David Jones – Trustee
Chair
Dave worked in partnership with WEN for over six years when he was a Recycling Officer for Wirral Council. He is a keen upcycler and believes in zero waste and a fairer society for all. He developed the first Refresh project in Seacombe, tackling bulky waste and poverty. He also won an award for the GASP, (Green Air Schools Project) that tackled air quality by planting lots of hedgerow around schools. He is an allotment holder and is working towards a year round sustainable plot that also future proofs old age! He currently works in the third sector developing community engagement.
Dave Brown – Trustee
Treasurer
I have recently retired from a career in IT Project and Programme Management and have spent the last couple of years trying to understand how to grow fruit, vegetables and flowers on an allotment. I have seen first-hand the benefits that the various gardening courses run by WEN can have.
I think it is becoming more and more important to understand the effects our activities are having on the planet and organisations such as WEN have a very important part to play in both educating and helping people to actually make an environmental difference. As I now have more free time, I hope to use it by being a trustee at WEN and helping them deliver their very important objectives.
Perle Sheldricks – Trustee
I joined WEN as a trustee quite some time ago at the invitation of Jim O’Neil (sadly now deceased).
I accepted the invitation as I believe in educating the public about environmental matters, which is the main objective of WEN.
I am also involved with other environmental groups on Wirral, including Transition Town West Kirby (Core Group), Wirral Tree Wardens, and Wirral Green Party.
However, as I was working full-time I was previously unable to assist or spend any time in the WEN office which is the hub of what is happening. Since I left work, I now have a lot more time to engage with WEN.
Anne Litherland – Trustee
I am a former ranger at Port Sunlight River Park and Birkenhead Park and now retired. I am a member of Wallasey Tree Planting Group, Ham Community Garden, Wirral Wildlife and run a fairtrade stall at Holy Apostles and Martyrs parish. I am committed to the aims and objectives of Wirral Environmental Network and have enjoyed working with them on grant funded projects linking communities in Wirral. Our parish works closely with Faiths4Change also promoting sustainable lifestyles and there is scope to improve this cooperation with WEN.
Ben Shoebridge – Trustee
Ben is a Wirral Schools Eco Council Student Leader and Eco Lead at Calday Grammar, where he is a student. He led Staff, Senior Leadership Team, Governors and the Student Body to achieve Calday Grammar School’s first ever Green Flag – eradicating plastic sauce sachets, improving school grounds, attracting biodiversity and closing the floodgates on a massive litter problem.
He is expanding this environmentally conscious mindset across the whole community, and supporting Calday Grammar School’s progress towards its Green Flag renewal.
In his spare time, Ben volunteers for the RNLI.
Dominic Griffiths – Trustee
Dominic leads energy saving projects and teams in his role at Energy Projects Plus.
Energy Projects Plus (EPP) is also an environmental charity. Established in 1996 to help residents to reduce their carbon footprints, his main focus is on helping vulnerable residents to reduce household energy demand, in order to reduce the size of energy bills, and therefore to help people keep warm and well through winter at as low a cost as possible.
In his role at EPP he focuses on delivering training, supporting partners in helping residents and bid writing.
Amongst other things, he holds PAS2035 Retrofit, Domestic Energy Assessor and Carbon Literacy qualifications.
Claire Shields – Trustee
I have over 15 years of experience in education, specialising in teaching biology and computer science. Now, I work from home in the field of EdTech, collaborating with various UK universities to create postgraduate courses. Alongside this, I’m studying part-time for a master’s degree and plan to pursue a PhD, focusing on pro-environmental behaviours and climate change from a psychology perspective.
I also volunteer as a warden at the Butterfly Park and as a Climate Champion. Additionally, I’m involved in the Schools Climate Ambassador programme, working to inspire young people to engage with environmental issues.
With experience working at a strategic level within education and a postgraduate qualification in strategic leadership, I hope to bring both my strategic insight and digital skills to Wirral Environmental Network.
David Pye – Company Secretary
David is one of the original founding members of the organisation and has been membership secretary, treasurer and a trustee in the past. He is also Company Secretary and IT Manager of the Energy Projects Plus charity.
His background is in research chemistry and IT. He also holds a master’s degree in Digital Video Production. David now lives in Somerset but is a regular visitor to Merseyside.
He is also treasurer of the International Vegetarian Union and chair of the charity Vegetarian for Life.
Carol Seery – Sustainability Project Manager – Horticulture
Carol holds a Master Horticulture qualification with the Royal Horticulture Society (RHS) as well as a teaching qualification.
She has worked for WEN for over 13 years and during that time has run many vocational and non vocational courses, delivered programmes for Life Long Learning, worked with community groups to set up environmental garden groups, organized event days and given countless talks to local groups.
Kenny Peers – Sustainability Project Manager
Specialty – Community Projects, Gardening, Food
Kenny was drummer in a Wirral based band in the 1970s and then a teacher. He has been with WEN for over 15 years as a sustainability officer, leading projects, delivering courses and training, working with community groups.
He is a keen gardener and allotment plot holder.
His speciality is community engagement.
