setting up Brum FAFFS

With the help of St Paul’s staff, the City Farm Compost Team have created a closed loop composting system within their organisation and run composting activities as part of their wider farm engagement programme. They also deliver waste animal bedding to other project sites for composting.

Karen runs Friends of the Earth Birmingham with its community building The Warehouse and its permaculture garden – where the composting happens. She's a part-time professional gardener too and does very 'laissez-faire' composting at home and on her allotment. She brings several years' experience around voluntary sector activity across Birmingham.

I am a US national (North Carolina), a permanent resident of Brazil, and since 2010 I have lived with my family in Birmingham UK, our “third home.” Gardeniser, community composter, musician, author. Passionate about doing the work of compost as a biological, social, and spiritual practice as well as a form of activism that “puts together” (literally, com-posts) what is at hand in order for those elements to come to life.
Composting is Climate Action

Pete designed and built our modular (and rat proof) 3 bay composting system. Its a beautiful work of art and one we have now rolled out across the project at 5 of our sites. Pete also produces a monthly compost newsletter called Aerobic Digest and is a very active contributor to the Compost Culture WhatsApp group where he advices on good composting practice.
https://peteashton.com/
https://the.aerobicdigest.email/

Former Birmingham Friends of the Earth compost co-ordinator, Roo contributed an enormous amount of knowledge and know-how to the project. She also still works occasionally on the compost culture outreach programme.