Meet the Trustees and Senior Management Team

The Board of Trustees

Kate Ashbrook
President

I was a trustee for 30 years (1982-2012), and have twice been Ramblers Chairman. I am General Secretary of the Open Spaces Society, Trustee of the Campaign for National Parks and Patron of the Walkers Are Welcome Towns Network. As President of the Ramblers, I want to champion our volunteers’ work and give a boost to our local campaigns.

Jonathan Kipling
Chairman

I am a Chartered Accountant who has worked or volunteered for a range of charities - covering student community action, holidays for children in need, education and cancer research. I have been the Founding Secretary of the Charity Finance Group and the Secretary of The Institute of Cancer Research for over 20 years - a role I hope to retire from this year so I can do more walking!

Naseem Akhtar
Vice-Chair

I am Project Manager for Saheli Women’s Group, which runs an innovative health and fitness facility for women and have worked with officers from the Ramblers Get walking Keeping Walking project in Birmingham. As a Ramblers Trustee I am looking to ensure we develop more activities and programmes to engage inner city communities to recognise the long term benefits of being active and enjoying green spaces.

Robert Peel
Hon. Treasurer

I have been involved with walking since I first joined my local Ramblers and HF groups in Yorkshire as a teenager. Alongside my career as a tax adviser, I have served on the Board of HF Holidays and as their Chairman and am now Area Secretary for Kent Ramblers. As a Ramblers Trustee I am keen to see improvement in the quality of information on which the Board takes its decisions, to focus clearly on footpath and access issues and to recruit more members.

Mike Church

I joined the Ramblers in 2000 and shortly after became Countryside Secretary for my local group North Kirklees. In 2004 I was elected Area Countryside Secretary for West Riding Ramblers, for which I am now also Area Chairman. Alongside my work in finance for a multinational home shopping group, I also organise Ramblers promotional stands at agricultural shows in North and West Yorkshire and am a Trustee of CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) West Yorkshire Branch.

Des Garrahan

Most of what I know of Britain I learnt through my feet – its heritage and culture, its dynamic urbanscapes and majestic countryside. I need little reminding that I can walk the many miles of this country’s footpaths and roam across acres of land in no small part because of the hard-won successes by the Ramblers. I don’t really have a favourite walk – to me one of the great joys of walking is discovering new places. To find out more about me read my walking class hero blog or follow me on Twitter @walkngclasshero.

Max Grant

I spent 24 years working with the Scouts in Surrey before moving to Yorkshire where I became Area Footpath Secretary for West Riding Ramblers. I am still involved with access work in Yorkshire despite retiring as a Civil Engineer to Wales in 2005, where I am Area Access Officer for North Wales Ramblers and Honorary Secretary of the Welsh Council Executive Committee. I also volunteer with the Snowdonia Society and North Wales Wildlife Trust.

James Lawson

I joined the Ramblers in 1995, the year the charity celebrated its 60th anniversary. In addition to being a Trustee I am the Vice Convener for Ramblers Scotland and Area Footpath and Countryside Co-ordinator for North Strathclyde Ramblers. I also lead walks for Strathkelvin Ramblers, my local Group, and am actively involved in the preparation of Walking Hubs for the Ramblers Scotland Medal Routes project. I am also very interested in environmental issues, especially wild land and its wildlife.

Gwyn Lewis
Chairman – Ramblers Cymru

Since joining the Ramblers nine years ago I’ve been active at a local, Area and national level. I am currently Cardiff Ramblers Rambles Officer and Footpath Officer, Glamorgan Area Footpath Secretary and Membership Secretary and Chair of the Welsh Council Executive Committee (WCEC). The above plus walking and walk leading with Cardiff Ramblers keeps me busy and (mostly) out of mischief!