Naomi Graham – Office Manager and Sustainability Project Manager
Specialty – Organisational Management, Climate Emergency Education, Waste & Energy
Naomi’s background is in Economics, IT and Project Management. She is also qualified in Zero Waste with the Chartered Institute of Waste Management and Level 3 Energy Awareness with National Energy Action, Carbon Literate and an Adult Education Trainer Level 3 .
Naomi has 25 years of project delivery, organisation and team management experience in private, public and charity sectors working with internal and community groups.
Pam McCarron – Marketing and Communications
Pam is the go to person for marketing, events and membership. She has a long history of volunteering with Wirral Environmental Network and is also the secretary of the Wirral Allotment Society
Phil McHoul – Finance, accounts and IT
Phil has worked for WEN since Dec 1999 and over his lifetime has cycled approx 60,000 miles.
His background is in Manufacturing Systems Engineering and Product Design & Management
Laura Higginbottom – Website and E-Communications
We are grateful to have Laura as part of our team. She is highly experienced in writing, design and working with websites, social media and e-communications. She also has special interests in environmental issues and wildlife conservation.
Bernadette Bennett – Sustainability Lead – Food
Tinagh Howell – Volunteer Coordinator
Annie Jackson – Membership Secretary
I moved back to the area four years ago after running a wholefood shop in Somerset and before that doing various things including teaching, copy writing, working at the National Centre for Folk Arts and a horticultural college among other things.
I’m old enough to remember a cleaner, simpler lifestyle which has largely been lost, so it’s encouraging that a new generation is keen to return to a way of living focusing not on greed and consumption but on long-term sustainability and community
Our Wonderful Volunteers
Our team wouldn’t be complete without all the members of the community that give so many volunteering hours. Community gardening, furniture reuse, food, craft, cycling, finance, office, events…..
Many thanks to our former Trustees
Katrina Chapman
Trustee 2017 – 2023
I’m Katrina and I started my own business in 2018 – upcycling furniture.
I opened my shop a year later and continue to develop my workshops and creativity.
Prior to my business adventure I spent over 20 years in youth work and community development across Cheshire and Wirral.
I got involved with WEN in 2017 through doing an upcycling project working with WEN, the council and Magenta Housing.
I love the ethos of WEN and all things Environmental and it fits in with the ethics of my business. I became a Trustee in 2020 to continue to offer my support and help within the community and to help WEN progress and continue their aims for the generations to come.
I teach and deliver upcycling painting workshops, children’s craft classes and sell furniture – both upcycled and in its ‘raw’ form.
Nick Drew
Trustee 2020 – 2022
Following a career in project management, programme management and business change & communications, I switched my focus to Climate Change, believing that this is the biggest challenge facing humanity.
I spent time on the core group for Transition Town West Kirby, before setting up Planet Heswall (another Transition group) and continue in a voluntary role co-ordinating Transition Towns across the NorthWest. Through Planet Heswall, I have been engaged with Wirral’s Climate Partnership and helped develop the current Cool Wirral Strategy. I was certified as “Carbon Literate” in February 2020.
I became the Co-ordinator for LCR Year of Environment 2019, working to Metro-Mayoral Advisor Gideon Ben-Tovim. When that role ended, I became the ERDF Low Carbon Lead at the NorthWest Local Energy Hub, working with Central Government and grant applications from Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire & Warrington, and Liverpool City Region.
I have a particular interest in the psychology of Climate Change and am an active member of the UK Climate Psychology Alliance. In this context, my focus is on helping people come to terms with an uncertain future as our stable climate starts to break down.
I became a Trustee of WEN in 2020 having previously been a member for several years.
Judith Anton
Trustee 2014 – 2022
I have been a trustee of WEN since 2014. It was suggested I join mainly because of my involvement with the grounds around the WEN office.
I am the chair of a community group called Falkland Road Organic Growers (FROG) who run the community garden/allotment which we built about 8 years ago on a previously unused area of tarmac at Falkland Road. This group has also developed into helping Carol Seery with planting and selling plants and bulbs for fundraising for WEN.
My interests are with growing vegetables as an activity to promote mental and physical health, for healthy food and to make waste or unused areas greener.
My main environmental concerns are with litter and the use of waste plastic on land and sea. I am concerned about climate change and the destructive use of plastics but I am a foot soldier rather than a visionary and prefer the practical tasks of local conservation work, litter picking and dealing with plants.
Peter Stephens
Trustee 2020 – 2022
I have been gardening on my allotment in Wallasey for more than twenty-five years. I grow mostly vegetables and fruit, with just a few flowers. I started to attend a gardening class at WEN, run by Carol Seery, about six years ago, and since then have become involved in several of WEN’s activities, including the winter and summer fairs, where plants and refreshments are sold to raise money to help to pay for the maintenance costs of WEN.
I have always been concerned about issues such as climate change and our care for the environment, and WEN takes a lead in Wirral to help publicise and achieve some improvements in these areas.
Brian Parry
Trustee 2009 – 2022
Brian has been involved in the organisation since 1998 when it was the Wirral Green Alliance. At that time, Brian had just returned to the area from America which he had visited on a Winston Churchill Fellowship, including time in Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Seattle. He was inspired by the book “A Patch of Eden” about America’s Inner-city gardeners and contacted Wirral Green Alliance. He became a Trustee of WEN many years ago.
