Our Trustees Our Board of Trustees meet six times per year, monitoring the overall performance of the charity and making sure that we continue to pursue our charitable aims. All our Trustees volunteer their time, experience and enthusiasm to support the Chief Executive and the team in achieving our strategic goals. Expand David Robertson, Chairman David was, until 31 March 2011, the Finance Director of Viridor, having previously been Financial Controller of the Pennon Group Plc. He joined the Pennon Group in 1991 as Group Auditor. Prior to that he worked for KPMG, where he was Senior Manager of the Exeter office. A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and is a graduate in Business Studies. He was also a non executive director of the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust from 2010 to 2017. Malcolm Bell Malcolm became Chief Executive at Visit Cornwall in January 2010. His previous appointment was as Chief Executive of South West Tourism. Prior to this he was Director of Economic Development for Devon & Cornwall. He is the Chairman and a non executive director of South West Lakes Limited and other appointments include membership of the Forestry Commission’s Regional Advisory Board and a Trustee of the Charity that oversees the Fifteen Cornwall Restaurant that helps disadvantaged youths to train to be chefs. Monica Read Monica was, until recently, Business Services & Sustainability Director of South West Water Limited. She joined South West Water in 1992 and was responsible for Business Development, HR and Employee Development. Prior to South West Water, Monica worked for Touche Ross & Co. She is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and is a graduate in Environmental Science. Monica is a non-executive director of the Trust’s trading company, South West Lakes Limited. John Lee OBE John chairs the boards of the Devon County Agricultural Association, Westpoint Centre Devon Ltd, Mole Avon Trading Ltd and the Rural Youth Trust. He is President of Devon Communities Together and Mid Devon Show and Patron of Devon and Cornwall Police Cadets and Local Heroes. He is a member of Exeter Cathedral Council and regularly chairs the Independent Agricultural Appeals Panel on behalf of the Minister. He is a past High Sheriff of Devon, Chair of Governors of Bicton College, Chairman of Farming & Countryside Education and an EU CAP advisor. John currently serves as our Vice-Chairman. Dinah Nichols CB DINAH NICHOLS, CB – is a Governor of Plymouth University and a Trustee of the Land Trust. She was previously a non-executive director of Pennon Plc, a Commissioner of The Crown Estate, Chair of the National Forest Company and Director General (Environment) at DEFRA. She recently stepped down as Chair of the Keep Britain Tidy campaign. Ed Mitchell Ed was appointed in 2017 as Director of Environment for Pennon. Prior to this he was Executive Director at the Environment Agency, responsible for their approach to water quality, water resources, industry regulation, land management, climate change adaptation and sustainable development. Ed is a Non-Executive Director of Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor, a not-for-profit company he helped set up which provides water, sanitation and hygiene services to people living in slums in the developing world. He is also Deputy Chair of South West Water and Bournemouth Water’s Customer Challenge Group, the WaterFuture Customer Panel and Chair of South West Water’s Conservation and Recreation Forum. He chairs the Canal and River Trust Environmental Advisory Group and is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Vale Academy Trust, a group of primary and secondary schools in Oxfordshire. Chris Balch Chris is Emeritus Professor of Planning at Plymouth University and a member of the Supervisory Board of Ecorys b.v., a European research and policy consultancy. Until 2017 he was also Non-Executive Chairman of Hilson Moran, Consulting Engineers. A Chartered Town Planner and Surveyor, he spent much of his career in private practice becoming Managing Director of DTZ UK & Ireland. He was Chair of Basildon Renaissance Partnership and a member of the Council of Essex University. He is currently Chair of the Royal Town Planning Institute in the South West and has been Chair of the Burrator Advisory Group for the last five years. Dan James Dan James is currently Sustainable Economy Manager for Exmoor National Park Authority with responsibility for tourism, business support, economic development and income generation, as well as overseeing the Authority’s grants programme. He represents the South West’s National Parks on the Heart of the South West’s Policy and Technical Advisory Group and serves as an advisor to two LEADER funding groups. He has also been the lead Tourism Officer for the UK National Parks over the last 5 years. Prior to his current role, Dan was the Operations Director for the Snowdonia Society, where he led the public fundraising appeal for the new Snowdon summit building. He has successfully secured and delivered grant funded projects from a range of sources including European and Central Government, Lottery, charitable trusts and philanthropic support. Ashley Shopland Ashley is an independent, non-executive director of South West Lakes Limited. He is the General Manager of the UK Platform within Imerys Minerals Ltd. the china clay company based in St Austell. Originally from Launceston, his career started with English China Clays (ECC) where he gained his professional qualification in accountancy. Through various roles, he has travelled abroad extensively with the company and now has responsibility for a business supplying UK products globally. He has also served on the SW Council of the CBI for many years, as well as previously being a Governor of various schools in the St Austell area. Stuart McCullough Stuart is an independent, non-executive director of South West Lakes Limited. A life-long fly fisherman and keen sailor, Stuart spent most of his career in international leadership roles with automotive manufacturers such as Volkswagen and Toyota before moving to the South West. As Managing Director of the European Lexus business and then Member of the Board for Sales & Marketing at Bentley, he has considerable experience of building businesses through brand reputation and developing quality products and services. He has a particular interest in building a customer service culture within organisations and has frequently been asked to speak on the subject at home and overseas. He has been a Vice President of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders representing the industry in negotiations with the UK government and the EU. Jo Traill Thomson Jo is currently working on natural capital and local delivery for Natural England with responsibility for the Defra North Devon Landscape Pioneer. Previously she has worked as an Environmental Economics Adviser in Southern Africa with IUCN and the Department for International Development. Since 2001 she has worked in the South West on externally funded projects, protected landscapes and with Cornwall Council as a Strategy Manager.
