About us

I’m Kerrie, let me tell you a little bit about Sowing Seeds.

We’re lucky. When we go to work we get to see our family too!

When people see the work we have done they often think there is a big team of us. Actually, the Sowing Seeds “dream team” is made up of Kerrie, Davie (Big D) and Jan. Together we work small miracles! We also all happen to be related. I’m married to Davie and Jan is Davie’s sister.

So, Sowing Seeds is definitely a family affair. Not only is the team made up of family members, but we have good old-fashioned family values and principles too.

Those old-fashioned family values we were brought up with turned out to be good for business and for our customers! We try and inspire the same values in our own children:

We take pride in our work
We work hard and be the best we can be
We have high standards

We are respectful and courteous
We are kind and helpful

We don’t have to work hard at customer service, we are all “people people” and genuinely care about our customers and what they think about our work. We take pride in everything we do at home and work and the rest comes naturally from there.

Our children are at the centre of everything we do. We want the children in our family and those that we work with to have wonderful life experiences.

That’s also the main reason we started Sowing Seeds, to have better quality time with our children. We also get to share our love of the outdoors and nature, something which we are passionate about. We believe in the benefits of being outdoors and the positive effect it has on children.

That’s it in a nutshell but of you want to read about how we started Sowing Seeds or a bit more information about each of us, read on!

Our History:

I was unexpectedly made redundant in 2013 and not being able to find a job that could fit around school hours and Davie’s work hours without “dumbing” myself down, a chance conversation with a Team Leader at our daughter’s nursery sparked the idea for Sowing Seeds and we’ve never looked back.

We’ve evolved and changed a lot since we started in 2013 and learnt a lot along the way. It was very hard work at the beginning. I was full-time at Sowing Seeds, Davie was working for Rolls Royce AND working for Sowing Seeds on his day off until we were sure the business was secure enough to support us both.

Jan came on board in February 2015 to manage the office for us and get us organised, and then in July 2015 Davie left Rolls Royce after 20+ years to become a full-time partner in the business.

2015 was a big year for us as we also cemented our 14 years together by getting married with our son as best man and daughter as chief flower girl. We are now both around for our two children more than ever, can do the school run, sports days and enjoy school holidays together – time that’s irreplaceable.

The business is happily going from strength to strength. Nearly all our work comes by word of mouth, so we don’t ever advertise or have to “sell” our products and services, they do that by themselves!

Some days in the driving rain, hailstones and snow, or when we’ve had to carry all our materials 500m to a difficult access site, we maybe for a moment wish for a cosy office job but we wouldn’t change Sowing Seeds for anything!

The Sowing Seeds Dream Team:

So, who makes up the Sowing Seeds dream team?! Here’s the informal who’s who:

Kerrie Shannon:

That’s me doing all the “talking” on the website! Most likely the first person you’ll speak to from the Sowing Seeds team. I do the initial visits, interpret your ambitions and dreams for your outdoor spaces, add some bells and whistles then work out how we can achieve it together. I also do the workshops with the children, parent workshops and CPD training.

Married to Davie, have two children together.

Strong points: Passionate and enthusiastic; great at working with children; great at inspiring people to love Outdoor Learning

Weak points: Rubbish at drawing - Davie frequently can’t tell which way up the sketch of my site plan is; hammering.

Davie Shannon:

Known as Big D to all the children (and most of the staff).

The one who makes your dreams and my interpretation of it into a reality. Fabulous workmanship and attention to detail, incredibly high standards and won’t sign a job off until he’s 100% happy. Really hard worker. Keeps me real when I start dreaming of impossible. Great at finding solutions to problem areas. In charge of Health and Safety.

Married to Kerrie, have two children together.

Strong points: Workmanship is second to none with very high standards; children love him; has patience of a saint and answers all the children’s questions when asked a million times “what are you doing”; great sense of humour and infectious laugh

Weak points: embarrassingly loud when using his mobile; no good at tying granny knots

Jan Drennan:

The office manager who keeps us all on track and organised and gives you all the important paperwork you need. Contact her if you need anything at all and she’ll get it sorted.

Works Mondays and Thursdays, sometimes let out on site as she loves making willow structures, adding the finishing touches to a project and working with the children. Sometimes just let out to do a “nosey” and put a face to the names she emails!

Known as Auntie J to the children she is Davie’s sister, married with nearly grown up twin son and daughter.

Strong points: Calm in any situation; a great organiser with great people skills; very friendly

Weak points: can’t dig a hole with a spade to save her life

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Kindest Regards

Kerrie and the Sowing Seeds Team