Beth Illman

Beth is an OPAL Mentor with Outdoor People working in East London. She was introduced to playwork when volunteering for a small charity aiming to make play inclusive for children with adverse childhood experiences. Following this, she trained as a playworker and has run a variety of holiday and afterschool playschemes in East London.

Beth has also worked in the Violence Against Women and Girls sector as both a children's support worker in women's refugees and as a 1:1 young persons advocate.  Before this, she was a trainer and facilitator for an applied drama programme.

Outside work, she volunteered for five years with the charity Fences and Frontiers and became a trustee in 2020. This charity works to make London a more welcoming and accessible place for refugee families through group walks and trips to parks, museums and city farms. Beth has a BA(Hons) in Drama, a post-graduate certificate in Psychodynamic and Humanistic Counselling and Psychotherapy and is currently studying for an MSc in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy