Melissa Ronaldson

Training/qualifications

Professional/ organisational memberships

Practices

Times

  1. Day: Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays.
  2. Evenings: Thursdays and Fridays

Telephone number

  1. 020 8376 2348
  2. Mobile: 0771 599 1655

Email

  1. melissa@lcherbalists.co.uk

About me

I spent many years working in mental health before embarking on a herbal medicine degree in 1995. After qualifying in 2000, my work as a practitioner has been based mainly at a mental health/Arts project in Homerton, but over the last seven years I have also worked on traditional medicine projects in Equador and project managed a school roof garden build in Haringey.

In 2002 I co-founded London Community Herbalists, inspired by the conviction that we can bring herbal medicine back into the heart of our communities, and not only that, but also we can make it accessible to everyone.

Our most successful venture to date has been the roof garden at North Harringay primary school. This project brought together parents, children, teachers, herbalists and community volunteers to create a beautiful roof top space that that demonstrates sustainable ways of building; renewable energy technologies; and medicinal plants as diverse as the different communities represented at the school. The school roof garden is unique in London and was featured on the BBC magazine programme, Inside out. It also won the Roofing Alliance’s award for most innovative project in 2006 and has featured in various articles, academic pieces and a book on green roofs.

I believe that herbal medicine has a key role to play in primary health care provision. And that furthermore, the general knowledge and use of plant medicine – in all it’s various guises – scientific insight, horticulture, food, history, tradition, ritual , folklore - has something rich and precious to offer our modern communities

The role of the contemporary herbal practitioner is a bi-lingual one; we speak ancient tried and tested wisdom of our craft as well as the language modern science - bio-chemistry, drug interactions and such. The important thing is to integrate the different threads into a holistic approach that takes into account the uniqueness of the individual.

I have lived in Haringey for over 15 years. I have a teenage son. I love going camping by the sea in Cornwall and walking amongst the wild roses and hawthorn, comfrey and Elder down by the river Lea. I am currently converting a Dutch barge into a floating clinic workshop space that I hope to launch on to the River, by the summer of 2007.