Who we are

The Mindfulness Initiative was founded by Madeleine Bunting and Chris Cullen in November 2013 to support British politicians in forming the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Mindfulness. Our partners include the four mindfulness training and research centres in Bangor, Exeter, Oxford and Sussex universities, as well as the Mental Health Foundation, Mindfulness Association and Breathworks, and we benefit from an advisory group comprising some of the most experienced mindfulness scientists and practitioners in the UK and around the world. Our patrons are Jon Kabat-Zinn and Ruby Wax, and our director is Jamie Bristow, who took over from the previous directors in May 2015. The Mindfulness Initiative has a talented team of consultants 'policy leads' and associates who are engaged to work on specific strategy areas or projects on a part-time or ad-hoc basis. These consultants contribute immensely to our work, coming from the fields of mindfulness research and wider academia, mindfulness teaching, policy development and advocacy. We are grateful for the generous support of The Lostand Foundation, Sankalpa and The Mindful Trust, among others.

 

Patrons & Trustees 

(Patrons: Prof Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ruby Wax. Trustees: Katie White OBE, Ed Halliwell, Elizabeth Mpyisi, Trish Bartley)

 

Core Team & Policy Area Leads

(Core Team: Jamie Bristow, Ruth Ormston, Chris Cullen ,Chris Tamdjidi. Policy Leads: Jenny Edwards CBE, Adrian Bethune, Prof Katherine Weare, Byron Lee, Andrew McNeill, Vishvapani Blomfield)

 

Project Contributors & Advisors

(Contributors: Dan Nixon, Menka Sanghvi, Rosie Bell. Advisors: Prof Ruth Baer, Amanda Bailey, Madeline Bunting, Vidyamala Burch, Prof Guy Claxton, Dr Joanna Cook, Dr Rebecca Crane, Fergus Crow, Marion Furr, Dr Jonty Heaversedge, Prof Willem Kuyken, Dr Bridgette O'Neill, Rachel Lilley, Dr Tim Lomas, Heather Regan, Dr Jonathan Rowson, Dr Florian Ruths, Dr Clara Strauss, Dr Jutta Tobias, Ivor Twydell, Tessa Watt, Prof Mark Williams)

 

 

With thanks to all past associates, including Dr Kate Cavanagh, Isabelle Umugwaneza, Emma Wardropper, Sarah Post, Amanda Conquy, Mark Ovland, Nina Ross, Dean Capon.