Meet the Team

Hi, I’m Fern (she/her), Co-founder and Director of Rainbow Families Yorkshire.
I founded RFY in 2023 with my partner and best friend, Sasha, after we struggled to find a local support network for LGBTQ+ families like ours. We wanted to create the kind of inclusive, welcoming community we had once been searching for.
Sasha and I met in 2018 and became friends before our relationship developed the following year. Six months later, I moved to Manchester to live with her, bringing my job, my belongings, and a strange little dog.
We both wanted to start a family, though the process came with fertility challenges. After several attempts, we decided to try together and were both pregnant within months — not something we’d planned, but c’est la vie! 😅
In 2021, we moved to my hometown of Barnsley in South Yorkshire to be closer to family. A few years later, we founded Rainbow Families Yorkshire to build the local support and community we hadn’t been able to find at the time.
Today, I’m incredibly proud of the families who make up Rainbow Families Yorkshire. If you’re looking for connection, support, or a sense of belonging, you are very welcome here.

Hi,  Sasha here (She/her) Stem, I'm the other Co-founder and a Director of Rainbow Families Yorkshire CIC. As Fern said RFY was set up to help other LGBTQ+ families that are experiencing loneliness, isolation and as a result, poor mental health. Since RFY started I can honestly say as a family and as an individual I'm the happiest I've been in a long time. Meeting new people at events and seeing returning faces is amazing. I see new friendships forming between adults and I see our children playing together and I couldn't be more proud of what we are achieving together. A major factor for me is that our boys will have such a diverse group of friends, they are going to grow up with acceptance in their hearts and understand that no matter how a family is made up, we are all valid. Alongside my full time job with the ambulance service, raising two toddlers and just day to day life it can get pretty hectic but I wouldn't change a thing. We have so many plans for the group and I hope everyone can get involved along the way. Please do come to us if you need support or have any suggestions about what we can do to make our group better. Hope to see you at an event soon.   

Hi everyone, I'm Lucy. I’m proud, passionate, and proud to be part of your village.
I’m really excited to be part of Rainbow Families Yorkshire and to connect with so many amazing families.
My partner and I have been together for nearly 10 years, and together we’re raising our wonderful little girl, who means everything to us. Like many families in our community, our journey to parenthood hasn’t been straightforward, and that experience has given me a deep appreciation for the importance of support, inclusion, and connection.
These values are at the heart of everything I do. I believe every family deserves to feel seen, valued, and included just as they are. I know that even a little support can make a huge difference, and that no one should ever feel alone. I’m passionate about building a strong, connected community where families can thrive together.
I’m also a huge football fan, especially the Lionesses, and I’m passionate about encouraging girls from a young age to get involved in sport, build confidence, and feel empowered to follow whatever dreams they have.
I’m committed to helping create a space where every family feels welcomed, supported, and represented. I’m excited to contribute to the continued growth of Rainbow Families Yorkshire and look forward to connecting with and supporting families across our community.Hi, We're Cain and Matt. Gay dads to our two adoptive children. We've been together since just before the pandemic and married in secret December 2023. We knew each other beforehand after meeting at Gran Canaria pride (Yumbo for a Sambuca, anyone?) At the time I was living overseas and Cain was rightly never going to leave Yorkshire, so we kept it to drinking wine and long chats and putting the world to rights.

We reconnected and started dating long distance (Dubai to Ossett) in 2019.

On our first date we had some serious questions for each other about our plans for the future. Perhaps it's that we're a little bit older but, as Cain said at the time, " If you didn't want kids, there probably wouldn't have been a second date." 

 After 5 trips back to the UK and just when Cain was planning to fly to Dubai, Covid came along. I worked as a Pilot at the time and we were tested after every flight. I was a very early inductee to the Covid club and couldnt leave the country again for 5 months. When I finally got out of Covid jail I had decided to pack up, change careers and head back to be with Cain. We moved in together during Covid 2.0 and we haven't looked back. 

Hi everyone, I'm Lucy. I’m proud, passionate, and proud to be part of your village.
I’m really excited to be part of Rainbow Families Yorkshire and to connect with so many amazing families.
My partner and I have been together for nearly 10 years, and together we’re raising our wonderful little girl, who means everything to us. Like many families in our community, our journey to parenthood hasn’t been straightforward, and that experience has given me a deep appreciation for the importance of support, inclusion, and connection.
These values are at the heart of everything I do. I believe every family deserves to feel seen, valued, and included just as they are. I know that even a little support can make a huge difference, and that no one should ever feel alone. I’m passionate about building a strong, connected community where families can thrive together.
I’m also a huge football fan, especially the Lionesses, and I’m passionate about encouraging girls from a young age to get involved in sport, build confidence, and feel empowered to follow whatever dreams they have.
I’m committed to helping create a space where every family feels welcomed, supported, and represented. I’m excited to contribute to the continued growth of Rainbow Families Yorkshire and look forward to connecting with and supporting families across our community.

My name is Verity Smith, and I'm a rugby player and LGBTQ+ rights activist based in the United Kingdom. I use he/him pronouns, and I'm a gay trans man with a disability. Sport has always been a huge part of my life, and it's shaped who I am.
For a number of years, I played elite women's rugby, but today I proudly compete in the UK Wheelchair Rugby Super League for the Leeds Rhinos. Rugby has given me opportunities to grow, challenge myself, and connect with people from all walks of life.
Alongside playing, I'm passionate about making sport more inclusive. I've worked to support diversity and inclusion with International Gay Rugby and the World Gay Games, helping to create welcoming spaces where everyone can take part and feel respected.
I strongly believe that every young person should have access to sport. To me, education—not discrimination—is the key to making that happen. Everyone deserves the chance to enjoy sport, regardless of who they are.
I'm honoured to have received the Emma Goldman Snowball Award for my work promoting inclusion for trans women and girls, as well as inclusion across the wider trans community in sport. This recognition reminds me why continuing this work is so important.
Outside of rugby, I'm a trustee for Trans in the City and also work with the Feminist Sports Lab. Through these roles, I continue to advocate for equality, inclusion, and opportunities for everyone to participate in sport and society without fear of discrimination.