Career profile: Pollinator
Lisa is a member of the Pollination team and started working at Eden in March 2008.
What does a Pollinator at Eden do?
A Pollinators primary function is to interact with Eden’s visitors on a human level so that we can engage all their senses in a range of different ways. We facilitate conversations through storytelling, demonstrations and journey’s around site. At Halloween, I tried storytelling for the first time, which was excellent as it engages people on a deeper level. The moment you start saying “Once upon a time…” almost everyone slots into a particular moment, which is symbolism at its best. A lot of people see it as just for kids but when you start telling the story, adults are equally as engaged as children.
For TOGS (Time of Gifts) I was on a stall demonstrating handmade toys, which engages visitors of all ages. We had cotton reel tanks that the older population enjoy and the kids loved making CD hovercrafts and toys from modern trash. They are interested because it costs nothing, involves re-using materials and gets the imagination going. This is a huge part of the Pollinators role – to engage the imagination to educate and stimulate!
There are only nine of us in the Pollination team, which is difficult when you consider we cover the whole site everyday. We give all our energy in preparation and delivery and obviously need time to breathe and collect again. It’s great to bring your passion into work, and I certainly thrive on it!
What do you enjoy most about your role?
The creative side, we have a free role in the sense that we can create whatever we like in order to cover a theme and put it out to the public. Once we have decided what to do, we can go out there and do it, as long as it is run via the appropriate channels. I also enjoy working with people and find that I learn from them as much as they learn from me. I think a job is perfect if the giving and the taking are balanced like this.
What do you like most about working for Eden?
The staff here really looks after each other, there is a real feeling of cohesiveness and everybody has a laugh. I don’t think someone without a sense of humour would survive working here! We are a big group of people moving towards a common goal and everyone understands that this will be achieved by everyone collectively and not one person alone.
Tell us a bit about your background prior to joining Eden…
Firstly, I am Cornish. After school I studied to become a nurse which led me to many places around England until I ended up in London specialising in HIV. I worked with adults, children and families affected by HIV/AIDS. I was very privileged to meet many of these people who I will never forget. I had to specialise in a form of communication, which involved being supportive and I got to know people from a different perspective.
I had a break from nursing and took a job in Thailand as a dive master and assistant instructor. This gave my communication skills another perspective through working in the tourist industry and as a teacher. I then went back to London to continue working in the HIV/AIDS sector, before taking another break to spend time travelling through South America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. I decided that I was going to stay in South Africa and found myself volunteering on an education programme for paediatric Anti-Retrovirals (Anti-HIV drugs) with the University in KwaZulu-Natal, the Department of Health and a London based Children’s HIV association (CHIVA). I coordinated visits from 85 UK health professionals to deliver week long training and mentorship programmes to approximately 60 hospitals and countless clinics. This was an incredible opportunity and gave my communications skills yet another slant. I was also lucky enough to be flown to Canada to take part in the world HIV/AIDS conference.
After four years I decided I wanted to return to Cornwall. I had filled my head with a lot of experiences and needed to have some consolidation time. I heard about the job at Eden through a friend who was working here. I wanted a job that involved creativity, that could put my communications skills to good use and that was people orientated, so being a Pollinator is perfect! I love it here!