Who Are We?

Jeff Zie (RIP)

It is our deepest regret that Jeff, a Founding Member, is no longer with us. He will always be a part of Dorking Minds.

Jeff lived in the Dorking area with his wife and son for over 17 years and benefitted from therapy for depression at that time.

As a businessman, Jeff held senior strategy and management positions at Electronic Arts, BSkyB, Microsoft and Emap. He successfully led and run multimillion-dollar P&Ls, built and managed international businesses in both corporate and start-up environments.

As well as being a Board Advisor, Angel Investor and business founder, Jeff was active in various voluntary mentoring and advisory roles, including University of Arts London's Artquest programme and Google Campus London.

David Scoffield

David moved to Dorking from London in 2013 and has become active in a variety of community projects in the area.  

After completing a degree in fine arts David’s career took him into a range of community development projects and third sector organisations where he developed a particular interest in mental health.  With over 20 years experience of working for a local Mind Association David has worked as a practitioner and in senior management roles with particular interests in employment support, social enterprise, ecotherapy, service development, quality management, income generation and sustainable healthcare.  

​With personal experience of supporting family members experiencing mental health issues, David is committed to service user empowerment and involvement at all levels of the project.

​David remains connected to the world of arts through work as a trustee of The Portland Sculpture and Quarry Trust and as an occasional broadcaster and promoter of live music events.

Sally Elias

Born in London, Sally has lived in Dorking and district all her adult life and is proud and grateful to be an active part of the Dorking community scene. A secondary school teacher for most of that time (with the odd year out trying to escape) she is keenly aware of the increasing need for earlier intervention for young people facing mental health challenges. She has always been a strong advocate of creating resilience in young people through the PSHE programmes in schools. Sally practices mindfulness as part of her coping mechanism for periodic bouts of depression.

She has a Stress and Health Management Diploma, a PARKES Inner Child Therapy qualification and is also an NLP master practitioner. Having raised two children herself Sally would love to see a space created locally where young people could feel safe sharing their worries and fears before they become debilitating.

Susan McGrath

Susan has lived in Dorking for the past three years with her partner and has two sons.

She started her career as a scientist working in the pharmaceutical and IT sectors.  After the birth of her first son and whilst living in Tokyo she became directly acquainted with the distress of postnatal depression.  On her return to the UK, she trained as a counsellor and psychotherapist and worked at the University of Surrey for 9 years supporting staff and students in the Centre for Wellbeing. 

Susan is now running her own private practice in Surrey working with adolescents, adults and couples.  She also teaches self-development courses and supervises trainee counsellors for two psychotherapy training organisations in London

Marina Roberts

Marina moved near Dorking from London in 2009 and has been involved in various community projects over the past few years.

She is a trained Life Coach with a special interest in gender conditioning and the role of women in our society. Marina's background is in Human Resources, she managed a recruiting agency in Russia for Oil&Gas sector covering all personnel requirements and payroll. Currently, Marina runs her own coaching business specialising in confidence, self-esteem, public speaking and communication skills. She is a member of the Professional Speakers Association (PSA), a Founder of Dorking Speakers Club and a passionate ambassador for mental health. She delivers talks and training sessions to various local and national groups.

Marina joined Dorking Minds in 2019 and have been playing an active role in organising monthly talks, online sessions and Mindfest 21.