Young Green Rebels - Greenbelt 2019

Jonathan is one of the UK's most experienced community organisers, having worked at Citizens UK, the national home of community organising, since 2006.

He was trained by Neil Jameson (Founding Executive Director of Citizens UK) and Bernadette Farrell (former Deputy Director of Citizens UK and Lead Organiser of South London Citizens) and mentored by Jonathan Lange (Industrial Areas Foundation, US National Staff).

As Deputy Director, Jonathan supervises Citizens UK's chapters in Wales, Essex, the Thames Valley, Birmingham and Somerset, as well as its migration-related projects.

Jonathan began his organising career as Co-ordinator for the Independent Asylum Commission, which culminated in a nationwide campaign to end the detention of children for immigration purposes.

Alongside UK-wide work on migration, he has built Citizens alliances in Wandsworth, Essex, Somerset, and also in Wales (where he now lives with his wife and two children) that have pioneered campaigns on the Real Living Wage, Refugees Welcome, and myriad hyperlocal issues such as the first halal Nando's in Cardiff, women-only swimming in Colchester, and the 'Pimp my Zimmer' campaign for dementia-friendly walking frames.

Jonathan holds a BA in History and Politics from the University of Durham and an MA in Community Organising from Queen Mary, University of London, where he co-led a Postgraduate Certificate in Community Organising course. He is an Associate Lecturer at Newman University, Birmingham, which accredits Citizens UK’s training.

Jonathan previously worked in Westminster as a Researcher to an MP and Government Minister, and then as Parliamentary Officer for a leading refugee charity.