Meet the team
Lisa Jaskulla
Founder and Lead Director
Creativity and Play all the Way
Therapeutic Mentor​
​​​​
I love connecting with people no matter where they are from, always curious to find their inner child, the inner spark.
​
My curiosity and thirst for new knowledge means that I continually grow and expand my applied practice to help children through play, creativity and the arts, and that I am always up-to-date with the latest and most relevant approaches.
​
Through regular reflection on my own actions and practices, and learning to understand my reactions, my compassion to both myself and others has grown.
With all hearts in, I help children to better understand their difficult emotions, and equip them with the tools so that they are able to be filled with joy and get the spark back in their eyes… and when things get tricky, they will know how to move forward.
​
Healing without judgement!
I'm a firm believer that it "takes a village to raise a child" but it also takes a village to support the adults around the child through sharing stories, tears, laughter, ideas and skills.
​
The modern world we live in has made raising children quite an isolating experience, the pandemic has just enhanced this.​
We are herd animals and I am ready to be part of your village.
Charlotte Ponting
Administration
Therapeutic Mentor​
​
I am a passionate advocate for children and young people and work as an Administrator and Mentor with Jaskulla Mentoring. I help to keep things
I have over 24 years of experience working with children and young people across a variety of settings, including schools, colleges, youth clubs, nurseries, and social services. My roles have included JNC Qualified Youth & Community Worker, Level 3 Childcare Practitioner, Support Worker, Mentor, Youth Mental Health First Aider, and Outreach Worker.
I am dedicated to supporting children and young people and work to ensure they are heard, seen, and supported to reach their full potential.
Tim Goldman
Dramatherapist​
​
I have worked with children for many years in as many different creative and supportive roles as you can think of. Initially, as a class Primary school teacher, and then in various incarnations as a facilitator or therapist, usually with drama, but sometimes with music, always with a playfulness, and occasionally with my clown hat on and red noses a plenty!
​
As a Dramatherapist, I have worked with children and younger adults, neurodivergent and otherwise, who struggle from anxiety, low-mood and low self-esteem; the Drama exercises and other creative activities help them communicate more confidently and connect more actively to themselves and the world around them.
​
I am a big believer in people finding their voice, as well as finding the joy that exists in all of us.
​
I also run a number of creative workshops that are about 'Play' and 'expressing ourselves' through words and movement. Some of this plays out through improvisational games and some through more traditional acting techniques. Drama is such an amazing way to find out about ourselves, and sometimes to be someone completely different! I will be playing the Dame in Panto this Christmas. That is definitely someone completely different!!
coming soon...
You?
Mentor
​​​​
If you think that you have the passion and drive to make a difference in a Child's day then please get in touch.
Could you join the team?
Sarah Neyland
Director
Therapeutic Mentor​
Empowering Youth Through Creativity and Self-Expression
​
I am a qualified art teacher at secondary level and have taught in schools for 20 years.
​
This builds on work I have done with children and young people in a variety of roles and settings since the age of 18.
​
Along with being a teacher, I have been a teaching assistant, voluntary youth worker, a playschemes leader and conducted art workshops in partnership with primary schools, Afro Caribbean centres and a nursing home.
​
I am keen to use art as a vehicle for communication and as a creative outlet, helping children develop social and emotional skills so they can thrive and reach their full potential.
​
I aim to support development based on the individual’s needs through playfulness, acceptance, curiosity and empathy and offer a multi-sensory flexible approach.
I have a personal interest in working with children from a broad variety of backgrounds, helping them to build confidence by developing a secure and positive sense of their own identity.
I also enjoy the outdoors, cooking and sport which I would like to incorporate in my practice.
Noelia Wehrhahn
Therapeutic Mentor
​
I love working with children, as they give back as much as you give them. Beyond reminding me of what we all once were, they also remind me of the challenges every one of us overcame and overcomes – in totally different ways.
My motivation for working with children was seeded with me growing up in my parent’s practice for speech-, language- and dyscalculia/dyslexia therapy. From doing homework in the adjacent room, to being the guinea pig for new ideas, to supporting some of their work as a teenager. The more I came to understand their work, the more I admired the joy and motivation that children could have in learning something which was often deemed their “weakness”. In order to understand children’s development and how they are able to thus thrive, better, I studied psychology and psychotherapy. This has shaped my understanding of how many perspectives on children’s development there are, of different ways of helping them, but also how there is seldom just one right explanation or “solution”!
After working in psychiatric and therapeutic settings in Germany, my curiosity about other ideas, concepts and perspectives brought me to the UK. Bringing experience from two countries together, I am happy to learn something new about how children fulfil their needs and progress every day. With Jaskulla Mentoring being a great place to develop just that!​​
Dr. Mandy Winters
Therapeutic Mentor​
​
It's so important to find ways of relating to children for them to thrive and to learn to love themselves and the world around them. This is my passion, one which has underpinned my many years of classroom and university teaching, alongside years of thoughtful leading, managing and researching in educational settings.
