Who We Are

Tiu de Haan
– Founder, Creative Co-ordinator & Facilitator

Tiu believes in magic. Not necessarily the kind of magic that transforms a tooth into a coin or a hat into a receptacle for a rabbit – although secretly she believes in that too – but the kind of magic that makes it possible for dreams to come true, coincidence to happen and doorways into other worlds to appear. In fact, she might even argue that Eye Shine is itself evidence that such magic exists.

She had the initial idea in 2005 and after some wonderful trial runs in treehouses, hobbit huts and Dartmoor forests - and lots of help from many clever, gifted and shiny-eyed angels in human form - Eye Shine was awarded just under £240,000 from the BIG Lottery fund. And if that’s not magic, then what is?

Formerly a singer-songwriter, playworker, music industry sales executive, Oxford graduate and enthusiastic student of a wide variety of personal development trainings, Tiu’s passion, compassion, playfulness and creativity has led her into exploring other worlds all her life.

It’s just that now she makes her living from it.

Click Here to Email Tiu

Roz Hilton
– Co-facilitator & Playworker

It is rumoured that as a baby Roz was left on her mother’s doorstep by a troop of wild monkeys. And to be fair, it's not a bad explanation for her love of playing in water, mud and mess. Monkey girl or not, she decided to embrace human civilisation. By dressing up as Supergirl and catapulting potatoes into the guttering until they shot out of the drainpipe at high speed. Naturally.

With a university education in theatre, magic and fairy spells (that's a special elective), the avoidance of a 'proper job' led Roz through countless adventures travelling and working creatively with children. Eventually, it started to emerge that you actually can forge employment out of having fun, and the 'highly skilled workshop leader and play facilitator' (that's just her grown-up title) evolved.

With Pippi Longstocking as her role model and plenty of best friends who are 7, Roz now lives in a cosy barn on the outskirts of Totnes. She enjoys jumping, eating cake and hiding things that are very, very small. Which are all also part of her official Eye Shine job description.

Click Here to Email Roz

Jemma Collins
- Project Administrator & Playworker

Jemma spent childhood summers selling lemonade to passers-by from the porch of a tiny cottage surrounded by bluebells. As her customer base was limited to her mother, father and Daisy the dog, she didn’t make a fortune but the organisational seed was nonetheless sown.

Jemma keeps everything at Eye Shine running smoothly. Not only is she efficiency personified, she is also a brilliant playworker too. In fact, until recently she was the co-ordinator of a successful play setting in Devon, where she was Tiu’s boss. And the truth is, she still is. We just haven’t told Tiu that.

Want to book a place on a weekend? Ask Jemma. Fancy reading our policies? Jemma knows where’s they’re filed. Perhaps you’ve cut your finger and need a cartoon-covered plaster? Jemma’s got the key to the First Aid box. Basically, without Jemma, Eye Shine just couldn’t make magic on the scale that it does – because magic spells need a recipe book and someone needs to organise the flying broomstick cupboard.

Click Here to Email Jemma

Chris Redmond
- Playworker

Chris grew up making mud pies and climbing castle ruins. When asked at the age of 7 what he wanted to be when he grew up, he replied 'a punk rocker'. In the next school holidays, his mum dyed his hair blue with food colouring so he could practise for when he was older. From this and many other excellent adventures, he learned that anything is possible.

Now fully grown, he’s hung out with wild gorillas in the jungles of Rwanda, played music all over the world and has an increasingly busy career as a performance poet and storyteller. He teaches people of all ages, working with music, words and the imagination. And while his hair may no longer be blue, he is often to be found roaming in a forest, his face multi-coloured, being chased by several small children who seem intent on beating him to a pulp. But then that’s Eye Shine for you.

2010 Workshop Dates
April 2-4
April 23-25
May 14-16
June 4-6
July 30 - August 1
August 20-22
September 17-19
October 8-10