Facilitators

Maggie Gordon-Walker

Maggie is the founder and director of Mothers Uncovered. She has two boys. She advocates for ‘matrescence’ (the process of becoming a mother) and spends her time devising more projects but occasionally facilitates. She also performs and writes; you can see more about her other life on her website.

Heidi Brydon

Heidi has three daughters. She attended the first Mothers Uncovered group as she was having a tough time transitioning ‘from me to mum’ in 2008. She enjoys cooking, arts and crafts and is a volunteer for St John’s Ambulance.

Katherine Heritage

Katherine is an Art Psychotherapist and mum of a boy and girl. Katherine enjoys hearing people’s stories and learning about peoples lives. She loves the solidarity she has found being a parent.

Cathryn Horton

Cat is a youth worker and education mentor with over 10 years of experience working with vulnerable young adults and teens. Cat is mother to 2 daughters aged 15 & 8 and has been a past participant and facilitator for the Teen Years sessions. She likes music, dancing and being outdoors in nature.

Caren Fisher

Caren has three daughters. She attended Mothers Uncovered in 2010 when the first was young, then returned five years later. She now lives in Worthing.

Kate Ballard

Kate has a daughter.

She is a consultant and trainer and also an improvisor. She works with Maggie on Uncorked, which grew out of Mothers Uncovered.

Caroline Wriglesworth

Caz has 2 girls. Her background is in youth and community work and she has been working in the field of children’s rights for the last 10 years. She really likes being outside and loves the beach. She loves to swim, preferably in the sea!

Carmen Brady

Carmen has one young daughter. She attended the Three Gen inter-generational support group shortly in 2023 and is now facilitating the Younger Mothers project.

Ruby Jenkins

Ruby has two young daughters. Her professional background is in public service design, delivery and communication. She has deep respect for motherhood and knows the power of mothers coming together to share their experiences.

Felicity Erin-Robinson

Felicity has five sons. She feels passionately about the work women do as mothers being valued. She has seen the strength and creativity that comes from giving mothers a space to talk and be heard.

Jenny Milarski-Stermsek

Jenny has one son and is an artist. She is passionate about mother’s mental wellbeing after struggling with her own, and enjoys the positive effects sharing your lived experiences can have.

Esther Barham

Esther has a daughter and two sons. Her professional background is in midwifery and health visiting and her empathetic, supportive nature encourages mothers to embrace their value and significance. This is something that she is particularly passionate about and also experienced first hand at a Mothers Uncovered group she attended.

Lesley Hughes

Lesley has a son. She is a life coach and teaches chakra dance. She facilitates the Teen Years sessions and has taken part in Mothers Uncovered performances of mothers’ stories.

Sarah Sesto

Saz is a mum to three children. She is a pastry chef by trade and has a keen interest in mental health, particularly for children and parents. She has been a volunteer for the Samaritans and first discovered Mothers Uncovered when she was struggling with her eldest.

Ione Milner-Gulland

Ione has two daughters. She first attended Mothers Uncovered in 2015. She then attended the Three Gen project in 2023 and became a facilitator on the Younger Mothers project in 2025.

Executives & Directors

Maggie Gordon-Walker

Creative Executive

Maggie began Mothers Uncovered in 2008 as a project for Livestock, the charity she co-founded. She is an arts professional, social activist, campaigner for mothers’ rights and advocate for matrescence. Through her advocacy work, she has received several awards; including from MIND, Big Issue Changemaker 2024, WISE Women 100, and Expert Citizens for Leadership. She spent many years as an actor in London and also writes articles and fiction. See http://www.maggiegordon-walker.com for more info.

She likes all things foodie, playing tennis ineffectually, grumbling about The Archers, quipping with her two sons, pestering the disdainful cat, swimming in above tepid water, walking in beautiful countryside, dancing like there’s no tomorrow and travel.

Aradhana Kothari

Managing Executive

Aradhana joined Livestock initially as a trustee before becoming an executive in 2018. Her background is working with youth people and communities, training, supporting staff supervision, external support in management and recruitment and reflective practice with university students. She is a CMI consultant with over 15 years experience, working with people in Equity and Inclusion over the past two years and is Level 7 trained in management and strategic development.

Having spent years in between work away on walkabout, Aradhana is an avid traveller and enjoys meeting new people, experiencing new cultures and getting lost in a really good book. Nothing beats a good adventure!

