Our Team

James Shone

Following a sixteen year teaching career James was diagnosed with a large brain tumour in 2012. Following major surgery, James was left with very little sight and a reduction in mobility.  Despite this life changing setback, James is a man who embodies a positive attitude to life and a pastoral passion which lead him to form his charity, ‘I Can & I Am’ back in 2015. Now James spends much of his time visiting schools around the UK and beyond speaking to young people, teachers and parents about how we can best maintain our ‘balloons of self-belief’.  His message has been heard by thousands and he is thought of as one of the UK’s leading inspirational speakers.

Anthony Dutton

Anthony joined the team in 2020 as the man to make the bus project come to life. After graduating from Durham University and a very brief accountancy career, Anthony found his niche in his mid 20’s as an entrepreneur running his own ‘blue collar’ businesses.  After 18 years of running Archers Marquees (and literal blood, sweat and tears) he joined the charity and realised that his true passion lay in enabling young people to fulfil their potential and bolster their self-belief, something he had unwittingly been doing for the past 25 years.

Anthony lives near Radstock with his wife Ness, three children, two dogs, three cats, eight chickens, nine sheep and two goldfish.

Rebecca (Bex) Burton

Bex has been running the charity of I Can & I Am and supporting James since early 2017. She is involved in all areas from marketing, bookings, HR and providing ‘eyes’ for James as and when it’s required.

Bex brings an organised mind to the team and a love of working with young people. She studied Natural Sciences at Durham University and has previously worked in marketing in several sectors including within education. She lives in Bath with her husband Howard and their three children.

Alice Delap

Alice joined the team in September 2020 and creates and runs the workshop sessions on board the bus. She studied Geography at Manchester University and did a PGCE at the Institute of Education. She taught in East London for nearly fifteen years, first as a Geography teacher and then moving into special needs teaching.

Alice’s passion has always been in education and in enabling children from all backgrounds to believe in themselves and achieve their potential.

Sir Anthony Seldon

Sir Anthony Seldon has been patron of the charity since its inception in 2015. He is one of Britain’s leading contemporary historians, educationalists, commentators and political authors. He was a transformative head for 20 years, first of Brighton College and then Wellington College. He has been Vice-Chancellor of The University of Buckingham, interim head at Epsom College and is currently Founding Director of Wellington College Education.

Sir Anthony has been a loyal supporter of James Shone and his charity throughout the years and is a valuable source of wisdom on the world of education and mental wellbeing.

Charlie Goddard

Charlie is a founder trustee of the charity and integral in its inception back in 2015. Charlie started his career at Accenture before moving to Troika and then Navigant. In 2012 he founded the PEN Partnership where he is the partner with responsibility for Finance and works predominantly with investment managers and wealth managers. He specialises in the delivery of operational and organisational change.

Charlie’s background, finance capabilities, long term friendship with James and passion for the charity makes him an invaluable trustee.

James Kendall

James joined I Can & I Am has the founding trustee in 2015 and was integral to assisting in James Shone’s charity vision being realised. James’s career has been in the sports industry working for Harlequins FC, Volvo, BSkyB and Portas Consulting in a range of senior strategic, commercial and development positions. He is currently Director of Football Development at The FA.

His passion and commitment to I Can And I Am is borne out of his great friendship with James Shone and a heartfelt belief in the essence of the charity’s purpose, to see individuals, particularly young people, fulfil their true potential.

Karl Bevis

Karl joined the I Can & I Am team in 2022 and as well as working for the charity continues his long career in youth and participatory arts.  Alongside his day jobs, Karl is also a producer and a poet and loves good food and building stuff!

Karl took on the challenge to get his HGV licence and is now one of the bus drivers in the team.  Predominately though Karl runs workshops on the bus and is a master at provoking conversations about balloons.

Tom Ratnett

Tom joined the team in 2023 with the invaluable experience of having both served in the British Army as well as having been an HGV driver.  Taking on the role predominantly as a driver for James Shone, Tom also reguarly drives the I Can & I Am buses and runs workshops on board within schools.

As well as working full time for I Can & I Am, Tom is also studying to become a counsellor. Tom also supports Anthony in the operations side of the charity.  Tom brings a youthful energy to the team and a love of efficiency and doing things well.

