Jan brought a wealth of experience to the Trust from a career in education. Through that expertise and a wider passion to help the disadvantaged, the Trust has been enabled to identify crucial areas for making grants that have had a far reaching impact on local communities.
Their fellow trustees are immensely grateful for the wisdom, expertise and good humour that Jamila and Jan have contributed to the work of SCT. Personally, I now find myself as the longest serving trustee. The policy of retirement has held us in good stead with Anthony and James being incredibly committed to doing everything possible to honour the legacy of Ron Summerfield and the work of previous trustees.
We extend a very warm welcome to two new trustees, Vanessa Arbuthnott and Kate Hicks Beach.
Vanessa lives near Cirencester. Having gained a degree in nursing and SRN she became an intensive care nurse. After marrying she retrained with a PGCE to become a primary school teacher in London. After having children, she attended art school to study surface print, which led to her starting her own fabric mail order company in 2000. In 2012 she created an artist residency in her house; she and her students take art classes out to vulnerable groups in the community.
Kate has worked for twenty years as a professional singer, teacher and choir leader and works with children each summer running music and drama camps in Gloucestershire. Kate has served on the Music Advisory Group to the Cheltenham Music Festival. She is a Trustee of Home-Start Cotswolds, and is on the Council of the Gloucestershire Historic Churches Trust organising their biennial concerts. She also works part time at Farmor’s School in Fairford. She brings a flair for identifying where best to make investments that will bring best value to the Trust and the recipients.
The trustees look forward to the debating, the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, working with the outstanding administrative team and advisers.
Edward Gillespie
Chairman of the Trustees
Click here to read more about the current board of Trustees