Meet the Team

Hannah Woods (Director/ Founder)

I have worked with young people in East Oxford since 2005. I studied ‘Youth and Community Work with Applied Theology’ at The Institute for Children, Youth and Mission, with a placement at Oxford Youth Works. I was with Oxford Youth Works for 12 years, working up to a role as ‘Director of Youth Work’ in the latter years, co-ordinating a team of youth workers and placement students to support young people through schools and community-based youth work interventions. 

In 2017 I moved to Viva Network’s Doorsteps Initiative, continuing the youth and schools work provision and moving into collaboratively networking practitioners working with children, young people and families. Since Spring 2025 I have been involved in the process of setting this work up as a charity in its own right: Journey Together! 

I am passionate about early intervention – supporting young people before tricky things have time to take root and grow and get complicated and messy. I love small group work: seeing communities form and young people relax and be themselves without fear of judgement, sharing their ideas, getting excited, discovering others who share their passions. I love connecting practitioners, seeing ideas spark around a table and people walk away renewed and with fresh vision and hope. I love connecting people in all guises – young people and practitioners – and I love when the sum is greater than the parts, and shared information or resources make people’s lives infinitely more joyful, and interventions infinitely more life-giving. 

I’m married to Jon, and we have two teenage children. Having my own children in secondary school has been a useful learning curve! I’m learning Spanish with a lot of enthusiasm and not a lot of grammatical accuracy, and I love knitting, reading and getting out in nature. (Our hammock is my happy place.)

Susann Haehnel (Chair of Trustees)

I am a creative strategist and leader. I currently work for a national charity, training youth workers. I have previously worked in local authority establishing a new Targeted Youth Support Service, as well as in a range of national and international charities. I am a founding trustee of another local organisation. I hold a degree in Youth & Community Work with JNC, as well as a Masters in Professional Practice and Leadership. I hold a leadership coaching license with the International Coaching Federation (ICF)

I am passionate about seeing the trajectory of every young person changed for good, forever. Supporting young people throughout adolescence to access the right support at the right point in time is a significant part of the work of Journey Together. Having partners work together more effectively is another part of the work of Journey Together which I’m excited about.   

I live in Oxford and enjoy creating art, reading and exploring new places. 

Charlotte Pearson-Miles (Safeguarding Officer)

I worked in schools for 20+ years in various teaching and pastoral roles then used that experience to support Viva Doorsteps’ youth work projects from 2019-2025. Like Hannah, I really enjoy the collaborative networking of practitioners working with children, young people and families, my particular passion being working with Early Years practitioners and families. I have continued working in this sector, now working for another East Oxford charity: Peeple.

I enjoyed learning from Hannah how different youth work is from teaching. It was inspiring seeing young people grow in confidence, especially those who have had to cope with challenges. I am passionate about trying to close the ‘disadvantage gap’ in East Oxford so that all children and young people have the opportunity to thrive. I love supporting parents to support their babies’ early development and seeing the difference this makes – a bit like seeing the difference youth work makes in the teenage years!

I am married with 3 children, all in their 20s. I studied languages then TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and am lucky enough to have lived in Canada, Kenya, France, Germany and Austria. Perhaps this is why I love the diversity of East Oxford which is such a melting pot of cultures.

Eleanor Cameron (Treasurer)

I am a Chartered Accountant and have worked in a number of organisations across the private, public and charity sectors, in both the UK and Australia. I currently lead the finance function of a scientific research department of a large university. I am delighted to use my financial management experience to ensure the charity’s resources are used responsibly and effectively. 

I believe every young person deserves encouragement and the opportunity to thrive, not just to cope.  I strongly value the power of connection — between young people, youth practitioners and the wider community, and so I am excited to support the work of Journey Together.

I am married to an outdoorsy Australian and we have two tween-age children, with whom we like having adventures. I enjoy outdoor swimming, running (not very fast but let’s not call it jogging) and cooking for my family. 

Jake Read

Currently a third-year philosophy student at the University of Birmingham, I have been involved with Hannah’s youth work projects since 2017, initially as a founding member of the Book Club. In 2021 I became a young leader, helping organise, plan and evaluate the groups I was part of. I also participated in the Legacy Project, a group of young leaders evaluating the impact of the youth work offered by Journey Together’s predecessor Doorsteps. The Legacy Project has been used to inform the project development and impact measurement tools used by both Doorsteps and Journey Together. Since starting university, I have continued to make an impact through supporting Doorsteps Youth projects with presentations and helping explain the aims of Journey Together to young people, supporting their transition from Doorsteps to Journey Together. 

I am excited about Journey Together’s potential to create great change in the lives of young people through creating a community where they can express themselves as individuals and find others who have shared interests. The charity’s ability to support the mental health of young people by providing a space where they are free to talk about any concerns and be themselves without judgement is something that I am particularly passionate about. I also think that the impact of Journey Together in schools will be incredibly important, especially for providing relief and support for those with difficult home lives, and in giving young people more motivation to attend school through providing enjoyable activities.

Music has always been one of my biggest interests and I play drums in a band with friends, being a big fan of playing live and writing my own material. I am also really into reading, enjoying genres such as philosophical fiction, horror and mystery. I also like to be physically active – one hobby I have got into in the last year is bouldering!

Josie Edwards

I am a second-year student at Performers College Brighton. During secondary school I was involved in the Find Your Fire (FYF) youth group, through Viva’s Doorsteps Initiative, the project Journey Together developed from. I was initially a member of a FYF cohort, then a young leader, and finally a youth support worker. I was also part of the Legacy Project, helping Doorsteps to understand and develop their youth work offerings, and I will continue to help in this project during the transition to Journey Together. When I was initially asked to join Journey Together, I was excited to continue the work that I’ve seen and been a part of for years, in a new way and with a different role.

I enjoy seeing young people grow into who they were meant to be. It’s amazing to see them gain confidence, become happier people and make lasting friendships. I love being able to give young people a safe space to explore who they are and be listened to, a space where they can be honest and open, without judgement.

I lived in Oxford before becoming a musical theatre student in Brighton. I love acting, singing and all things creative. I enjoy learning more of how to do something. At the moment, my hobbies are baking, knitting and song writing.