Sarah Seldon

Sarah joined I Can & I Am as a trustee in 2023 bringing a wealth of experience in education with her. Sarah has taught for over thirty years in both state and independent schools, all boys, all girls, co educational, day, boarding, national and international, ranging in age from A level and GCSE down to Year 2. She has been a school governor and a trustee of different charities. She currently teaches French, English and RS at a prep school in Berkshire where she is also head of Wellbeing and leads on Mental Health.

Toby Hime

Toby has been in the world of education for many years. He’s a former Headteacher and School Inspector in the Middle East and has taught pupils in a range of schools from Nursery to Year 13.  Outside of his education work he is a Sculptor, Artist, Musician, Poet and Bread maker.

Toby brings sparkle, compassion, creativity, different thinking, a love of life, and many forms of baking skills.

Suzanna (Soz) Rolfe

Prior to joining the team, Soz spent over 25 years as a youth worker, working in various formal and informal settings. She delivered personal development workshops in schools and colleges,  encouraging young people to tap into their unique skills.

As a part of the I Can & I Am team, Soz brings to the project her energy and human approach, and her strong value that each person has unique and amazing qualities to bring to this earth.

Rachel Brotherton

Rachel has been teaching children from Nursery to Year 6 for nearly 30 years. She has taught in mainstream classes as well as more recently in a Resource Base for children with complex needs.

She love being on The Bus and brings a huge amount of energy to the team. When she’s not on board, she likes to fill her I Can I Am balloon by spending time with family and friends, open water swimming, reading books, eating cake and drinking lots of cups of tea!

Samantha Nolan

Prior to working for the charity, Sam worked for the NSPCC delivering ‘Speak Out, Stay Safe’ workshops and assemblies to primary age children to help them understand their rights, what’s OK and not OK and what to do if they’re ever worried or scared.

Sam brings her child centred skills to the buses, active listening and helping children and young adults to express their feelings, engage with the workshops and inspire their self-belief.

Jo Harrison

Jo has enjoyed a colourful spectrum of a career in creative education, schools, museums and various community projects. Prior to joining I Can & I Am she worked at the large SEN school, Three Ways in Bath.

As well as being an SEN expert, Jo brings positivity and patience to the bus along with a sense of fun and fancy pizza toppings.

Toni Scott

Toni grew up in Asia and has been a teacher for most of her career.  Working in the primary sector, Toni ended her teaching career as a head teacher at a primary school in Somerset.  She remains active in the world of education and within a number of different charitable organisations and loves travelling , cycling, swimming and laughing.

Toni brings to the team a real interest in young people and a love of the I Can & I Am message.

Vanessa (Ness) Dutton

Ness has taught for over 30 years and is passionate about working with primary school aged children. She also has a love for animals and music.  Having left full time teaching in 2024 Ness is now enjoying a variety of different jobs including working on board the bus. Ness’s warmth and desire for everyone to be happy brings a positive energy to all that come on board the bus.

Louise Howdle

Lou has spent over 30 years working on Events, from the BBC Good Food Show to Bath Festivals and has had various roles in Marketing, PR and Publishing, most latterly within the world of children’s literacy. Alongside this, Lou also ran her own shop selling the work of artists and working with small businesses to launch their dream companies.

Lou brings a positive outlook, empathy, calmness, love of organising, and being a general ‘sorter outer’!

Anna Baldock

Before working for I Can & I Am, Anna was Assistant Headteacher of a primary school in Tower Hamlets in London. She taught for 14 years in schools and still tutors children on a regular basis.

Anna brings a love of working with young people of all ages and a passion for ensuring that each and every young person that gets on board the bus feels heard and supported. She is pretty good at washing up and making pizza too!

Angus Macdonald-Buchanan

Angus joined the team in 2024 having worked in recruitment, marketing and hospitality.

Joining the charity has given Angus an outlet to give back and focus on the needs of others in an area which he’s passionate about. Angus provides an injection of youth and energy and relatability to the team and to the young people onboard and has a knack of creating a buzz in the kitchen!

Nicki Pilkington

Before joining ICAIA Nicki spent 10 years working in a SEN school with secondary-aged children, which included leading Relaxation & Well-being workshops. She has also worked as a project coordinator for Mighty Girls, focused on empowering girls and young women and continues to work as a Solution-Focused Therapist.

Nicki bring a calm, grounding energy with her. She loves working with young people, supporting and recognising their strengths and watching them leave the bus, walking that little bit taller!

Juliette Bevis

Juliette has had a varied career in the subsidised arts sector working for various theatre companies and festivals. She has also worked as a youth worker, a childminder and a baker! All invaluable skills as a part of our bus team.