Partners
Meet Our Team & Partners
Here are the people and organisations that are working together to deliver the RAIN project.
Get to know Alan Ryan
Programme Manager with overall responsibility for West Northants Council reporting to the Environment Agency
Extensive experience in both private and public sector delivering projects and programmes in renewables and sustainability sector. Prior to the RAIN project managed the Ox-CAM Property Flood Resilience project.
Finding solutions to people’s problems that has a meaningful and positive impact on their lives.
Chef on a cruise ship
We have two Jack Russell’s, Benji and Spud, with very big characters each to keep us busy!
I’ve recently started learning to play the guitar so hopefully by the time the RAIN project ends it can be called a talent.
Get to know Sarah Parr
Project Manager, keeping the project moving and maintaining links between all the partners, problem solving and engaging with the public, also a bit of reporting which I don’t like to think about too much!
I am a qualified landscape architect and have many years in land management and managing public open space. My last role was leading a 75-person team of gardeners and arborists with a technical office team and together we maintained and managed public open space across Kettering and Corby.
I love working with this team of multi-talented people, all with different backgrounds working on the same goals. The people in this industry are generally compassionate and want things to be better for the public and the landscape, and a symptom of those things is a good working environment.
yoga instructor, something with birds or dog fussing (if you can make a job out of that) or rock star!
I live with a Penny who is a rescue labradoodle; she is great fun and joins me on many of my offsite meetings!
I can tap dance, I have a black belt in kickboxing and a blue belt in Brazilian jujitsu, I can walk freakishly fast!
Get to know Rickileigh Edwards
I am the project officer, I’m helping keep things moving and lending a hand across the project wherever need be!
I’ve joined the RAIN project after working with partners Nene Rivers Trust, on various project spanning the Nene Valley looking at community connection to the river and restoring and improving the landscape.
The team of course! Working with great people to deliver such an important project that has a real tangible impact on the residents we are working with.
I’d love to be an inventor or a renowned artist!
I’m a bit of a crochet nerd, and getting better at free-hand design (making something without a pattern!)
Get to know Mary Long-Dhonau OBE
My role within the project is visiting communities to talk to residents and business owners who are at risk about the benefits of Property Flood Resilience, as well as to help shape community or personal flood plans.
Having been flooded myself on many occasions, I have spent over 20 years researching Property Flood Resilience and working directly with communities to support them with their flood planning, resilience and recovery. I am known for being evangelical about PFR and in encouraging people to ‘Build Back Better’. I also try my best to influence those who manage climate-related risk about the impact of being flooded so they understand its affect on people. I have also authored several guides and eBooks on the topic and am very proud to have been awarded an OBE for Services to the Environment in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2009.
It really is getting to meet so many people; I learn so much from the industry, which helps me to help others. I love helping people by offering advice – from one flood victim to another – and to help them find ways of becoming more resilient.
I’m living the dream!
I have a husband; that’s enough! I’m also on the road too much to properly care for a pet.
I studied at the Royal College of Music and used to sing professionally. I’m so out of practice now, I think people would pay me good money to stop singing!
Get to know Shelley Evans
I manage the operational Property Flood Resilience work package for the RAIN project, and provide additional consultant project management support to the programme.
I am the national lead for Property Flood Resilience for JBA Consulting. I am also Secretary of the Flood Resilience Professional Working Group for the Emergency Planning Society and a founding member of IPFRA. Since 2019 I have held a part-time industry course lecturer post for the Flood and Coastal Risk Management MSc at Lancaster University.
I love everything about my job! I love problem solving and overcoming technical challenges. I love helping people, and being part of a wider industry of talented individuals that are all striving to build resilience to the impacts of climate change
Wedding Planner… I love planning/ communicating/ designing/ socialising… and of course I love weddings!
When I was 10 years old, I won a roller skating disco dancing competition to Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean!
Get to know Peppa Sheridan MCIPR
I manage the communications for the RAIN Project – this includes managing the social media channels, to promoting news, updates and events via the press.
As a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, I have been working in PR for almost 30 years. I’ve helped dozens of organisations, entrepreneurs and businesses tell their stories to the audiences that matter to them. I love my work and the variety it brings!
I really enjoy working directly with the Harpers Brook & Wootton Brook communities, to hear directly how our PFR measures, community-based plans, and NFM will personally make a difference in their lives.
I’ve always thought that the wedding industry would be an interesting one – I’d love to own a bridal shop – as you’re working with customers who are excited about their forthcoming big day! Plus, at Christmas, I’d love to have a rustic shop filled to the brim with beautiful decorations! I’m a huge Christmas fan.
We have a Springer Spaniel called Brody (who is ball obsessed) and a Sprocker Spaniel called Henry (who is food obsessed) – they keep me on my toes!
My daughter was born on Christmas Day, and four members of my family were born on a Friday 13th, so we don’t consider it an unlucky date!
Who we are working in collaboration with
3Keel is an Oxford-based sustainability innovation and risk management consultancy. A certified B-Corp, 3Keel is committed to making landscapes, food systems and supply chains fit for the future. At the heart of 3Keel’s work is a firm belief that businesses, local government, civil society, and land managers working in unison are vital to drive sustainable change and build local resilience.
