People
Civic Voice has two staff and a Board of eight trustees.
Paula Ridley (Chair)
Paula is Chair of Civic Voice. She has been involved in the civic movement for over 30 years and is Hon. Vice President of Merseyside Civic Society, following many years as Hon. Secretary, where one of her key activities was helping to save the Albert Dock in Liverpool – the largest group of Grade 1 listed buildings in the country - from both dereliction and unsuitable development in the 1980s. She was Chair of the Victoria and Albert Museum from 1998 – 2007, Director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Chair of the Liverpool Housing Action Trust, a large housing regeneration scheme in Liverpool. Paula has had a long and varied career in both public and private sectors and throughout has always retained a keen interest in civic affairs, regeneration and architecture. Paula is Chair of the Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art, the National Student Drama Festival, and is on the board of the National Communities Resource Centre. Paula is a CBE and a Fellow of the RIBA.
Contact Paula – paula.ridley@civicvoice.org.uk
Tony Burton (Director)
Tony Burton is Director of Civic Voice. Tony has over 20 years experience in voluntary conservation and environmental organisations and community campaigning. He was previously the National Trust’s Executive Board member responsible for Strategy and External Affairs for 8 years and left the Campaign to Protect Rural England after 13 years in 2001 as Deputy Director. Tony has been Chair of Wildlife and Countryside Link and a founder trustee of Heritage Link – the two main voluntary sector liaison bodies – and was a member of Richard Rogers’ Urban Task Force. He has a strong track record in national campaigning and lobbying. Tony is a geographer, town planner and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Contact Tony – tony.burton@civicvoice.org.uk
Ian Harvey (Co-ordinator)
Ian Harvey is Co-ordinator of Civic Voice. Ian has been at the heart of the civic movement for over 7 years. He worked previously for the Civic Trust where he managed the civic society and membership programme and sits on the committee for both the Merseyside Civic Society and the Wavertree Society. He has also been involved in Friends of Liverpool Monuments, Friends of Halewood Country Park and is currently in the process of establishing a residents association. Ian is a graduate of Liverpool John Moores Business School.
Contact Ian – ian.harvey@civicvoice.org.uk
Martin Meredith (Treasurer)
Martin is Civic Voice’s Treasurer. He has been involved in Chester Civic Trust for over 10 years and is Honorary Secretary. After a career as a senior financial manager in international insurance Martin has devoted time and energy to numerous local bodies involved in heritage and culture and is on the Finance Committee of his local golf club after 6 years as its Treasurer.
Freddie Gick
After an international career in human resources Freddie has helped build Birmingham Civic Society into an effective and respected organisation delivering a broad range of programmes from planning and heritage to tree planting and citizenship. Freddie was Chairman of Birmingham Civic Society between 2004 and 2009 during which time it has taken 7,000 children through a citizenship program, obtained a Grant of Arms, increased very significantly the number of active volunteers and secured commercial and local authority funding. Freddie is also involved in the regional grouping, West MASA, and is Chairman of Sutton Coldfield Municipal Charities, a trustee of the Birmingham and Midland Institute and Sir Barry Jackson Trusts and Hon Vice President of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists.
David Lovie
David has a long career in conservation and environmental education. He is a member of the Executive and Planning Group of Alnwick Civic Society. David was President of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation between 2003 and 2008 and founded and chaired the North East Environmental Education Forum for over 25 years. He has also been Chair of the Urban Design Alliance and currently chairs the team co-ordinating Northumberland’s Heritage Open Days programme. As a conservation consultant he has undertaken surveys of the nature of civic societies in the North East and Cumbria and initiated Newcastle’s famous Grainger Town Partnership, involving nearly £300m of public and private investment. David is a writer and lecturer and has advised the BBC in the north east.
Helen Marcus
Helen is Vice President of the Heath and Hampstead Society, one of the oldest civic societies in the country. She is on the committee of the London Forum and edits its newsletter as well as that of her local civic society. Helen has a musical background – both as a retired opera singer and through her involvement in chairing the Hampstead and Highgate Festival and involvement with the Royal Academy of Music’s Development Committee and as a trustee of London Opera Players. She is also experienced in arts promotion, including as the former artistic director of performances of the New Shakespeare Company at the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park. Helen founded the Camden Amenity Forum and was the first elected representative from the voluntary sector on Camden’s Local Strategic Partnership. She has wide experience of local restoration projects, including Hampstead Town Hall.
Paul Myers
Paul is Secretary of the Midsomer Norton Society and has been one of the main instigators of the Wessex Civic Society Network – a new cluster of local groups. He is also Chairman of the local Chamber of Commerce. Paul’s background is in marketing and communications, working with British Telecom, British Aerospace and ntl among others. He has experience in PR, website design, branding and event management. Paul is also a qualified Radio Production Assistant and is a trained handloom weaver. Among other jobs he runs a small business which produces British ethnic textiles and maintains traditional handloom weaving skills.
David Tittle
David is actively involved in the Coventry Society – the first member of Civic Voice – where he has helped in its revival as a lively local campaigning group. He works as Head of Design Excellence at the West Midlands architecture centre, MADE, and manages CABE’s urban design summer school. He has a postgraduate diploma in urban design. David worked for the Civic Trust in the early 2000s, managing the Pathfinder programme for strengthening civic societies. He is also involved with the Spon End Building Preservation Trust which has restored a terrace of six medieval buildings to mixed-use.
John Walker
John is Chairman of the Kent Federation of Amenity Societies, one of the longest standing and most effective groupings in the country. He is also a founder member and is Vice Chairman of the Canterbury Society and Chairman of Whitstable Music Society. He was formerly a trustee of the Kent People’s Trust and the Museum of Kent Life. John has a business background with 20 years experience on the Board of a PLC.