I'm a musician who always looks for the imaginative and lively ways of creating relational activities with young people, whether that is through creative play, singing, or quiet, absorbing games.....looking for, and developing, connection at all times.
Initially a specialist in teenage musical creativity, I work with younger children too, relishing those moments when the first smile appears or first eye contact is made, knowing that, at some point, tiny enthusiasms will emerge.
Learning is so fascinating - exploring the many different routes for all our children alongside them, irrespective of their starting points and enthusiasms. I'm grateful to contribute to such an inclusive, dynamic perspective.
Alyce Freemire
Thrive Practitioner
​Therapeutic Mentor​
I am a Licensed Thrive Practitioner with a strong background supporting children and young people with social, emotional, and special educational needs. Having worked as a learning mentor in an alternative provision setting, alongside roles as an after-school playworker and summer festival volunteer, my focus has always been on meeting young people exactly where they are.
​
In my practice, I look past physical age to understand where a child is emotionally and developmentally, tailoring sessions to match their unique capacity and needs. I pride myself on being patient, adaptable, and a calm, grounding presence when things feel chaotic. Above all, I am passionate about creating safe, relational spaces where young people feel secure enough to be unapologetically themselves.
Outside of work, I love being outdoors - whether that is a restorative walk along the beach or a wander through the countryside hoping to spot a few cows. I also cherish quality time with my family and friends, getting lost in a good book, and swimming (which often turns into playing mermaids!).
Liz Neville
Director of research
Social media and design
​Therapeutic Mentor​
The majority of my life has been spent working with children of different ages. I started in an early years setting and this cemented my desire to teach. I taught secondary graphic design for 20 years before leaving teaching. Whilst was time for me to move on from the system, the students were still very much the best part of the job, so I started a Masters in Psychology whilst working as a TA in my son's primary.
These wonderful but sometimes difficult experiences, alongside being a mother to two ND children, have given me the passion to continue to work with young people, specifically those who don't find their fit in a mainstream setting without some extra guidance and support. I strive to provide a safe space for children and young people to grow and make mistakes without shame.​​
Isabel Errington
Therapeutic Mentor​
​
I have 24 years of experience working with children in many different settings, including schools, homes and extra curricular. When I started working for Jaskulla Mentoring, it felt like the perfect culmination of my experience and expertise, and a kind of vocation.
Every child should feel safe, special and loved. I am so grateful to be able to work alongside vulnerable children and help them know their worth, building a relationship of trust with play at the centre. Children (and adults!) need play! Together we imagine, create, build, and at times can simply be wonderfully ridiculous. Sensory play is also particularly important for the children we work with, and something I value deeply myself! It’s very grounding.
It’s a privilege to see the raw honesty of children, and to let them feel their many emotions, while also helping them learn to regulate them. As someone who is highly sensitive, I find that I can relate to a lot of what these kids feel, observe and absorb. In my work I always try to deeply SEE the kids I work with, and come to understand their particular needs, giving the process the time it needs, and listening to my intuition.
Sue Amos
Therapeutic Mentor​​
​
Children talk straight. They laugh from their whole belly when they’re happy and they cry and stomp when they’re sad or disappointed. It could be said that they are the most precious, whilst also the most vulnerable members of our society.
​
I have always felt privileged to work alongside them, whether in the capacity of a Primary stage teacher ~ as my career began ~ in our Secondary school system as a Special-needs teacher or more latterly in supporting them outside of the classroom to navigate their internal, adolescent emotional landscapes. This work has led me to where I am now (an old bird who has had several decades in the world of education!) ~ the creative and highly rewarding therapeutic mentoring work of Jaskulla Mentoring.
The pleasure of this work comes from being given an opportunity to provide support to children whose early life experiences have often been incredibly overwhelming and who, without our mentoring support, might easily fall through the net. Time and again instead, we are able to watch them learning to access their own internal resources and gradually - as a result of this - moving on from us with confidence and a growing sense of their own worth.
Our Village
These are the people we regularly collaborate, share thoughts and best practice with.
Do check them out as they are also leading the way in how children and young people can thrive in education.
Stacey Davies
- Connection and Curiosity -
For the past 21 years, I have worked, despite my own demons, supporting the wellbeing of young people in various different roles within mainstream schools from ages 16 - 4.
​
I know first hand the impact poor mental health can have on young people and have made it a priority of mine to understand how our early experiences shape our outlook and future outcomes. I believe that every child is one caring adult away from being a success story. I am privileged to work, as a Thrive practitioner, with young people everyday.
​
With this in mind, I was inspired to write my first book, 'Toolbox to survive' (something I am hugely proud of). It is a light - hearted story to teach children that all emotions are welcome and that, despite what life offers us, we all have the tools to survive and Thrive.
​
I hope to continue this journey and offer my knowledge and experience to other practitioners by ensuring that emotional connection is a top priority in schools.
Daniella Martin
.jpeg){kind=logo}
Mental Health Natters
​
MHN is a small Abingdon based team and we use relationship and strengths based tuition and mentoring to support parents/ carers and young people who are struggling with mental health and school attendance.
​