Alex Mannings

The Ramblers is vital to the protection of walking and I am proud to help them as a trustee. In a professional capacity I have worked in the public and private sectors in finance. In a volunteer capacity I have been Chair of the Metropolitan Walkers and am currently Chair of the Inner London Area and the London Strollers. With walking still the most popular hobby in the UK, I want to ensure that the Ramblers is the organisation that all walkers want to join. You can follow what I am doing with the Ramblers on Twitter @LondonRamblers.

Richard May

I have been a member of the Ramblers for about nine years. After attending my first General Council in 2006 I was inspired to create Norfolk’s 20s and 30s walking group which now has an active programme of walks and a lively social programme. When not walking, I run a small IT consultancy. This has taught me just how critical the efficient use of IT is, to any business or organisation. I also spend some of my time engaged in web and application development, which I believe is further useful experience to bring with me.

Andy Rogers

I am a Chartered Management Accountant and have an MBA from Warwick University, which focused on a critical evaluation of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). I am actively involved with the Ramblers in Nottinghamshire, where I am Group Chairman and founding member of the Notts Derby & Staffordshire 40’s Walking Group, One Step Walkers. I was previously a 20s and 30s group member, spending a year as Secretary and two years as Chairman of the Notts & Derby Group.

David Thomson
Convener – Ramblers Scotland

I have enjoyed walking in Scotland’s countryside, hills and mountains all my life. I joined the Ramblers twelve years ago when I took semi-retirement from my hotel business and am still climbing mountains in the company of members of the Dalgety Bay & District Ramblers. I served as Group Secretary for a number of years and until January 2011 was Convener of the Forth Valley, Fife and Tayside Ramblers. I have just completed two years as Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees and as Convener of Ramblers Scotland. I continue to represent the Scottish Council Executive Committee on the Board.

Richard Trueman

I joined the Ramblers in 2005 and became Membership Secretary of my local group based in Cardiff, Tiger Bay Ramblers, for four years from 2007 and then acted as its Chair in 2011-12. I believe my experience in seeking to attract, welcome and retain new members and my experience of supporting and encouraging existing members to volunteer and become involved in the activities of the Ramblers would make a useful contribution to the organisation, and to the work of the Board of Trustees.

The Senior Management Team

Benedict Southworth
Chief Executive

Benedict was appointed Chief Executive of the Ramblers in December 2011. He was previously Director of the World Development Movement and has held senior management positions in Amnesty International and Greenpeace International. Benedict has more than 20 years’ experience in the charity sector, and has worked as a consultant on strategic programmes with high profile charities including ActionAid, Friends of the Earth, and UNICEF UK. Benedict was raised in Lancashire but now lives on the Surrey-Kent border. His favourite walks are on the High Weald and the Ribble Valley.

Simon Barnett
Director of Walking Programmes & Promotions

Simon joined the senior management team in 2010 and became Director of Walking Programmes and Promotion in 2012. He oversees the Ramblers work to promote walking, which includes support for Ramblers walk leaders and Walking for Health in England. Before joining the Ramblers in 2008, Simon worked for Living Streets and prior to that was a local co-ordinator for Walking for Health. Favourite places to walk include Dartmoor near where he was raised, the Chilterns where he now calls home, and the Lake District where he also fell races. Having never owned a car, Simon also makes a habit of walking short trips whenever possible.

Gary Davis
Interim Director of Finance and Operations

Following qualification as a Chartered Accountant and an early career in the accountancy profession, I spent 10 years as a finance manager in two large multinational corporations and as a VSO volunteer with the Maldives government. Prior to joining the Ramblers I spent 12 years in senior finance positions with Oxfam and the Scout Association.

Nicky Philpott
Director of Policy and Campaigns

Nicky joined the Ramblers as Director of Policy and Campaigns in September 2011. For the previous 12 years she worked at the NSPCC leading the campaigns team. She has also held campaign and policy positions at Age Concern, RNID, Scope and Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE). Nicky is committed to working with staff and volunteers to develop campaigns which preserve and increase access for walking. Nicky grew up in Somerset and her favourite walks are in the South West as near to water as possible as she likes to incorporate walking with a swim when she can.