Who We Are – Godly Play UK

We are a Charity

Godly Play UK is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Our registered number is 1116846.

Charitable Objects

To advance the Christian faith in particular but not so as to limit the generality of the foregoing by means of a method of Christian education and spiritual direction using religious language and symbol to help people become more aware of the mystery of God’s presence in their lives in such parts of the United Kingdom or the world as the Trustees may from time to time think fit and to fulfil such other purposes which are exclusively charitable according to the law of England and Wales and are connected with the charitable work of the trust.

We are part of an International Movement

Godly Play UK forms part of an international network of associations and other organisations linked to the Godly Play Foundation

You can find out more about Godly Play around the world here. You will find a world map showing countries where Godly Play is practised, a covenant of agreement that details the ways we work together, and links to The Circle, a magazine that describes the development of Godly Play in many situations.

You can also read about the establishment and development of Godly Play through the work of its Founder Jerome Berryman.

Here is a Quick Summary

We have 8 Trustees and 23 Volunteers
Have a look at our Trustees’ Handbook
We were registered as a charity on 16 November 2006
We have no employees with salaries over £60,000
No trustees receive any remuneration, payments or benefits from the charity.
We raise funds from the public and we do not work with professional fundraisers or commercial participators.
We do not have any trading subsidiaries.
In 2020 our total income was £8,387 and our total expenditure was £9,483.

Meet Our Trustees

Gill Ambrose

Chair of Trustees

Gill worked with Rebecca Nye and a wonderful group of volunteers in 2001 to turn an unused old building into a Godly Playroom. In the following few years the room was visited by hundreds of trainees as the Godly Play...
Adrian Chatfield

Adrian is a parish priest and theological educator with 46 years’ experience in the Caribbean, the UK and in Southern Africa. As a spiritual director and mentor, he is particularly interested in human co-creativity with God, and the place of...
Mary Hawes

Mary is the Church of England’s National Going for Growth (Children and Youth) Adviser. Mary is advocate for the Church’s ministry with, for and by children up to the age of 18 and young people, including implementing ‘Going4Growth’, the Education...
Heather Moger

For me, doing Godly Play has been transformative: from my first encounter in the early days in Cambridge with Rebecca Nye and Gill Ambrose, the Godly Play stories have threaded their way through the tapestry of my days, ...
Vicky Parry

Vicky joined the Trustees in May 2017. Vicky worked as a teacher before retraining as a Management Accountant working in property management and as the CEO of a company offering support in the community to adults with learning disabilities, physical...
Rosemary Privett

Rosemary trained as a primary school teacher in the 70’s. After a short period of time bringing up a family, she returned to work, spending some time teaching in special education. This included ground-breaking work as an integration support teacher,...
Dani Redhead

Danielle’s interest is in the use of Godly Play in schools and with very young children. She helps run a Godly Play programme at St Mark’s Church in Cambridge and leads a Godly Play toddler group in Cambridge. She works...
Anne Richards

Anne is National Public Policy Adviser (specialising in modern society, popular culture, contemporary spirituality and apologetics) in the Faith and Public Life Team for the Church of England, based at Lambeth Palace. She is also convener of the ecumenical Mission...
Rob Rogers

Rob started life as an engineering apprentice and trained as a teacher of Design and Technology in 1977. He went on to become a Head of Department in two Coventry secondary schools, leaving in 1987 to train for the...
Alison Shaw

Encountering Godly Play twenty years ago has been as much of a journey as my voyage to Australia last year (see pic!).

It has taught me, encouraged me, excited and frustrated me, but has always occupied a special and cherished...

Gill Ambrose

Chair of Trustees

Gill worked with Rebecca Nye and a wonderful group of volunteers in 2001 to turn an unused old building into a Godly Playroom. In the following few years the room was visited by hundreds of trainees as the Godly Play training strategy evolved. Gill trained and worked as a teacher before becoming a diocesan children’s adviser and finally an editor. On retirement from paid employment she took up the role of Chair for Godly Play UK. She is a lay minister in her church and also a school governor.

Adrian Chatfield

Adrian is a parish priest and theological educator with 46 years’ experience in the Caribbean, the UK and in Southern Africa. As a spiritual director and mentor, he is particularly interested in human co-creativity with God, and the place of play as an expression of the beauty of God and as a key narrative tool containing rich redemptive possibilities.

