Our core team
Clare Fernyhough
Clare Fernyhough is a Psychologist and behaviour change expert. She co-founded Smartphone Free Childhood in February 2024 after a WhatsApp group she created went viral. Since then Clare has been leading the Smartphone Free Schools movement - supporting headteachers across the UK to remove smartphones from the school day. She's passionate about helping parents and schools work together more effectively, to reclaim childhood for this generation of children.
Charlotte Ashton
​Charlotte Ashton is a writer and journalist who spent the first ten years of her career as a reporter at BBC News. She now works freelance as a radio documentary maker and is leading the Smartphone Free Childhood campaign in her home county of Warwickshire. As an experienced presenter she enjoys delivering parent and student education - a critical step on the journey to schools becoming genuinely smartphone free.
Miriam Turner
Miriam Turner is former CEO of Friends of the Earth in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. She has a proven track record of building highly effective teams, partnerships and ventures including Earthshot Finalist 2024 COAST4C where she remains on the Board. She brings strategic, campaigining and leadership strength, alongside expereince from working with Heads and the county council in Devon to make all the county’s schools smartphone free.
Our advisors
Damian McBeath
Damian is Head of John Wallis Academy in Ashford. He hit the headlines as one of the first heads in the country to tackle the issue of smartphones at his school, and now speaks nationally and internationally, empowering other heads to take action.
Will Orr-Ewing
Will was a teacher before founding Keystone Tutors in 2007, and Arka Learning in 2024. For the past 18 months he has also been helping engage schools for Smartphone Free Childhood, including the JR. He is a Director of Concept Education, has been a Trustee of schools across the sector, and has led schools policy research initiatives for several Westminster think tanks.
Nova Eden
​Nova is an educator and acclaimed speaker on children’s mental health nd digital well being. She was instrumental in making Barnet the first UK borough to implement a borough-wide smartphone-free policy in schools—an initiative which helped spur on the national movement. She has helped 350 schools go smartphone free to date.