Angela is married to David, and they have three children. Prior to founding The Big House Ireland, Angela lectured in Pastoral Care and Youth Ministry at Queen’s University, Belfast and Belfast Bible College. Her doctorate, in Practical Theology, examined the needs of young people in Northern Ireland, and offered a theologically reflective response which informs the practice of The Big House. She was also a youth worker in local church and charitable sectors.

Paul is married to Paula, and they have four sons. Paul has been involved in pastoral care for 22 years; 12 of which were with particular pastoral practice to young people. Prior to joining the Big House team Paul has served as a Methodist Minister in both England and Northern Ireland. He has a Masters Degree in Applied Theology and his research was in community missiology. Paul has worked with young people in both local church and government sectors.

Chris is married to Ciara and has 3 children. He has been employed in church based youth work for over 15 years and has undertaken counselling training to assist in his pastoral work with young people. Chris’ energy and passion for encouraging and helping young people in life is not confined to his work life, and in his spare time he loves to coach football.

Katie is married to David, and they have 3 children. Katie has spent her career working alongside children and young people in a variety of settings and cultures. These include parachurch/church and community; and more recently in schools, where she continues to work part time as a boarding master. Katie is a fully qualified integrative counsellor and a member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy and the Association of Christian Counsellors. She is currently completing a further Diploma in Working Therapeutically with Children and Young People. Katie has her own private counselling practice alongside The Listening Space; and her vision is to be a beacon of hope as well as offering the possibility of healing and a brighter future to young people and adults alike in her role as a counsellor.

Paula is married to Paul and they have 4 sons. Paula has been involved in youth and children’s work in a variety of contexts for many years. She worked as a Speech and Language therapist before working at home as a full time mum, teaching piano, and serving alongside Paul in church leadership and pastoral care.

Jen is married to Den, and they have 3 children. A fully qualified integrative counsellor, Jen has diplomas in Working Therapeutically with Children & Young People and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Jen is an accredited member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP Accred) and has worked as a counsellor in a variety of contexts with both adults and young people. Jen has training in youth ministry and has worked as a youth leader in church settings for many years. Jen is passionate about young people knowing their worth and realising their full potential.

Kirsty is married to Dave, and they have one daughter. Kirsty has a background in social work, and has spent the last 15 years working with survivors of Human Trafficking. Kirsty splits her time working for the Big House and other organisations in Northern Ireland, and further a field providing consultancy to charities and companies on strategy, policy and procedures. Kirsty worked in the Governments working group to develop The Trafficking Care Standards with the Human Trafficking Foundation, which has been instrumental for the development of law and policy in the United Kingdom and worldwide. Kirsty has a long history of working in safeguarding in churches, and was Safeguarding Lead of a large NGO in the UK. She also has developed and written safeguarding policies and strategy for many different organisations. She is also an experienced public speaker and trainer.