About | Strength & Stem

“Before I came to Strength & Stem I didn’t want to go outside, but when I went there, I felt amazing. Working with flowers makes me feel calm and helps me to overcome my sadness”

- Strength & Stem Graduate

Strength & Stem is a charity and social enterprise that uses floristry to empower female modern slavery survivors.

Vision

We want to see female survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking restored from their trauma, empowered for the future, and able to sustain a good quality of life.

Mission

We aim to achieve our vision by offering tailored skills training (including vocational floristry training), work experience, mentorship, and a supportive community.

Programmes

Our holistic programmes are designed to help prepare survivors for employment and increase their sense of wellbeing and community. If you are personally interested in our programmes, or you are a Support Worker/Charity and would like to refer a woman in your service, please fill out this form.

Social Enterprise

Our social enterprise florist exists to provide further training and employment to programme alumni, in addition to sustainable income for our charitable work. When you book a workshop with us, you’re helping to fight slavery with floristry.

1. Vocational Floristry Training

At the beginning of our programme, survivors undertake six weeks of vocational floristry training. This equips them will core skills and important industry knowledge necessary for a career in floristry.
2. Prevocational Skills Training

To support overall wellbeing as well as employability, survivors complete additional training sessions aimed at developing important hard and soft skills. Topics covered include: navigating life and work in the UK, CV writing, interview preparation and financial budgetting, in addition to self-compassion, stress management, resilience and adaptability.
3. Mentorship

Every programme participant is given the opportunity to work with volunteer mentor for a period of six months. This aspect of the programme is designed to help survivors work towards their employment goals in a safe and supportive environment.
4. Work Experience

Whilst undertaking their mentorship, each survivor has the opportunity to complete six weeks of work experience with a well-known and well-established florist in London.

The need for our work

There are 136,000 victims of modern slavery in the UK today. 81% of those in London are women.

Those who manage to escape exploitation face numerous barriers to recovery and independence.

Before starting our programmes survivors tell us that they feel isolated and afraid, and that they want to work and contribute to society but they lack the skills, confidence, and safe opportunities to do so.

Our unique programmes have been developed in direct response, to support survivors to overcome these barriers and so that they can recover from their trauma and become empowered for the future.

Why flowers?

We believe that floristry can be used as a tool for meaningful employment, as well as therapeutic enjoyment.

Studies examining the therapeutic effects of flowers show that flowers have positive effects on mood and memory.

The floristry industry is also uniquely diverse and flexible in the type of opportunities it presents for work. This suits many survivors for whom managing their time and energy appropriately is extremely important.

For us, flowers are a symbol of restoration, creativity, and hope.

Book a Floristry Workshop

Team

Strength & Stem is led on a day-to-day basis by a fantastic staff team.

Jenna Evans

PROGRAMME DIRECTOR
Jess Visser

CEO
Lisa Hollis

PROGRESS FACILITATOR
Rebecca Saunders

PROGRAMME COORDINATOR
Tessa Trace

GRANTS MANAGER
Tina Okoro

FINANCE MANAGER

Trustees

Strength & Stem’s Board of Trustees provide crucial oversight, effective governance and stewardship of the charity’s resources. They hold a deep enthusiasm for Strength & Stem’s work and are committed to using their varied skills and expertise to advance our mission.

Jill Garner

CHAIR OF TRUSTEES
Jill has extensive experience leading social impact organisations in both an executive and non-executive capacity. She has held senior positions across the social care, housing, international development, education, community development, violence against women and girls, and homelessness sectors.
She was the founding trustee of two charities including Restored which equips churches to tackle gender-based violence and has served on multiple trustee boards. Alongside her role at Strength & Stem, she chairs the board of the homelessness charity Emmaus UK.
Jill loves to work with others to help bring change for the better and warms to the energy and approach of Strength & Stem. She values the way the voices and experiences of those who have faced trafficking and abuse are heard and acted on.
Outside work, she loves to travel. Her favourite flower is an Iris.
Tara Osbourne-Wallace

SAFEGUARDING TRUSTEE
A qualified social worker by background, Tara brings deep expertise in adult safeguarding, health, and social care. For the last twelve years, she has held various leadership roles within Local Authorities and, more recently, the NHS, where she has led change at both operational and strategic levels.
Tara is currently the Head of Adult Safeguarding for The Royal Marsden NHS Trust and a Board Member for Southdown Housing Association.
With a genuine passion for strengthening safeguarding practices across the system, Tara is excited to join Strength & Stem as a Trustee and contribute her expertise to making a positive impact on the lives of women who have survived human trafficking and modern slavery.
Outside work, she loves to travel, read, and tend to her blossoming garden. Her favourite flower is a Peony.
Kate Collis

TREASURER AND TRUSTEE
Kate is a seasoned and commercially minded Board Director with a wealth of experience across various sectors including art and culture, hospitality, retail and media to name a few. She has served as a trustee on multiple charity boards.
Kate is the Chief Financial Officer for the Old Vic and previously held senior Strategic, Finance and Operations positions at the Philharmonia Orchestra, Soho House and Pret a Manger. She is a Chartered Accountant having begun her career with Deloitte.
Kate wants to see how the beauty of flowers and nature can create a path, bringing light, colour, hope and purpose from darkness, and creating sustainable skills and employment opportunities.
Outside work, she loves to go on beach and nature walks with her family and dogs, and all aspects of theatre and the arts. Her favourite flower is a Clematis.
Joanna Moberly

COMPANY SECRETARY AND TRUSTEE
Jo is a Head of Legal and Company Secretary working in financial services. She has a passion for equality, heading up her own company's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee, and is a member of various industry networks including the Women in Finance group. In 2009, Jo worked in South Africa for a charity tackling human trafficking which gave her a true insight into the scale of global slavery today.
As Company Secretary and Trustee for Strength & Stem, Jo wants to use her experience in industry within an organisation that is making a substantial difference in the lives of women who have experienced significant disadvantages.
Outside work, she loves to travel with and cook for friends and family. Her favourite flower is a Magnolia.