Staveley Community Trust - People
Staveley Community Trust is a membership organisation. The members are the heart of the organisation. Our aim is for everyone in the locality to be members of SCT. They will be able to vote on decisions and select the Trustees. Everyone who invests in the share offer are automatically a member. There are currently 170 members of Staveley Community Trust. Minimum membership - one £1 share.
Foundation Members
When Staveley Community Trust was formed, the members of the Abbey Development Group became the foundation members. They are:
Marian Carey
Michael Flynn
Deborah Michel
Louise McBirnie
Alan McBirnie
Robert Perkins
Andy Pimblett
Fran Richardson
Heather Stobart
Karen Tredwell
The Trustees
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead, author and cultural anthropologist.
Fran Richardson, chair
Fran has been involved with the New Abbey project since the initial consultation prior to the closure of the Abbey. As a member of The Abbey Development Group, she developed the New Abbey proposal with Deb Michel, liaised with health and social care and housing professionals, and developed the overall strategy.
Fran is an experienced community development specialist, supporting groups and volunteers in Cumbria to plan for what they want to achieve and to take steps to achieve their goals. In her current work she spends a lot of time talking with communities about their rural housing challenges, nurturing community led responses which meet genuine, locally identified needs. Fran also has sixteen years experience funding and managing environmental conservation projects including multi-million pound ESF traditional skills programmes and local volunteer programmes from dozens of locations across the north of England.
Fran is a founder member of Sustainable Staveley and an active supporter of the Warm Spaces initiative in Staveley.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead, author and cultural anthropologist.
Deborah Michel, secretary
Deb’s involvement with the Abbey project started with the WI’s response to the consultation. As a member of The Abbey Development Group, she developed the New Abbey proposal with Fran Richardson, liaised with health and social care and housing professionals, and developed the overall strategy.
Deb has lived in Staveley for 12 years. She is largely retired but continues to work in an advisory strategy to a residential special School.
Deb is a parish councillor and leads on the Staveley with Ings community plan. She is an advocate of Mutual Aid and was one of the founders and facilitators of Staveley with Ings Together. This was started during the pandemic and now runs the Warm Space Project, Food FareShare and the Community Larder.
Deb is an educational psychologist by profession and led a team of psychologists across south Cumbria. Her professional interest and innovative approach to social and emotional development gave her the opportunity to lead the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning programme for the Department for Education. This was a multimillion pound project that rolled out a comprehensive teaching and training programme into all Local Authorities and schools in England.
Malcolm Tillyer
Many thanks to Malcolm for joining the trustee team when times were very uncertain.
He has made a real impact in our ideas development, and our property release scheme. Unfortunately, he has had to step-down due to ill-health.
Martin Ripley, trustee
Martin has lived in Staveley for the last three years. He has his own furniture making workshop in the Mill Yard.
Martin has been an active community leader for many years. He was chair of governors at a central London secondary school for around 15 years. He was part of a team of residents in London that was one of the first to purchase the freeholds for all 200 flats in their street. Martin was a trustee of Southend Education Trust and of Basildon Education Schools Trust. More recently, Martin is a volunteer gardener at Holehird Gardens and he hosts puppy Guide Dogs for short periods when their trainers are on vacation.
Martin has always worked in education and training. He set up his own education company in 2007 and has worked with governments and companies around the world, including Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Zambia and the USA. This work has often involved innovation and transformation, drawing on Martin’s experience of delivering complicated changes in education. His work covers schools, assessment, textbooks and Apps, as well as working for companies as diverse as the Civil Aviation Authority, ACCA, CFA Institute and the OECD.
Prior to this, Martin has worked for the UK government and taught in the USA and China.
Martin believes that the Abbey Community Trust can develop the Abbey into a vibrant and leading community hub, supporting people across this local community and wants to work with the team of trustees to help deliver this compelling vision.
Dave Plumb, treasurer (interim)
Dave was co-opted into the trustee team in October 2022.
He has lived in Staveley for 18 years and has been active in the community in that time, including helping to ensure that Craggy Wood remained in public ownership. Until 2021 he was a director for four years of a local credit union – a member owned and operated “community bank” which operated under the regulation of the Financial Conduct Authority and the PRA.
Dave had a 35-year career in civil aviation which included responsibility for training and maintaining standards of his fellow pilots under the authority of the Civil Aviation Authority. Since retirement he has been awarded an MA in Conflict Resolution at Lancaster University.
Advisory Group
Sally Soady, Blunkett Foundation
Graham Flynn, Box Clever
Graham Collingridge, Architect
Josh Macauley, Westmorland Homecare
Daniel Hughes. Staveley Surgery
Annothai , Staveley pharmacy
Alasdair Muir, Surveyor
Jade Gibson, Community Catalysts