Who’s who

Meet Baobab’s dedicated team of staff, trustees and volunteers at the heart of our community.

We are a small team of tenacious people who fight for the rights of young refugees and asylum seekers to thrive and mature into resilient adults. Some of us are paid staff, some of us are volunteers but we are all a team working today to support the young people at Baobab. As clinicians, caseworkers, tutors, administrators, arts tutors, workshop facilitators etc.., we are with our young people every step of the way.  

Want to join our team? Check out our jobs and volunteering page.  

Senior Management Team

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Bitenge Makuka

Head of Group Psychotherapy, Bi‑cultural Senior Group and Support Worker
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Ferelyth Watt

Head of Individual Psychotherapy, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist

Clinical Team

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Bitenge Makuka

Head of Group Psychotherapy, Bi‑cultural Senior Group and Support Worker

Claire Lokke

Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist (volunteer)
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Ferelyth Watt

Head of Individual Psychotherapy, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist
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Kevin Perkins

Senior Child and Adolescent Integrative Psychotherapist (volunteer)
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Liz Bodycote

Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist (volunteer)

Social Casework Team

Administrative Team

Fundraising Team

Interpreters

I have more than 15 years Interpreting particularly in Mental health interpreting. Alongside my bachelor’s degree, I have achieved several qualifications in interpreting. Interpreting for me is not just work but a source of satisfaction by helping others and bridging the gaps between languages and removing the barriers.

Teaching Volunteers

I started tutoring English at baobab in 2024. I trained as a secondary school English teacher after university, and taught in London schools for 10 years. Then I worked making documentaries at the BBC , and now I’m happy to be back teaching again.

(check back soon for more info)

I started tutoring English at Baobab in the Spring of 2024, and I also coordinate the tutoring volunteers. I trained originally as a lawyer and have had a long career in the NGO sector working across human rights, domestic violence and child protection. 

Baobab to me says kindness and careful attention. We all need both. At Baobab I use my previous experience as a counsellor in a GP surgery to help young people on their way using fun, conversation and a love of language. On other days I am a Coram Beanstalk Reading Helper for Year 2 and 3 at Grafton School near Baobab. Never did I think that at 71 years old I would be helping teenagers and also young children. Whatever it is that I give, I get back ten times over in joy and satisfaction and feel lucky to be part of the Baobab team.

(check back soon for more info)

Trustees

The Board of Trustees at Baobab meets four times a year as a full governing body.  The Board also runs a number of sub-committees that meet regularly and report back to the full board’s quarterly meetings. 

Dr Felicity Dirmeik MB,ChB, MRCPsych, Fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society graduated in Medicine from the University of Cape Town. After moving to London she subsequently trained as a Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist and Psychoanalyst. She also trained at the Tavistock Clinic and then worked as a Consultant, teaching and running clinical services in NHS teaching hospitals in London for 25 years. Her experience includes working in therapeutic communities, group work, work with individuals and couples and training medical students to work psychotherapeutically. From early in her career she was on many committees at the Institute of Psychoanalysis and later chaired a committee looking at ethical practice for the British Psychoanalytic Council, overseeing the complaints procedure.

She is currently retired after having worked in private practice as a Psychoanalyst and Psychotherapist.

(biography coming soon)

Dr Eithne Nightingale has over 30 years’ experience of working with diverse communities and on equal opportunities within the education, cultural and museum sectors. She was Head of Community and Adult Education in Hackney before she became Head of Equality and Diversity at the V&A and is co-editor of Museums, Equality and Social Justice published by Routledge in 2012. In 2019 she completed her PhD entitled Child Migration to East London: Life stories of departure, arrival and settlement at Queen Mary University of London. She has also co-produced a series of award-winning short films on child migration (childmigrantstories.com) and her forthcoming book Child Migrant Voices in Modern Britain: Oral Histories since the 1930s is to be published by Bloomsbury in 2023. She is also a writer and photographer.
eithnenightingale.com

Hope Samuel is a Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist . She worked in the NHS for over 30 years, spending 20 years as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Specialist Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist in Adult Mental Health Services in Hertfordshire. She retired from the NHS in 2020 and now works in private practice offering psychotherapy and supervision. 

Lenke Kiss is a Chartered Management Accountant with experience in the financial management of small and medium-sized enterprises. After spending eleven years in financial risk management roles within the banking sector, she returned to her roots in the SME space a couple of years ago. She now dedicates part of her time to causes she deeply cares about. 

Kate Rosin. Kate is a third-sector and human-rights leader with 15+ years’ experience across refugee and migration work, torture survivor support, fundraising, grant making and organisational development. Currently Director of TortureID, working closely with trustees, clinicians, volunteers and partners to build the charity’s strategy, operations and fundraising base. Brings senior management experience, strong sector relationships with funders and NGOs, and a developing therapeutic practice pathway through counselling training at The Minster Centre and trauma/refugee-health courses. First-time trustee candidate offering practical board-facing experience, strategic judgement and a values-led commitment to young refugees and asylum seekers. From 2015 to 2024 she worked at the Open Society Foundations in programme delivery and grant-making. 

Kezia is an experienced human rights advocate and charity manager. In 2026, she attained a distinction in her Graduate Diploma in Law. She has been awarded Inner Temple Exhibition and Elfreda Edwards scholarships to support her bar training, at the Inns of Court College of Advocacy. Kezia is currently the Fundraising and Impact Manager at the Criminal Justice Alliance, a membership body representing over 200 organisations in the criminal justice space. She was the Director of Development and International Relations at Itach Ma’aki – Women Lawyers for Social Justice, an intersectional feminist organisation promoting women’s rights in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. She has also held fundraising positions at the Anne Frank Trust UK and the Order of St John. 

Yoav is a clinical psychologist with over 35 years of working as a clinician, supervisor and senior manager in the public, voluntary and private sectors. Over the years, Yoav has worked within and led community-based multidisciplinary teams and therapeutic communities. After moving to the UK in 2002, he was Head of Clinical Services at WPF Therapy and worked as a Clinical Psychologist in the NHS. From 2007-2010 Yoav held the role of Director of Clinical Services at the Medical Foundation (Freedom from Torture). Since 2010 Yoav works in private practice and as an organisational consultant. 

Patrons and Funders

Our work is made possible by the generosity of our funding partners, donors and patrons. Our work would absolutely not be possible without their vital support.
Meet our funders and patrons

Our Partners

Baobab is part of a large network of sister organisations and institutional partners that help us better support our young community members and fight for their rights in British society.
Meet our partners