The appointments come at an exciting time for the Trust with a big wetland habitat restoration project beginning at Oak Tree Farm in the Lugg Valley, fundraising to buy a new nature reserve near Woolhope almost complete and the Trust’s Team Wilder programme supporting increasing numbers of communities and individuals to take action for nature across Herefordshire.
New Chair and Vice Chair appointed to lead the Board of Trustees at Herefordshire Wildlife Trust
Change comes to the Board of Trustees at nature conservation charity Herefordshire Wildlife Trust as Chair Brian Hurrell and Vice Chair Will Bullough step down and Alison Mclean accepts the role of Chair with Matt Williams as Vice Chair.
Alison Mclean, Chair of the Board of Trustees at Herefordshire Wildlife Trust
Incoming Chair Alison McLean 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.
Alison Mclean said:
“There is an urgent need to protect nature and wild places. Also, we need to act now to reverse the devastating decline in the natural world that we see all around us. Herefordshire Wildlife Trust is at the forefront of this work in our County and is linked into a country-wide movement that is campaigning for a change of direction at a national level so that we can hand on to our children and grandchildren places that are richer in wildlife, not poorer. It is an honour to be asked to Chair the Trust and I look forward to working with our members, volunteers and the wider community.”
Matt Williams, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, Herefordshire Wildlife Trust
Incoming Vice Chair Matt Williams is a nature writer, wildlife photographer and environmental communications and policy expert. He's a lifelong nature lover and environmentalist - beginning 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.
Matt Williams said:
“There is no more important time than this year for charities like Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, and it’s a privilege to have the chance to help the organisation as its Vice Chair. Later in 2022 the United Nations will agree new 2030 global nature goals, which will need to be delivered on the ground in places like Herefordshire. But governments in the UK have a gap to close between their promises on nature and the reality on the ground. The Wildlife Trusts are at the forefront of closing that gap by holding governments to account and by caring for many special places for nature like those found in Herefordshire.
“I’m excited to help lead this work from the role of Vice Chair; I’d like to express my thanks to my predecessor Will Bullough.”
The charity’s Board of Trustees comprises 11 Trustees in total who oversee the Trust’s work and support its 27 full and part-time members of staff and over 500 volunteers.
Brian Hurrell, Chair for six years, will continue to sit on the Board as well as continuing his role with the nature reserves volunteer ‘work parties’. Will Bullough, former Vice Chair, will also continue on the Board, and as a member of the Trust’s Conservation Committee. During their tenure, the Trust has seen much change, including the move of their headquarters from Tupsley in Hereford to Queenswood Country Park & Arboretum which it now manages in partnership with New Leaf Sustainable Development. It has also increased its landholdings during that time and now manages 57 nature reserves across the county. Much has also been achieved through several major projects including Lugg Wetland Gem which saw the creation of fantastic habitat features such as reed bed and shallows to benefit wetland wildlife at Bodenham Lake and Pooling Together, which saw the restoration of a network of ponds across the Bromyard Downs and Bringsty Common as well as the ongoing successes of current projects: Hereford Yazor Brooks Restoration project, Conserving Herefordshire’s Ice Age Ponds and Nature, Nurture, Nourish which supports the Trust’s volunteers.
Herefordshire Wildlife Trust’s CEO Helen Stace said:
“I would like to take this opportunity to his to thank Brian Hurrell for his hard work on our behalf and his wise counsel and guidance whilst I have been in post. Fortunately, both he and Will Bullough have agreed to continue to support the Trust on the Board.”