Our Team We strive to be: forward thinking, ambitious, balanced, open, committed, friendly…and fun! Expand James Platts, Chief Executive FRSA I believe the environment is key to all we do; we need to value the environment for the societal and economic benefits it gives each and every one of us. Access to a diverse, linked environment helps people from all walks of life grow physically and mentally. My time working for South West Lakes Trust has been really rewarding, whether teaching a blind lady to sail at Roadford Lake, helping the wardens with fishing competitions at Porth Reservoir, managing the installation of new accessible trails at Siblyback Lake, or more recently working to improve habitats across our sites. As Chief Executive, I want to support the work of our teams to care for the environment and ensure as many people as possible can benefit from accessing the outdoors. I live on the Devon - Cornwall border with my wife and two children and enjoy sailing with my family on the river Tamar and on our lakes. I am a firm believer that education unlocks the world and I continue to support this through the education projects our charity delivers. Contact James Diane Bassett FCCA, Strategic Director of Corporate Services South West Lakes Trust is such a great organisation to work for; it has so many beautiful sites including our subsidiary charity Wheal Martyn. I feel very lucky that being the Corporate Services Director for the charity has given me the opportunity to be involved in some wonderful projects and I find it inspiring to be part of a team that is so passionate about what we do. I love visiting the lakes to walk and cycle with my family and enjoy the ‘great outdoors’, especially when followed up with a delicious hot chocolate and carrot cake. Contact Diane Colin Vallance, Operations Director, Wheal Martyn I love the variety of being involved in such a dynamic charity which combines my passion for the countryside with the opportunity to make a difference for people. It is a privilege to head up the Wheal Martyn charity, celebrating and making accessible the heritage of one of Cornwall’s most important industries, in such a special and unique place – I am continually inspired by the dedication and passion of our wonderful volunteers . Contact Colin Lisa Tame, Impacts and Engagement Director I count myself as very lucky to work for such a vibrant charity with a clear passion for protecting our special habitats and wildlife and enabling people to explore and enjoy the lakes we manage. My family and I spend a great deal of time outdoors and I also love trail running (whenever possible), so many happy memories can be made whilst enjoying the great outdoors. I relish the challenge of such a varied role of Impacts and Engagement Director, leading our communications team and being responsible for our fundraising and the development of our charitable projects, which means I get to work across the region and with our fantastic teams at our lakes. Contact Lisa Lesley Whitworth, Head of Finance I love working here. Every day I come into work and learn something new: how to tackle invasive plants in my garden, how to identify different birds and butterflies that visit our lakes, the fascinating history of the clay industry in Cornwall and that there are some big fish lurking at the bottom of our lakes! I have recently purchased two paddleboards, so I am looking forward to spending some quality family time at the lakes, camping and splashing around! Contact Lesley Ben Smeeth, Head of Angling I have been an ‘outdoors’ person my whole life and to be able to work within an area for which I have a lifelong passion is amazing. What I love most is seeing people enjoying themselves at the lakes and if I can have a positive impact on our visitors through my work it makes it more rewarding. I take great pride in what I do and enjoy sharing that with my young children who love visiting the lakes and enjoying such special places with me. Contact Ben Neil Reeves, Head of Environment and Community “It’s not a bad office you’ve got!” You only need to look out over one of our lakes on a sunny day to understand why I do what I do. This, combined with a passion for the natural world and encouraging people of all ages and abilities to enjoy and learn from it fills me with enthusiasm. I love living on Dartmoor with my family and working to deliver Conservation, Access & Recreation across the lakes of the South West with simply “the best” team of staff and volunteers is a real privilege. Contact Neil Ian Morgan, Head of NCS I am really happy to be working with such a great charity, full of such enthusiasm for what they do. Bringing NCS into this environment is a great opportunity for me and I am really looking forward to seeing as many programmes as possible get under way here at the Lakes. I have no doubt the young people that take part in the NCS journey we offer, will be back to enjoy our lakes long after their programmes finish. Contact Ian Matt Lennox, Activities Lead Being Activities Lead for SW Lakes is a massive privilege, working alongside so many passionate and super knowledgeable people on a day to day basis hugely inspires me. To be able to work in an industry that I have always had so much enjoyment for is something I will never take for granted. Being in a position where I can support the Activity Team to help people of all ages and backgrounds get an opportunity to access the outdoors is massively rewarding. Contact Matt Emma Scotney, Ecologist Contact Emma Deborah Deveney, Biodiversity Officer Contact Deborah Nicola Morris, Invasive Species Officer Contact Nicola Beth Cross, Senior Countryside Warden - Cornwall Contact Beth Kit Hancock, Senior Countryside Warden - Devon Contact Kit Nick Herbert, Senior Countryside Warden - Exmoor Contact Nick Jon Morley, Operations Manager, Bournemouth Contact Jon Emily Cannon, I Love Water Project Officer Contact Emily Annabel Underwood, Public Relations and Campaigns Officer Contact Annabel
Our Patrons Keith Bungay, Cairns Boston, Peter Briens, Roger Preston Expand Keith Bungay Cairns Boston Peter Briens Roger Preston