As a registered charity, our Board of Trustees is essential in helping us to achieve our aims responsibly and effectively. They oversee operations, strategy and finances, and ensure that the Trust does what it was set out to do.
We are extremely lucky to have Trustees from a range of backgrounds who donate their time and expertise to help Calvert Exmoor consolidate its position as one of the leading centres of its type in the country, and continue to deliver challenging outdoor adventure to those with disabilities for many years to come.
Our Trustees
The Countess of Arran CVO MBE VLL – President
Lady Arran is a founding Trustee of Calvert Exmoor and was involved with the early fundraising for the creation of the Centre. She has been leading her family estate, Castle Hill, in North Devon, for the past 30 years alongside helping and supporting local charities and organisations in Devon.
Christopher Gregson MA – Chairman and Secretary
Chris is a retired Real Estate Partner and has a wealth of estate and land management legal knowledge. He has been a long-serving Trustee and joined the board before the centre opened.
Paul Petrides – Treasurer
Paul is a retired Chartered Accountant with over 43 years of experience. Paul serves as a Trustee with three other charities and is the President of the Barnstaple and District Chamber of Commerce.
Glyn Brackenbury
Glyn has spent his entire working career in and around outdoor centres, including Skern Lodge in Appledore where he worked his way through the company and spent 15 years as a director. He has run expeditions all over the world, leading trips for individuals with limited mobility, including facilitating a quadriplegic man to kayak 100 miles through Greenland’s iceberg laden fjords to arrive at the polar ice cap.
Alistair Macintosh
Alistair’s experience includes many years as a Chief Executive of a medium-sized local charity, five years chairing the Devon Consortium of Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations, and two years as the VCS representative on the Devon Strategic Partnership.
Jamie Morris
Jamie is one of the founders of North Devon business The Travel Chapter, and comes with a wealthy background in the holiday and property sector, managing and growing one of the United Kingdom’s largest and most successful holiday booking companies.
Teresa Turner
Teresa works at a charity strongly aligned with Calvert Exmoor, providing management, finance, administration and contract support. She is also a freelance project accountant and a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. She has been a Trustee at Calvert Exmoor for many years and is on the Nominations Committee.
Will Vandersteen
Will Vandersteen has over 20 years of experience in Human Resources, working initially for blue-chip consumer goods companies. Much of his experience has been as a generalist HR business partner and his last role was HR Manager at North Devon Hospice. He is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Will chairs the Nominations Committee.
Honorary Vice Presidents
- Lady Acland
- Dr Thomas Bigge RD MA MB BCHIR DODST RGOG
- Lady Gass JP
- Ann Cumming BEM
- Marcia Cook
- Colin Drummond OBE DL
- Rob Paynter
- Annie Maw LL
- Brian Sherwin
- Antoine Khayat DL
- Norman Croucher OBE
- Michael Mant
- John Gillet
- Colin Walker
Ambassadors
Our ambassadors also donate their time and bring expertise from their various backgrounds to help our work. We’re hugely grateful for the support of our ambassadors.
Further details about each Ambassador will be added here in due course..
Our ambassadors
- Peter Brend – Chairman, Brend Hotels
- Michael Caines – Celebrity Chef
- James Dodds – Chairperson, Envireau Water
- Frank Gardner – BBC Security Correspondent
- Shaun Gash – Paraplegic Adventurer
- Peter Heaton-Jones – Former MP for North Devon
- George Kempton – Rotary Link for Devon & Cornwall
- Lizzie Tench – International Para triathlete
- Steve Roach – Barnstaple Link Rotary Club