Jake Bharier, incoming Chair of Trustees and Alison Mclean, former Chair
Herefordshire Wildlife Trust welcomes new Chair to the Board of Trustees
On 1st April Herefordshire Wildlife Trust’s Board of Trustees elected Trustee Jake Bharier to the role of Chair. This appointment follows the departure of Alison Mclean who stepped down when her term came to an end last month.
Jake brings a wealth of experience from both the private and charity sectors to the Trust. He spent 20 years at a multinational chemicals company at corporate level, in the area of health, safety and environment. He then moved to work for Skillshare International for a further 20 years, an international development charity working through volunteers.
Jake has also served as the Treasurer of CONCORD, the European confederation of international development NGOs, and is Chair of Trustees of APT Action on Poverty, which works with local communities in Sierra Leone, Kenya and Uganda.
Locally, Jake is an Independent Person for Herefordshire Council, providing advice in relation to the code of conduct for county and parish councillors.
Jake says of his appointment:
“In my time so far as a Trustee, I have seen the huge level of commitment, from all the people in the Trust, both staff and volunteers, I’m looking forward to working with everyone to build on this, and to engage even more people to make Herefordshire an even better environment.”
The Trust would also like take this opportunity to thank Alison McLean for her time as a Trustee and as Chair for the last four years. Alison has supported the Trust through a number of changes including the start of major projects such as Restoring Bartonsham Meadows and Wyescapes, staff changes including recruiting and inducting our new CEO this year and governance changes with the Trust becoming the sole leaseholder at Queenswood Country Park and Bodenham Lake.
Alison has always been extremely generous with her time, knowledge and experience and has been an incredible source of inspiration and guidance to staff and trustees throughout her tenure.
Alison says of her time at the Trust:
“It has been an absolute honour to act as Chair of Trustees for HWT over the last four years. I have nothing but admiration for the skills and commitment of the staff team who day in day out give their all, fostering the natural world in our beautiful county. I also extend huge thanks for the unwavering support of my fellow trustees, who, under the wise and experienced leadership of Jake, I know will steer the Trust with vision and courage towards a strong and wilder future.”