Mary Hawes

Mary is the Church of England’s National Going for Growth (Children and Youth) Adviser. Mary is advocate for the Church’s ministry with, for and by children up to the age of 18 and young people, including implementing ‘Going4Growth’, the Education Division’s strategy document. She resources and advises the Church at National and Diocesan level in its ministry with children and young people. The work involves developing creative partnerships with Christian, government and secular agencies.

Heather Moger

For me, doing Godly Play has been transformative: from my first encounter in the early days in Cambridge with Rebecca Nye and Gill Ambrose, the Godly Play stories have threaded their way through the tapestry of my days, leading me to change direction from a lifelong career in music education towards more overtly Christian work, and I am now Chaplaincy Lead for a group of Oxfordshire primary schools where I hope to be able to create lots of Godly Play circles!

The contextualisation of Godly Play is something that particularly interests me, and whilst living in the Outer Hebrides, I set up an island Godly Playroom using the skills of local crafts people and natural materials, including driftwood and Harris Tweed. My links with Godly Play Scotland remain strong.

Going forward, it is a privilege to be able to serve as a Trustee for Godly Play, and to have the opportunity to make a positive contribution to its future.

Vicky Parry

Vicky joined the Trustees in May 2017. Vicky worked as a teacher before retraining as a Management Accountant working in property management and as the CEO of a company offering support in the community to adults with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and mental ill-health. In 2008 she became a school bursar, a role with responsibilities for Finance, Human Resources, Health and Safety, Compliance, and as Clerk to the Governors. It is these skills that she brings to the role as a Trustee, now that she has retired.

Rosemary Privett

Rosemary trained as a primary school teacher in the 70’s. After a short period of time bringing up a family, she returned to work, spending some time teaching in special education. This included ground-breaking work as an integration support teacher, facilitating projects between special and mainstream settings.

Since retirement from full time work Rosemary trained to be a Spiritual Director. She now undertakes this ministry on Zoom and face-to-face within Coventry Diocese. In her spare time she enjoys reading, walking and singing in a choir, as well as spending time with her children and three wonderful grandchildren.

Dani Redhead

Danielle’s interest is in the use of Godly Play in schools and with very young children. She helps run a Godly Play programme at St Mark’s Church in Cambridge and leads a Godly Play toddler group in Cambridge. She works with schools, on behalf of the Church Schools of Cambridge, to help improve RE provision through the use of Godly Play. She initially trained as a pharmacist and as a neuroscientist and holds a PGCE, MEd, and Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge Prior to working as a secondary science teacher, she created the Cambridge Neuroscience network and undertook cognitive brain research, and today she is the Outreach Officer for the University of Cambridge Faculty of Divinity.

Anne Richards

Anne is National Public Policy Adviser (specialising in modern society, popular culture, contemporary spirituality and apologetics) in the Faith and Public Life Team for the Church of England, based at Lambeth Palace. She is also convener of the ecumenical Mission Theology and Apologetics Group (MTAG). She is a prolific writer on theological issues, including those to do with children, and is a co-editor of Through the Eyes of a Child (CHP 2009 with Peter Privett) and Children in the Bible (SPCK 2013). She is married to Professor Chris Corrigan and has two sons, Jonathan and Philip.

Rob Rogers

Rob started life as an engineering apprentice and trained as a teacher of Design and Technology in 1977. He went on to become a Head of Department in two Coventry secondary schools, leaving in 1987 to train for the ordained ministry at St John’s College, Nottingham. In 1998 he studied for a Masters degree in Religious Education at Warwick University and returned full time to the world of education, working for the Special Needs support service of Warwickshire County Council in a number of roles. He retired from his work with Warwickshire in 2017 and founded his own education, training and counselling company. He now works part time with secondary aged pupils who display Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) issues. Rob regularly takes services at a local church. He is a registered counsellor – working on a voluntary basis with a local agency – and is also a panel member for Adoption Central England. He is married to Sheila – our administrator – and is an enthusiastic grandparent.

Alison Shaw

Encountering Godly Play twenty years ago has been as much of a journey as my voyage to Australia last year (see pic!).

It has taught me, encouraged me, excited and frustrated me, but has always occupied a special and cherished place in my heart.

Beginning my Godly Play journey in Houston, working alongside Jerome
Berryman for a week, was a huge joy and privilege and made me desire to go
deeper. Over the years I have led and been led in exploring stories and new ideas.

I hope and pray that my new trustee role can help to inspire more Godly players.