Fitfish Team
Gaynor van der Burton
Founding Director
Gaynor is widely experienced in supporting adults to better health through her mass participation event and project management background in commercial, charity, council and education sectors.
God called her to start Fitfish in 2011 and since then she has led over 65 retreats and coached over 250 people through the Healthy, Whole & Free Programme.
Gaynor is an advanced level Personal Trainer, Nutritional Advisor and Eating Behaviours Expert. She is just finishing a MSc in Clinical Nutrition and will then be a Nutritionist registered with the Association of Nutrition.
She is passionate about helping Christians gain freedom and balance in the area of healthy living in body, spirit and soul.
Aside from Fitfish, she loves socialising, pottery, skiing, walking, running, singing and getting stuck into village, school and church life!
Sharon Bell
Life Coach and Ministry Leader
Sharon came to Fitfish as a guest 10 years ago – after two retreats joined the Fitfish team and hasn’t looked back since! Trained in coaching she is one of the Fitfish Life Coaches, but you can also find her taking on the role of ministry leader, and running a variety of workshops. Her passion is seeing individuals flourish in their God-given potential, and stepping into all that He has for them. Stemming from family experience, she has a heart for the developing conversation around mental health in the church.
In her day job she is CEO of a Birmingham-based education charity. Away from work she enjoys travel, an occasional day away trying something creative, catching up with friends … and is loving a new sport which has arrived in the UK from USA … Pickleball!
Pete Brookes
Ministry Leader
Peter has been serving on the Fitfish team since 2011 and has a heart to see Christians develop a deeper relationship with God. Having spent many years in church ministry he loves the way Fitfish embraces all aspects of our life, the spiritual, physical and emotional. Not only sharing his faith in the talks but also through prayer support and listening prayer Peter loves to serve and be part of this ministry.
Day to day he works on his own business of crafting and fitting dentures with his own patients, literally putting smiles on people’s faces!
Away from work and church Peter enjoys spending time walking his dog, trying to get better at playing squash and taking time out with friends.
Dave Elliott
Personal Trainer
David is a firm believer in the power of all types of exercise to help people in terms of both their physical and mental health. David has been a part of the Fitfish team since its inception and has seen many lives transformed through the weekend retreats. David has qualifications as both a Personal Trainer and Leader in Running Fitness. His main hobby is running and he has completed over 50 half marathons, marathons and Ultra Marathons. He leads regular Couch to 5K sessions in his local area with over 100 people participating in the course.
David is based just outside Reading in Berkshire and works for a large Asset Management consulting company; he is married with two grown-up daughters. His other, more sedate hobbies, include walking with his dog Digby and reading crime fiction novels.
Bev and Phil Gray
Bev and Phil met at their medical school Christian union which Bev went to in order to check out the gorgeous bloke who played guitar! She got God and the gorgeous bloke that term and they married 5 years later.
Phil picked up a guitar at age 8, taught himself how to play and now the guitar is like another arm on him. He loves worshipping God, fell-running and Bev’s curries.
Bev was healed from “terminal” cancer in 2013 and then left hospital medicine to see what God had in store – lie-ins are one of the enjoyable things! She supported her parents, who moved to live nearby, until 2021 when they went into care and is now relishing life at Hull Vineyard and learning lots about herself and God. A “graduate” of the Healthy, Whole and Free course she loves the Fitfish holistic approach and enjoys serving by leading worship with Phil.
Claire Hollingsworth
GP and Ministry Leader
Claire first came as a guest on a Fitfish retreat in 2012 and felt she’d found her tribe! She joined the team in 2013 and loves to combine her medical knowledge as a GP, with her faith, ensuring that guests are looked after; body, mind and soul. She also has a specialist interest in women’s health and loves guiding ladies through the perils of family planning, troublesome periods and the menopause.
Claire is sometimes also found as part of our ministry team, where she enjoys encouraging people to learn (or remember!) who God has uniquely made them to be.
Aside from Fitfish she loves playing tennis, skiing, hiking, reading and drinking copious amounts of tea.
Sue Kenneally
GP, Nutritionist and Worship Leader
Sue is an obesity medicine physician and GP, and she has an MSc in nutritional medicine so also works as a nutritionist. She is an international conference speaker and author, and tutors on the weight management MSc at her local University. She works with various organisations at a national level, advising on how to improve weight management services to people throughout the UK and is a Royal College of GPs nutrition and weight management clinical champion.
In 2016 she cofounded the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine where she continues to serve as director, nutrition advisor and editor of their learning academy. Her passion is teaching people how a healthy lifestyle is effective medicine, and often more effective than conventional medicine, and how this can positively impact their spiritual lives too.
She loves Crossfit, skiing, zip wiring, time at the beach, playing the piano and singing, and spending time with her husband and three sons.
Katy Lyne
Life Coach
Bio to follow
Ali Perry
Retreat Co-ordinator
Ali supports Fitfish with online admin and retreat coordination, having come along (admittedly with a little apprehension!) to a Fitfish retreat back in 2016. On that retreat she experienced all that Fitfish has to offer, and before heading for home, she felt called to put her hand up to commit a few hours a week of maternity cover for Gaynor. 7 years later she is still here, supporting the team on retreats and managing some social media admin in the background.
Ali is a full-time civil servant and runs her own creative business making glass beads and jewellery. When she’s not working Ali loves singing in a local chamber choir and spending time with her husband and 3 rescue cats.
Gina Sharp
Worship Leader
Gina has been playing the piano since the age of six and has been privileged to lead others in worship for about 30 years. She enjoys being one of the MDs for the worship team at Milton Keynes Christian Centre.
Gina also plays for local theatre, (her highlight was Chicago in 2019), and for various concerts and events.
In her spare time, Gina loves to read, do cross stitch, watch Northampton Saints play rugby and endeavour to play the piano at various National Trust properties she visits! Best one so far, Agatha Christie’s piano at Greenway. 😀
Tracy Watkins
Ministry Leader
Tracy has loved being part of Fitfish since the beginning and has been blessed by its God-centred approach. She came to faith in her late 30s through an Alpha Course during which she had a deeply personal experience of the Holy Spirit, and life was never the same again.
She has a background in publishing and training, and for 17 years she served as Membership Officer for a local charity supporting people living with Multiple Sclerosis.
After a long and winding journey of discernment, Tracy is now Curate at St Michael’s, Tilehurst, having been ordained deacon in 2021 and priest in 2022. She loves to pray with people and to hear testimonies of how God is working in their lives. She is married to Paul, and they have a mad cockapoo, Monty! She enjoys walking, theatre, and cricket.