Board of trustees
There are currently 8 trustees on the Civic Voice board.
Mary Ash
Mary Ash was appointed to the Civic Voice board of trustees at the AGM in Chester on 22nd October 2016.
Paul Bedwell
Paul Bedwell was appointed to the Civic Voice board of trustees at the AGM in Canterbury on 24th October 2014. Paul is a Trustee of Sheffield Civic Trust, who won the Marsh Civic Society of the Year in 2016.
Phil Douce
Phil Douce is a former consultant working in Project Management at an international level for over 30 years. He has been involved with the civic society movement for eight years and is now the Chairman of Worcester Civic Society. For five years he was involved as a volunteer at a National Trust property in Worcestershire and helped in the writing of the history of the house and in conducting tours and giving talks about the property. His main interest is in historic houses and their conservation and was part of the first project run by Historic England to record the condition of Grade 2 listed structures in Worcester.
David Evans
David is currently the Secretary of Chester Civic Trust, an active and thriving civic society which runs its own (Grade 1 listed) premises. He was chair of the Trust for six years from 2008 to 2015.
David is also on the Steering Group of the Alliance of Historic Cathedral Cities and Towns (ACT, formerly HCCA), an alliance of civic societies within Civic Voice.
For most of his life David has worked in higher education and is now a (mostly) retired Professor of Biology at the University of Chester. He also spent 20 years as a member of Chester City Council, serving both as Lord Mayor and as Leader of the Council as well as a term as Cabinet member for economic development. This experience gives David an understanding of how local government and strategic planning works and experience of negotiating with and lobbying MPs and ministers.
David also served for over 20 years on my local parish council and he is still actively involved with drawing up a Local Heritage List and trying to develop a Neighbourhood Development Plan.
Martin Gunson
Martin Gunson was appointed to the Civic Voice board of trustees at the AGM in Chester on 22nd October 2016.
A founder member and past chairman of Blackpool Civic Trust, where he is currently a Vice-President, Martin is also an Honorary Life Patron of Lytham St. Anne's Civic Society, where he provides (free) professional support for their land owning subsidiary.
A Chartered Accountant since 1980, Martin currently combines running a professional practice with being the Clerk (Chief Executive) of an educational charity that dates back to 1702, and being a member of the Council of University College, Durham. He has worked as a Policy Adviser at the Office of Tax Simplification (part of H. M. Treasury), and continues that involvement on an ad hoc basis. In what time he has left, he runs a salon (palm court) orchestra raising monies for local charities.
Joan Humble (chair)
Joan Humble is the current chair of Civic Voice.
She is also chair of Blackpool Civic Trust, a lively, active group that organises projects, social events, visits and regular monthly speaker meetings. She co-ordinates their Annual Awards Ceremony and Dinner which celebrates achievement in design, new build, refurbishment and community enterprise. She is active in local voluntary groups; Chair of FC Rangers Junior Football Club, member of the Board of Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde Volunteer Centre and the Advisory Board of the Salvation Army’s Bridge Project. A graduate of Lancaster University, she is a former Civil Servant in the DHSS, then the Inland Revenue and a Lancashire County Councillor (1985-97) and a Member of Parliament (1997-2010).
Gavin Orton
Gavin was elected a board member of Civic Vocie in October 2017.
Gavin is an RIBA Chartered Architect and Associate at BPN Architects who are based in the Jewellery Quarter. He works on a wide variety of projects across Birmingham and the West Midlands. Having become involved in the Birmingham Civic Society’s Planning Committee in 2008 and became its Chair and a Trustee in 2013. Gavin was formerly Chair of RIBA West Midlands and President of Birmingham Architectural Association (BAA). During his time at the BAA, he launched Walking Architecture: Birmingham – a free architectural guide to Birmingham for smart phones. Gavin studied architecture at The Birmingham School of Architecture (Birmingham City University) and now regularly tutors MA Architecture students at the School as part of the Teaching Practice programme. Gavin is also a Trustee of Birmingham & Five Counties Architectural Association, which holds one of the largest architectural drawing collections in the UK outside of London and judges The Green Book Award.
Chris Winter
Chris Winter is currently Chair of Wells Civic Society, leading projects including a 6m diameter ‘walkable’ mosaic of the city; city centre management, in particular coach-based tourism; surveying of the myriad waterways; blue plaques to commemorate historic people and places and indoor plaques to celebrate the contribution of long established local businesses; Local Listing and Heritage Open Days; as well as monthly evening talks and occasional visits.
She is also active in a number of other local organisations: Women of Wells, organising the annual International Women’s Day event; Sustainable Wells, including One World Day and the annual Wells Food Festival and GFM local radio, presenting a monthly programme and contributing to strategic management.
Chris is a steering group member of the Alliance of Historic Cathedral Cities and Towns (ACT) and was the Director of the Historic Towns Forum (HTF) until 2010.
She has previously been involved with the Wells Neighbourhood Plan, was a school governor for three years, community correspondent for the local newspaper, and served on the Mendip Conservation Advisory Group and Conservation Area Appraisal Steering Group.
Leisure interests include walking (dogs and mountains), gardening, yoga, art galleries, literature, theatre, travel and currently leaning Italian.