Liz McDonnell

Compassionate and critical thinker Liz is currently a lecturer, researcher, and chair of the Ethics Committee at the University of Sussex. Liz can be found enjoying the hustle and bustle of noisy cities, soaking up all of the history or in tranquil places enjoying frozen lakes and peachy sunsets.

Liz enjoys having time to think, dancing, live music, yoga, seeing her kids joyful, eating with friends and her crazy dog appearing again after running off for a long time whilst walking among ancient woodland trees where her dog can sniff and explore. Liz’s ideal current dinner guest would be Bell Hooks.

Marcus Markou

Patron

Marcus studied History and Politics at the University of Birmingham before completing an MA in Legal and Political Theory at UCL. He was briefly an inflight magazine editor before going to LAMDA to train as an actor.

In the late 90s, he started Dynamis – a B2B internet publishing group which includes www.BusinessesForSale.com – the world’s largest website for buying and selling small businesses. He has written plays and made films, including Papadopoulos & Sons with Stephen Dillane, which he wrote, directed, produced and self distributed to acclaim in 2013 – selling the film to Netflix, ARTE and the BBC.

Christina Lewis

Christina is a mother to two daughters whom she refers to as ‘her biggest lesson.’ She has over 15 years of experience working within the International People & Culture space within the not for profit sector with a focus on Global Leadership, designing and implementing inclusive global operating models, diversity and inclusion and building high performing teams.

Christina is also a volunteer stylist for Smartworks (helping women getting back into employment) , an Aspire mentor, a podcast writer and producer as well as an advocate for feminist and inclusive leadership. You can also find her glued to reality TV at any given moment or scrolling cats on Instagram.

Lorraine London

Trustee

Lorraine worked in London as an accountant for 30 years. Moving to Brighton, she joined Livestock in 2023 as Treasurer and then became a trustee. Originally from Yorkshire (God’s own country!) Lorraine prefers her Yorkshire puds in a pub, rather than homemade.

A mother of two grown up men, she is happiest playing cards with her boys as Northern Soul plays in the background. Keen on experiencing all the world has to offer, Lorraine has been trying to see as much of it as she can, from Peru to China, although she isn’t so keen on places that don’t have wine.

Claire Foss

Chair

Claire joined Livestock as a trustee in 2021. With a degree in illustration and an MSc in social work she is a wild mix of creative and health and safety obsessed! Claire went on to work as a social worker, working with young people with learning disabilities and their families and now works an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate supporting people to ensure their voices are heard and rights respected.

A mother to two gorgeous kiddos, Claire loves nothing more than hanging out with them, ideally outside in the sunshine, but also just on the sofa watching Frozen for the billionth time!

Fiona Haynes

Fiona had her first daughter in 2023, which initiated a series of unexpected experiences – love so deep it hurts, emergence of unforeseen vulnerabilities, a brief sojourn into existential thought, and most unexpectedly…. An untold joy in bird watching.

With a background as a Speech and Language Therapist, speciating in mental health, Fiona has spent her professional career consistently focused on addressing health inequalities for marginalised groups.

Her personal experience of motherhood has deepened her understanding of both its immense joys and inherent challenges, solidifying her belief in the power of community support, which makes her a passionate advocate for the work of Mothers Uncovered.

Liv Carr

A People and Operations Director for a specialist charity recruitment company, Liv has over 15 years’ experience working in service development, HR and operations roles within the private, charity and not-for-profit sector, including 9 years working at Mind. Liv is passionate about supporting charities, with a particular interest in mental health, women’s empowerment and young people’s charities.

Liv spent several years both living and travelling overseas before moving back to the UK and is always happy to chat about her favourite places she has been lucky enough to visit and explore. Outside of work, she is a keen runner and can be found running in the South Downs or along the Brighton and Hove seafront, watching the latest Nordic Noirs, working her way through a jigsaw or building Lego creations with her young son.

Jess Stephens

Jess Stephens joined the board of trustees at Mothers Uncovered in 2025, bringing her marketing experience to the team.  Based in Brighton, UK, Jess has founded and scaled multiple startups. Her expertise lies in driving international growth for purpose-led brands.

Recognised for her entrepreneurial achievements, Jess was named one of Management Today’s ’35 Women Under 35′ in 2017. Passionate about mentorship, Jess supports early-stage founders and frequently shares her insights on marketing, product strategy, and leadership at industry events. She lives in Brighton with her partner, her toddler, and two cats.