About Us

Creatively connecting the mind and the body

Green Croft Arts are a not for profit organisation offering arts, culture and wellbeing activities to visitors and rural communities on the Northumberland / Cumbria border. We do this by creating installations, and immersive experiences that engage people more deeply in a place or a space and offer activities that connect the mind with the body. We work from an 18th century farmstead which sits directly on the World Heritage Site of Hadrian's Wall.

Green Croft Arts

Our Mission

Green Croft Arts exists to improve the health and wellbeing of visitors and rural communities on the Northumberland / Cumbria border through arts, cultural and wellbeing activities that connect them more deeply with the landscape and heritage of the area.

Our Objectives

1 /

To improve the health and well being of rural communities and visitors through provision of creative, cultural and movement based activities.

2 /

To ensure rural communities have the same access to high quality activities and services.

3 /

To increase people's understanding, protection and preservation of the cultural landscape around us.

4 /

To develop a financially sustainable year round business model that achieves our social aims.

Our Values

Passion: The passion for our work drives us to be creative, inquisitive and find excellence. We use our passion to energise, engage and inspire others.

Welcoming & Inclusive: We are friendly, approachable and listen. We ensure everyone is welcome and our activities are inclusive and available to everyone.

Green is good: We manage our business to protect the environment around us. We use the environment as a catalyst for creativity and within our activities.

Be Open: We consider alternatives, look at things differently and are open to change. We value the difference between individuals. Different backgrounds, experiences, world views and expertise make us better problem solvers and makes for a more creative outcome.

Meet The Team

Amanda Drago

Director

Amanda jointly leads the artistic direction of Green Croft Arts alongside Kit Haigh. She is also responsible for the strategic vision, partnership building and managing the finances of the organisation.

Graduating from Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 1996, Amanda has had a career performing, teaching, choreographing and producing dance in the North East for Northern Stage, Dance City and Northern School Of Contemporary Dance and at a policy level as Relationships Manager Dance at Arts Council England.

She has taught dance to all ages and from beginners to advanced, including students starting their own vocational dance training at Dance City's Centre for Advanced Training programme, SEN children in hospital contexts and multi age community groups for carnival.

Kit Haigh

Director

Alongside Amanda, Kit's leads the artistic direction of Green Croft Arts. He is responsible for looking after technical and operational day to day aspects of Green Croft On The Wall. He is a multi skilled musician, sound artist and photographer. Interactive site-specific installations for clients including specialist hospitals and schools such as Columbia Grange, Washington and RHSC, Edinburgh, public spaces, museums and festivals. Kit is resourceful and multi-skilled, but thrives on teamwork as a highly empathic and enabling collaborator. He has performed extensively as a musician with folk artists Kathryn Tickell and Maddie Prior as well as rock and jazz groups. He has scored a variety of screen and stage based work including the EMMY and BAFTA winning C4 documentary The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off.

We are project funded with two full time directors who lead the day to day running of the organisation. We employ freelance artists, creatives, practitioners, designers and other staff on a project to project basis. If you would like to work for us then please sign up to our newsletter where we advertise any job opportunities. If you would like to work in partnership with us then please email us.

Meet Our Advisary Board

Susie Tate

Dance Artist - Arts & Health

Following her training as a dancer at the Royal Academy, Susie embarked on a career in dance education leading and managing projects in schools, the community and healthcare settings. Originally based in London, Susie worked for English National Ballet, and then freelance for a number of leading companies including Birmingham Royal Ballet, London Contemporary, The Royal Ballet School and the pioneering company for disabled and non-disabled dancers, Candoco. On moving to Northumberland in 2012, she began to build her freelance career in this sector and now develops and delivers dance projects in children in hospices and with people living with health conditions including stroke and Parkinson’s. Much of this work is in partnership with the University of Cumbria arts and health departments; Susie was awarded an Honorary Lectureship at the university in 2018. Susie has an affiliation with North Cumbria Integrated Care Foundation Trust and has produced and managed a range of arts projects in their hospitals at Cumberland infirmary, West Cumberland and Penrith.

Josh King

Chef - Social Media Influencer

Josh is a head chef with over 14 years experience of working in the hospitality industry from Michelin start kitchens private homes, prestigious super yachts, cooking in unique destinations around the world. He runs a food blog on his Instagram with a following of 18,000 follows. @ChefJoshKing

Gillian Cowell

Business & Community Engagement Officer - iNorthumberland

A native of the north east with over 20 years in operational and financial management within small businesses followed by more than a decade in community development roles including managing a Development Trust in Haltwhistle and delivering the LEADER funding programme in the Northumberland Uplands.

Gill currently uses her experience and expertise to help rural businesses and communities access better digital connectivity as part of the iNorthumberland team. Away from work Gill enjoys living in the Northumberland National Park close to Hadrian's Wall, keeping goats, looking after the family and playing the saxophone... but not all at the same time.