Meet our trustees

Professor Patricia Broadfoot, CBE FAcSS

Chair of the Board

Patricia has been Chair of CPRE Gloucestershire since 2017, a Trustee of national CPRE since 2017 and National Vice Chair since 2022. She is an educationist and has spent her career in academia. She is currently Professor Emerita at the University of Bristol, having previously held senior roles there, and was formerly Vice-Chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire. She is currently a Lay Minister in the Church of England and a member of the Bishop’s Council in the Diocese of Gloucester. Recent board roles include being a Governor of the Royal Agricultural University and Vice-Chair of the Lloyds Bank Foundation. Patricia lives near Wotton-under-Edge in Gloucestershire. She is a keen walker and gardener and is passionate about the Gloucestershire countryside.

Steve Smith

Vice Chair

Steve started his career in agricultural research after gaining a degree in Agricultural Botany from Reading University.  He then moved into the pharmaceutical industry and spent the rest of his career in drug development. Whilst living in Switzerland and working for Swiss pharmaceutical company, Sandoz (now Novartis), he completed an MBA.  Following his return to the UK in 1996 he set up and ran businesses supporting biotechnology and small pharmaceutical companies involved in developing new therapies.

Over the last 10 years Steve has been involved and is still involved in a number of charities as a Trustee including a charity he set-up with his late wife (Changing Futures) that supports educational projects in Swaziland.  Last year following retirement he moved to The Cotswolds from Goring-on-Thames.

Claire Feehily

Treasurer

Claire joined the Board in May 2024. She is a qualified accountant who worked in local government in London and Essex before moving to Gloucestershire in 2011.

Claire is an experienced board director and trustee in a range of organisations, including government departments, and she has particular experience in finance and risk.

Locally, she chaired Healthwatch Gloucestershire until 2017, an organisation that advocates on behalf of people using health and social care services, and Claire subsequently joined the Board of Gloucestershire Hospitals where she chaired the audit committee.

She has also worked for the Gloucestershire Probation Trust and is currently a non-executive director of two neighbouring NHS organisations.

Claire lives in Minchinhampton near Stroud. She’s especially interested in the positive benefits of being in this marvellous landscape, and spends as much time as she can outdoors – walking and talking!

Heather Mackenzie

Heather Mackenzie was born in Derbyshire into a family with deep agricultural ties – both parents worked in farming and with MAFF, and her maternal relatives were Staffordshire dairy farmers. Childhood visits to family farms sparked a lifelong connection to the countryside.

She studied Literature and History at the University of Durham before beginning a career in technology. After joining a U.S. tech firm in London, she moved to Dallas, Texas, to broaden her experience. There, she led major software implementations across a range of industries, travelling extensively and enjoying the American countryside through walking, riding, fishing, and visits to national parks.

After five years in the US, Heather returned to the UK and continued working in the tech sector, supporting both government and private clients. While living in London, she served on the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Ball Committee, helping to raise funds and secure high-value auction prizes.

Now based in Amberley, near Stroud, Heather is a former member of the Honourable Company of Gloucestershire and served on its Community Support Group, allocating grants to local charities. Her interest in the environment-shaped in part by her grandfather’s passion for farming-led her to become a Trustee of CPRE Gloucestershire, where she supports the charity’s countryside campaigning as well as its IT systems and digital tools.

Richard Tyson

Richard is still trying to retire as a barrister. Professionally, he was Head of his barristers’ Chambers for some 10 years and also sat as a part time judge sitting in crime, civil and family courts.

With his wife, Richard owns some 200 acres of beech wood in Cranham. This is in an AONB, SAC and SSSI and it is managed on a conservation basis with the assistance of the higher tier Countryside Stewardship Grant. Most of the woods are on common land and walkers and horse riders are welcomed.

In his past village, Richard was Chair of the Friends of his local church and also, a parish councillor for many years. In his current village, he is secretary of the Cranham Common Trust. Most of the land is let to Natural England who manage and graze it. Initiatives on the common include adder telemetry, butterfly transepts, and regular work parties ‘scrub bashing’.

