Meet Catherine

I've always loved ideas and words and poems are such a great way to express a thought and wrap it up as a gift. Everything I write is inspired by a real situation, shared inside a card, or a toast, or prayer at a specific occasion.

‘Grain of Sand’ blog started when I was on a career break, with two small children, living in Greece for a few years. It was a good time to see if my reflections on life had any resonance for others.

A childhood present from my godmother was the inspiration for the name - a little silver clock with the 'grain of sand' quote from William Blake. I loved the idea that the everyday is the heart of all the biggest things in life.

Founding and leading church playgroups brought the opportunity to develop pastoral resources as well as Biblical teaching that was simple, but honest. Since 2020, Grain of Sand has been a collective effort between author and designer (ThreeSeventeen). Three focus areas emerged as a logical way to organise the site:

Cards and Gifts affirm and encourage relationships that lead to 'life in all its fullness.

Resources for churches and chaplaincies offer inspiration on how to communicate our common humanity as created beings.

Deeper Currents in the Day to Day to explore in more depth some of the ideas and is a space for reflection on wider social and economic relationships.

The first in-person and online launch of the new Grain of Sand took place in Summer 2026. Please do get in touch through the contact form if we can contribute to your event, outreach or Ministry.

Grain of Sand is about the central idea that life is about noticing and nurturing the many different ways in which we are always part of 'something bigger'.

We know that people are made up of our bodies, our thoughts and our unconscious and that our relationships have an impact on our identity and well-being. However, we talk less often of the way in which 'a friendship', 'a family', or 'a society' have a health an identity of their own. Yet every day we can see and feel how our actions can either nurture or damage the health of what we hold between us, just as we feel the impact of our physical health on our minds and emotions.

We know that place matters because families interact differently in a new house despite everyone being the same people as they were before. Nature matters as well as our relationship with it. Physical health matters for relationships as it does for individuals. Communities and organisations will relate in a less intense way than families, but the underlying principle is the same.

Somehow, in a ongoing process, all these interactions create 'something bigger' than the sum of their parts. Grain of Sand is not about deconstructing or defining that mystery, but offers different words and images to bring that idea of being part of 'something bigger' into the way that we live.

Grounded in the Christian faith, all the writing in Grain of Sand is based on the love of God as the central creative and life-giving force that is the source of this mystery and which holds everything together. The calling of the Church is to work within the love of God for the 'renewal of all things', not only as individuals or as the community of the church but also by continually working towards the health of many different sorts of collective entities where all are valued and can thrive. We hope that the writing and images will resonate with people of all faiths and none, whilst being authentic about its inspiration.

The Grain of Sand team bring a range of different professional, theological and family circumstances to this project.

Catherine worked for over 20 years in the UK Government, focusing mainly on international policy and programmes. Since 2024 she has been working freelance as a consultant, supporting companies implementing UK Government international programmes tackling corruption and illicit finance. She has also worked with organisations interested in the processes for decision-making within UK Government policy looking at international, finance and economic policy.

Catherine has written for Theos and LICC and can be found on LinkedIn.

Catherine started working with ThreeSeventeen in 2020. Their approach to design builds on extensive experience in communicating in the church and for private companies.