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We are Ekho Collective CIC
Nurturing communities through creativity,
sustainability, and nature connection
Founded by Erika Keshelya, Clare Evans and Deb McDonald in 2022.
We are based in the beautiful setting of Hawbush Gardens, Brierley Hill.
Ekho Collective CIC is a social enterprise committed to fostering positive change through inclusive, community-driven initiatives with a strong emphasis on the profound benefits of nature connection for health and wellbeing.
Our projects are designed to integrate the healing power of nature into our local community,
recognising that a harmonious relationship with the environment is essential for overall wellness, but not equally realised by all due to complex inequalities. Our work seeks to remove barriers, increase inclusion and realise the benefits of engaging with nature for all people.
Our first two years have seen us busy growing projects around, green social prescribing, children and young people’s wellbeing and innovative heritage and arts projects, all the while, carefully enhancing and improving the land we work with and empowering our local community to thrive.
By fostering nature-centric initiatives, we aim to improve mental and physical health, reduce stress, and enhance community cohesion, by cultivating a deeper connection to nature, as we believe that a healthier planet leads to healthier individuals and communities.
Deb McDonald
Deb is our network weaver, her capacity for peopling is off the scale!
She develops partnerships and collaborations with local groups and organisations. She is passionate about offering inclusive opportunities for our community to engage in creativity and culture, along with reclaiming heritage craft skills, recently bringing this to life in our Edges projects.
Clare Evans
Clare has a love of all things wild, you’ll find her nibbling in the hedgerows with sticks in her hair!
Currently training as a medical herbalist, Clare has spent many years exploring foraging and herb growing and learning many ways to work with our plant kin to enhance wellbeing and health in the most holistic way.
She runs our Reclaim our Roots sessions, exploring community herbalism and has been leading the establishment of a network of green providers across Dudley.
She is often accompanied by the chunk the dog
Erika Keshelya
Erika describes herself a ‘Do-er’ in her happy place when her hands are in the soil.
She is interested in regenerative gardening, accessible, green-space design and therapeutic horticulture.
She leads our permaculture project on site at Hawbush bringing the principles to life in an accessible way.
Caz Emeny
Caz is incredibly resourceful, with a knack for seeing potential and creating something out of nothing.
She is our newest director, joining us in April 2024 bringing her ‘get stuff done’ approach and enabling ekho to expand our offers even wider. She has a keen interest in anything craft or food related and you’ll generally find her cooking plant based meals on the campfire feeding and nurturing our community.