Through their Landscape Enterprise Networks (LENs) marketplaces, 3Keel is integrating RAIN within a wider network of businesses across the East of England to co-procure nature-based solutions in the Northamptonshire landscape. Through this, 3Keel is building a community of practice whose members will invest in flood resilience measures alongside RAIN.
Mary has extensive experience in supporting and advising the victims of flooding during their recovery. Having been flooded herself on many occasions, she champions the use effective use of Property Flood Resilience (PFR) measures and is vocally passionate about raising awareness of flood risk, resilience and recoverabilityto homeowners, communities, local authorities, government, and relevant industries, including insurance and construction.
“I am delighted to be working with the RAIN project, as I am keen to raise awareness of Property Flood Resilience and the part it can play in reducing the appalling impact a flood can have.”
Nene Rivers Trust is known for quality and innovation as it promotes green infrastructure and raises the profile of Northamptonshire, highlighting the quality of its environmental design and delivering sustainable development.
Nene Rivers Trust focus in the promotion of the conservation, protection, and improvement of the physical and natural environment. This includes: supporting the protection and recovery of the environment from climate change, and supporting the natural environment and communities to adapt to the changing climate. The team is instrumental in supporting RAIN with the implementation of appropriate Natural Flood Management initiatives.
“We are looking forward to working on the RAIN Project because we believe that the innovative approach has the most potential to deliver superior collective outcomes, both for biodiversity and flood prevention.
We believe the RAIN project will be successful because it takes a multi angle, innovative approach to flood protection. Involving communities and landowners to drive change from the ground up.”
Based in Oxfordshire, HR Wallingford has 70 years of experience delivering solutions wherever water interacts with people, infrastructure, and the natural environment. The team has extensive expertise in flood resilience and management, helping people, communities and infrastructure on a global scale. Importantly, HR Wallingford provides specialist research and consultancy services to protect vulnerable communities and improve lives – before, during and after flood events. Using the team’s extensive modelling expertise, HR Wallingford is providing the science behind the project, determining where risks are today and how they may change in the future.
“RAIN will make a real difference to people’s lives. It involves complex flooding problems and innovation. A combination that we thrive on”.
The Environment Agency is working closely with RAIN to share local knowledge on flood risk management. It gives us an opportunity to steer help and funding to areas within the catchments that we know are at risk. We have the opportunity to collaborate with a variety of partners and experts to share knowledge and make a difference.
Anglian Water is looking forward to seeing how the RAIN project, and wider programme influences, positively impact how it manages flood risk and how it will collaborate with partners to provide flood resilience measures. The team is also able to share its extensive local flood risk knowledge of the two catchment areas as well as information and insights relating to previous and ongoing Anglian Water schemes.
Anglian Water has supported several aspects of the RAIN Project’s work, including funding 32 SuDS planters for 7 primary schools across the Harpers Brook and Wootton Brook catchments.
Woodland Dwelling is supporting the RAIN Project by helping to deliver a range of tree planting and urban forestry initiatives across the Wootton Brook and Harpers Brook catchments. From nurturing thousands of native saplings at its Northamptonshire nursery to designing and delivering community planting events, the team is helping create greener, more climate-resilient neighbourhoods. Working alongside RAIN, Woodland Dwelling has already supported projects including community hedgerow planting, the Front Garden Forests initiative and school and community tree planting events, bringing together residents, volunteers and local organisations.
By increasing tree cover, improving biodiversity and helping slow surface water runoff, Woodland Dwelling’s expertise is making an important contribution to natural flood management while inspiring more people to play an active role in caring for their local environment.
Ebsford Environmental is supporting the RAIN Project by delivering specialist engineering expertise for some of the programme’s largest natural flood management schemes. Working closely with RAIN and project partners, the team helps transform designs into practical, on-the-ground solutions that help towards reducing flood risk while enhancing the natural environment.
Ebsford has already played a key role in creating the Rush Meadow Ponds wetland near Brigstock and is supporting the forthcoming river restoration works within the Harpers Brook catchment. With extensive experience in river restoration, aquatic engineering and natural flood management, Ebsford combines technical expertise with a strong understanding of working in sensitive environments, helping to create resilient landscapes that benefit communities for generations to come.
West Northamptonshire Council is working in partnership with North Northamptonshire Council to support the delivery of the Flood and Coast Resilience Innovation Programme’s (FCRIP) RAIN Project.
RAIN, which is one of 25 nationwide FCRIP projects, allows for funding to be steered towards ‘at risk’ communities and take a holistic approach that enables the council to listen to and support residents, while implementing multiple actions to improve resilience. With this opportunity it aims to build confidence and show those who are at risk or have experienced flooding that it is possible to be resilient, be prepared and recover.
Resources for Change (R4C) is producing an independent evaluation of the RAIN project, with an emphasis on understanding processes, challenges, outcomes, successes and impacts. The objective of the evaluation is to support learning and development, both within the RAIN project and more broadly. The evaluation consists of three key phases: 1. A baseline population household survey (May/June 2023); 2. An interim household survey and interim evaluation (late 2024); 3. A final household survey and final evaluation (2027). As well as evaluation and research, R4C specialises in supporting change through engagement with project teams and communities.