It is one of the first open commons in the country to use a ‘Nofence’ system where our cows are fitted with collars containing a GPS system where the cows learn where they can, and can’t, go and no fencing is required.

A keen fisherman, Richard is on the committee of an ancient fishing club that has access to some 26 miles of southern chalk streams.

Richard is very keen on a sustainable living countryside and in the past has initiated and progressed a low cost social village housing scheme of some 20 units.

Aimee Malcolm

Aimee has collaborated extensively with CPRE in Gloucestershire through her engagement with the local canal network, and she is an active member and supporter of our initiatives. Her most recent role is serving as the Fundraising Ambassador for the Cotswold Canals Trust. Additionally, she has worked with The Nelson Trust and currently holds a national position within the Canal & River Trust as the Trusts & Statutory Fundraising Manager.

With 33 years of experience in the UK public, charitable, and voluntary sectors, Aimee has taken on development, communications, and fundraising roles since 2008. Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to making significant contributions to society across various organisations, particularly in local charities with a national vision.

Having lived and worked in and around Gloucestershire all her life, growing up in Chipping Norton, Aimee’s commitment to the county’s protection is the primary motivation behind her volunteering as a Trustee.

Her strengths lie in strategic planning and relationship development within regulated and ethical fundraising frameworks. She is passionate about working with organisations to engage with charitable, statutory, and public sector funders.

As a Trustee for CPRE Gloucestershire, Aimee aims to support our charity in its mission to protect this extraordinary county, ensuring that communities and landscapes are connected, vibrant, and preserved for future generations.

Bob Brown

In the early 1960s, Bob worked for an agricultural contractor on the Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire Fenland. He joined MAFF (now DEFRA) in 1965, initially advising on land drainage and water supply and later on farm buildings. Subsequently he was involved for c.15 years in implementation of MAFF’s role in land use planning in ‘Avon’ and later in the West Midlands and North West planning regions. Following another role change, Bob became responsible for implementing agri-environment schemes in ‘South Mercia’, including the Cotswolds Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) and Countryside Stewardship.

Since becoming actively involved in CPRE in 2004, Bob has undertaken various local, regional and national roles, including representing CPRE on the National Minerals Forum for 4 years, contributing to national CPRE policy on farming issues, especially agricultural land quality, and leading the CPRE South West Minerals Topic Group (a role no longer relevant after the scrapping of regional tiers of government).  Within CPRE Gloucestershire he is a member of the Policy Sub-committee and has a county wide advisory role on mineral planning. He is currently secretary of CPRE Forest of Dean District.

Colin Evers

By birth a Northerner, Colin has lived in the Forest of Dean. Now retired, he spent most of his professional life working in the nuclear divisions of the UK electricity generation industry, mainly specialising in environmental and safety technology.

His CPRE involvement commenced when it was suggested he became a member over 25 years ago. Since then, he has become increasingly involved as a volunteer, serving on committees of both CPRE Gloucestershire Branch and Forest of Dean District.

Concurrent with that, for many years, he was also a parish councillor serving a parish that was itself a CPRE member. He brings to CPRE a diverse spectrum of subject and topic interests that range from societal wellbeing and energy supply, to wildlife conservation and commonland law.

David Crofts

David Crofts is a retired chartered town planner who started his career in local government before moving to corporate consultancy in 1998. In 2012 he set up his own sole practice, Estcourt Planning. In that role he represented the Gloucestershire Branch at many planning inquiries and hearings, drafted objections to proposals the Branch considered particularly important (including a solar farm on the Awre peninsula, an anaerobic digestion plant at Fiddington and the relocation of Forest Green Rovers Football Club), and contributed to the Branch’s representations on the Joint Core Strategy.

David has lived in Gloucestershire since 1978 and as a regular walker is very familiar with its varied landscapes. He is an active member of the National Trust and has given much practical help to the maintenance and improvement of its rural estate across England and Wales. He has continued his membership of the Royal Town Planning Institute.