Meet the Collective
At Friends of the Future Collective CIC, our team of Directors is made up of therapists, artists and educators with a profound belief in the power of creativity to positively impact the mental health of individuals and communities. Together, we are committed to enhancing connection between practitioners and building ethical practices through our training, resources, and events.
Georgia Cooper
Director, Artist & Therapist
Originally a textile artist, Georgia has been a BACP registered therapist since 2000.
For the best part of 30 years, she has used art and creative activities to support wellbeing in multiple different contexts and communities, including working with excluded and marginalised young women, teenage cancer patients, young dancers in training, primary school children, teenage parents and those who have experienced CSE.
Georgia is also financially adept, currently running her own small private clinic and previously having managed multiple funding pots and large budgets, as Managing Director of the Leeds based charity Getaway Girls.
More recently she trained as a DDP Attachment Focused Family Psychotherapist, and works with severely traumatised children and the people who care for them. She also continues her regular work at Northern School of Contemporary Dance where she supports dancers' emotional well being.
Her activism often centres around class, epistemic and mental health based injustice.
Vic Leeson
Director, Poet, Psychotherapist & Activist
Vic is a poet, psychotherapist and activist from Rotherham. She is also a ‘Creative Writing in Therapeutic Practice’ Practitioner, facilitating community workshops that embrace the process of writing as much as the product.
She also collaborates with various theatre and artistic projects across the North to offer wellbeing support for artists, crew and audience participants.
Dr John Cussans
Director, Artist & Lecturer
John is an artist, writer and educator working across the fields of contemporary art, art theory and cultural history. He has a multi-disciplinary arts practice, often working collaboratively on creative projects.
He has exhibited work at many international galleries and events and has taught at many important art schools including Central Saint Martins, Chelsea College of Art and Design, Emily Carr University of Art and Design (Vancouver), Goldsmiths College, Ruskin School of Art and Royal Academy Schools.
John is currently a Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at the University of Worcester where he leads the BA Fine Art/BA Fine Art with Psychology programs and the Arts and Health Research Group, an interdisciplinary collaboration between arts, allied health, education and medicine. His forthcoming, co-authored book Drawing Analogies: Diagrams in Art, Theory and Practice will be published by Bloomsbury in January 2025.
Dr Helen Madden
Director, Musician, Lecturer & Music Examiner
Helen is a musician and composer who now works predominantly in the community, creating interdisciplinary person-centred works.
She is a passionate advocate for making the arts accessible to all and is a Senior Lecturer in Music Technology at Teesside University. She is a music examiner for the London College of Music (University of West London) and has composed pieces for the syllabuses of all major examination boards.
Helen’s many skills currently include looking after a spoilt rescue Greyhound.
Cat Cookman
Administrator
Cat is a Marketer, PA and Executive Function Coach. She lends her considerable talents to Friends of the Future as our Administrator.
Her role is managing communications, marketing and keeping everything as organised as possible.
Meet the Advisory Group
The Friends of the Future Advisory Group is a network of brilliant people who are involved in steering, supporting and delivering our work. Our network includes individuals that offer specialised knowledge, expertise and lived experience.
Dr Helen Kindred
Helen is a dance-artist and scholar whose work over the past 30 years has moved in layers of performance, community engagement, choreographic practice as research, and pedagogies of dance, and somatic practices.
She is also fluent in BSL and will advise on communication issues facing the deaf community in all our ares of work.
Her interest in Friends of the Future was sparked by meeting us at the Igniting creativity : Art, Education, Transformation and Change Conference in 2025.
Helen's community work is closely aligned in process to projects that Friends of the Future Directors have facilitated and her experience and input will be greatly appreciated.
Helen is co-Artistic Director of DancingStrong Movement Lab and Director of Studies at Northern School of Contemporary Dance.
Lisa Sofia-Zeimann
Lisa is dancer with lived experience of severe mental health issues and neurodiverse thinking. She has worked as choreographic and personal support for dancers with physical and emotional difficulties and those with learning disabilities. Her creative practice encompasses movement, drawing, making and supporting other humans and animals.
Lisa is currently a member of the Crisis Homeless Charity’s "Experts by Experience" board and will support us to ensure any projects take into account the welfare of both performers, facilitators and participants.
Professor Azadeh Fatehrad
Azadeh is an artist, educator and researcher whose work bridges participatory art, mental health, and social integration. Her practice is grounded in inclusive collaboration, care, and community co-production where she explores how creativity can foster belonging, resilience, and collective agency.
Azedah was a participant on our first residential at Braziers Park in 2024 and has remained in touch and involved, discussing ideas, approaches and possibilities. Her expertise around navigating identity and providing safe creative spaces for all cultures is vital to our ongoing desire to provide inclusive experiences.
Azadeh has led over 20 interdisciplinary research projects across the UK and internationally, working alongside displaced and marginalised communities to co-produce visual storytelling, place-based healing practices, and trauma-informed arts interventions.
Chris Madden
Chris is a Psychotherapist who works predominantly with clients from music and the creative industries. He also has a background in Music and Art, which are practices he knows can have therapeutic benefits with and beyond talking therapies
Chris became interested in Friends of the Future when he was invited to a garden party during Covid lockdown. He has supported our ideas and advocated for the Collective ever since. His expertise in joining the dots and putting the right people together in the same space is very much appreciated!