Trustees & Honorary Officers

Honorary Officers

Chair of the Board of Trustees: Alison Mclean
Vice Chair: Matt Williams
Hon. Secretary: vacant
Treasurer: Richard Cryer
Flycatcher Editor: Peter Garner

Trustees

The Trustees are responsible for the overall governance of the Trust. The Board meets eight times a year, and many Trustees are also involved in other committees, advisory groups, liaising with staff and representing the Trust at events. There is a wide range of expertise on the Board.

Debbie Beaton

Moving back from Sussex to the Herefordshire border this year has bought my life full circle. I spent my formative years in Herefordshire, living just outside Risbury, near Leominster where my father was a forester. A keen ornithologist and nature lover, he introduced agro-forestry into the county and this, in turn, inspired me to take sciences at Hereford Sixth Form College and go onto Newcastle University to study Agriculture and Environmental Science.

I am passionate about sustainable land management to protect and enhance our planet and its precious species. And, as a trustee, I hope to be able to call on my experience in 32 years of agricultural publishing (Farmers Weekly and Crops) alongside recent Government think-tank and strategy consultations about future land management. I am a keen wildlife enthusiast, but no expert! I leave that to my husband, who has an encyclopaedic knowledge about birds and our two daughters who are studying and working in wildlife conservation.

Jake Bharier

I spent 20 years working for a multinational chemicals company at corporate level, in the area of health, safety and environment. Then he spent another 20 years working for Skillshare International, an international volunteering charity.

During this time, I was also, for six years, the Treasurer of CONCORD, the European confederation of international development NGOs.

I am still involved internationally, as a Trustee of APT Action on Poverty.  In the UK I am Chair of Trustees of Mountain Rescue England and Wales; and more locally an Independent Person for Herefordshire Council, providing advice when it is dealing with complaints against councillors. 

Joseph Cole

Joe grew up in the shadow of Queen’s Wood and spent 15 years working abroad on a wide range of commercial activities including hospitality and land development. He is currently CEO for a London based advice charity and a trustee for a leading international sporting team.  

Richard Cryer

I am a chartered accountant with a career in financial services and higher education.  In retirement I have held a range of non-executive posts, principally in health and social care, including being a non-executive director and finance committee chair of an NHS trust, and trustee and treasurer of charities including Amnesty International and Action for Children.

Joining HWT would represent branching out into a new field for me, but in part it would also take me back to my roots as my father worked for the Nature Conservancy for many years and family holidays were often spent touring national nature reserves and SSSIs.

Mike Dawson

Mike has had a long and successful local government career and currently operates in a consultancy role. He has extensive and varied service management experience and held corporate leadership roles for 22 years including 13 years as a Chief Executive. Mike has led county level strategic partnerships for community health, spatial planning and economic development and is well used to working with politicians, local authorities, government departments and agencies at all levels. Mike has lived near Ross on Wye for over 12 years. He is passionate about his adopted county of Herefordshire, its landscape, wildlife and habitats, but would say that he has a lot to learn. He is a keen walker and is doing his best to improve his early attempts at landscape photography!

Jacob Dowling

Jacob is a marketeer specialising in agricultural technology. He's currently the marketing lead for Trinity Natural Capital Group, which provides natural capital accounting and trading software to farm businesses. Previously, he worked for the UK's leading farm management software provider and helped launch a data marketplace for the agriculture and environment sectors. He started his career with a behaviour change consultancy. Jacob is a trustee of a leading national education charity and in his spare time enjoys racket sports, hill walking, and climbing.

Rebecca Hadaway

Becca spent four years running the corporate partnerships programme at The Royal Countryside Fund (formerly The Prince's Countryside Fund), looking after over £1.4 million in income each year. As part of this role, she developed several successful partnership initiatives, including 'Carbon Clarity', a co-created programme with Morrisons that supports farmers looking to reduce carbon on farm. Becca now works for BRODIE Consulting, a responsible business and ESG consultancy based in London. Becca joined HWT's board of trustees in 2020, under the guidance and mentorship of the Young Trustees Movement. Outside of work, Becca is a keen netballer and lives in North London. 

Alison McLean (Chair)

Alison has spent her career in rural community and economic development, working for both public and voluntary organisations and, before her retirement, as an independent consultant.  As a rural policy specialist she was formerly a Trustee of the Heritage Lottery Fund, a Board member of the Countryside Agency and Commission for Rural Communities and a Governor at the Hereford College of Arts. She has lived in Herefordshire for nearly 40 years and is now busy introducing her grandchildren to the wonders of the natural world.

Alison was awarded an OBE for services to rural affairs in 2010.

Jim Hardy

Jim runs an organic farm and for many years managed a food production business. His experience thus includes agriculture, management, finance, marketing and employment. He has been a life-long amateur naturalist and believes that a respect for nature should be at the core of all human activity.  He has a particular interest in enhancing communication between the conservation movement and mainstream agriculture and would like to continue to serve the trust both as a trustee as well as in any other way he can.

Jane Seabrook

Jane is the owner of her business, Ellis Seabrook Limited, through which she works with businesses and charities on governance, corporate culture, risk management and business ethics for entities. Previously, she was a partner in competition law in the Sydney office of the law firm Ashurst with a focus also on anti-corruption and governance. In addition to Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, Jane is on the board of the Worcestershire Cricket Board Limited and is the independent Chair of WaterAid International’s Membership and Accreditation Committee. In her free time, Jane enjoys walking, swimming, reading, gardening and exploring nature.

Matt Williams (Vice Chair)

Matt is a nature writer, wildlife photographer and environmental communications and policy expert. He's a lifelong nature lover and environmentalist. He began birdwatching at the age of five and grew up in Malvern. He has spent more than a decade working in the environmental sector, including founding and leading organisations such as UK Youth Climate Coalition and UK Youth for Nature, and winning major grants to support these projects. He has worked in the Indonesian rainforest following primates, and previously worked on environmental policy for the National Trust and RSPB. He's currently the Climate and Land Programme Lead at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit. You can find out more about Matt at mattadamwilliams.co.uk and @mattadamw.