Gareth Davies. I am interested in helping create a truly sustainable and just society and for this reason I have been involved in the work of Action21 for a number of years both as a volunteer in various projects and as a trustee. I believe that as a new charity Action21 has the capacity to make a real difference to local sustainable living by building up the recycling enterprise that it has developed over the last 10 years or so. As a trustee I also fully support the aims of building on our training and education programmes for sustainable living at the same time as recycling a large amount of material that would otherwise be thrown away. I am also committed to ensuring Action21 remains at the forefront of local sustainability initiatives with our East Lodge Sustainability Centre in Jephson Gardens.

Margaret Begg. Margaret has recently retired from being a local councillor after 23 years in this role, latterly with responsibility for environment on Warwick District Council. This has given her extensive experience of the local democratic process which will be very helpful to Action 21. Margaret looks forward to working with the board to develop new environmental projects of lasting impact in the local community. Margaret is a Trustee of Hill Close Gardens. She is keen to develop links between the Hill Close Gardens Trust and Action 21 and believes that it should be possible to instigate some beneficial work involving both organisations.

Chris Pollock.  I recently retired after 40 years in various senior management roles in large engineering groups.  Most of this period was spent in Sales, Marketing and Business Development, mainly in international markets.

In the last few years I have become increasingly interested in ecological and sustainability issues and now wish to support Action 21 in their projects, using the skills and experience I have acquired over a long and successful business management career. I am particularly interested in helping develop the Recycle Warehouse business, as the main source of revenue for Action 21.  I am convinced that there are good opportunities to substantially increase this business in a professional way with the support of the excellent team of staff and volunteers at Princes Drive and I have enjoyed my first few months working with them

Geoff Randall During his working career, Geoff was employed as an accountant in the public sector, firstly, in local government and latterly, in higher education. He was appointed as the first Director of Finance of De Montfort University in Leicester in 1989, taking voluntary early retirement in 1997. He has since been involved with the NHS, including an 8 year stint as a Non Executive Director at Warwick Hospital.

Geoff became a Trustee of Action 21 in January 2011 and now looks after the finances as Honorary Treasurer.

Ruth Wallsgrove I have just returned from five years in Australia in senior management in Rail (at NSW Rail Corporation and then United Group).  Before that I was a Director of the Institute of Asset Management, and an Executive Director at engineering research company BHR Group in Bedfordshire.  I have a long history in community activism, including working on turning a drugs education initiative into a charity and (in the 1970s and 80s) working in co-operatives.  I co-founded Transition Sydney in 2008 as a not-for-profit company.

I’ve returned to my home town of Leamington to use my business, marketing and communication skills for building a sustainable future while earning a living part time as an infrastructure (transport, water, energy) planning consultant. I am a committed Buddhist.

John Armstrong (MPhil, CEng, FCIBSE, MIMechE). John has recently retired. He previously worked as a self-employed property consultant specialising in maintenance of the engineering services in buildings.  Before that he worked at Ove Arup and Partners, the Property Department of Barclays Bank, the Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA) and  the Health Service. He was President of CIBSE during 2007-2008.

He is married to Jenny, they have three sons and four grandchildren. His youngest son, wife and two grandchildren now live in New Zealand.