Meet the Board

We now have a very dynamic group of Trustees who are all taking a really active role in looking at how we can grow our membership and continue supporting the TPT national office – as well as getting involved in their own local projects.

Meet our Board Members

	TEST Simon Geller – Chair I became the Chair of the Friends of the Trans Pennine Trail (TPT) in November 2017 when essentially Pam and I changed roles. I’m one of three Trustees in the Central area, a Volunteer Group Coordinator for Sheffield and Chair of the Cycle Rail Forum for the North. I’m also a key member of the Sheffield Cycle Forum and use all these roles to help promote the TPT and the NCN as much as possible. One of the recent projects I helped support with funding from the Friends of the TPT was the interpretation project at Beeley Woods which really provided a great place for the visitors to come and enjoy this great area. We still hope that this will become an official part of the Trail. Two themes I’m really keen to see the Friends of the TPT support are accessibility for everyone and how we can protect the TPT against climate change. We need to take action now to help protect the Trail for our future generations to enjoy when, hopefully, sustainable transport will become the norm.
	Pam Ashton – Deputy Chair My involvement with the Trans Pennine Trail (TPT) goes back to its very early years as I was the first ever appointed Trans Pennine Trail Officer, securing the initial Millennium Commission funding to kick-start the project. At a local level I keep my eye on everything Merseyside related and represent the Friends on the Mersey Group of the Trans Pennine Trail and also with Liverpool City Region. As Friends Trustees we are very mindful that the TPT office only consists of two members of staff and an apprentice so anything we can do in terms of representation is very important…and sometimes its really handy to have all the background knowledge from years gone by that can be crucial in such high level discussions.
	Les Webb – Secretary I joined the Trustees in 2016 and took over responsibility for Friends Membership in 2018. I am also a longstanding volunteer for Sustrans in Leeds, having had a hand in the establishment of the first Sustrans office in Leeds, in promoting Connect2 projects in Yorkshire, in establishing the Leeds Universities’ Velocampus bike hire scheme and in working with Northern Rail to create better bike parking provision at stations across the North. As well as being an active member of the Leeds volunteer group since 2003 and Group Co-ordinator in 2014-17. If I could have three wishes, at least one of them would be for step-free access to Leeds along the TPT at Skelton Grange Road Bridge. This is a long standing obstacle to all but the most agile cyclists as well as to wheelchairs, pushchairs, elderly and infirm pedestrians and those with small children. It is a disgrace to the City of Leeds. However, it does look like a possible solution is on the horizon! I am married with two adult daughters, 4 grandchildren and 6 bicycles.
	Kathy England – Treasurer I have been a Trustee for several years and took on the role of Treasurer in May 2018. As a Trustee I represent the Greater Manchester area at the quarterly TPT partner meetings, and also at other local meetings, events and consultations as they arise. I also support the TPT in various other ways - I'm the Volunteer Group Coordinator for the Stockport area, organising regular Task Sessions, and I'm currently the National Volunteer Representative on the Sustrans "Paths for Everyone UK Steering Group", which was set up following the review of the NCN. I've also coordinated several projects too, funded by grants received through the Friends of the TPT. We have installed six interpretation boards, which include information about the industrial heritage, and local fauna and flora. Our perching posts in the shape of hazelnuts and acorns, provide some unique resting spots for Trail users.
	Peter Brocklehurst – Trustee I have been a trustee now for a number of years representing the Pennine group. I was group co-ordinator until this year, passing that role over to my granddaughter, Charlotte. Recent activity has centred on the Longdendale Access Project (LAP) and the improvements on the old turntable base at Godley. The LAP had a successful (if not wet) official opening though there is still some work outstanding and the turntable again almost completed. Recent work has centred on repainting the Sustrans mileposts of which we have six and the usual checking of signs.
	David Bright – Trustee Presently I’m the newest Trustee and still finding my feet as one of the representatives in the Central area. My interest in the “Friends” was sparked when I became a volunteer and intensified on becoming the Volunteer Group Co-ordinator for Rotherham. Attending the FOTPT meetings and receiving regular updates of its activities has highlighted the amount of work, largely unseen being carried out to improve the TPT. I’m very interested in developing accessibility projects and looking at how we can improve the maintenance of the Trail, not only in my local patch. With this in mind we now have a well stacked cycle trailer / double wheeled barrow to transport tools and equipment to where ever they are required in South Yorkshire.
	Jane Hall - Trustee Hi, I am Jane! I guess that I didn’t really get into cycling until I was in my early 30’s but, since then, my love of travelling by bike has grown ever stronger and I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy many great adventures both overseas and closer to home, as well as local outings around Sheffield and the Peak District. From my early days of seeing the road from the back of a tandem, cycle-touring has definitely become my first choice of holiday and has featured a variety of two-wheeled machines over the years (all of which have been given names, obviously!). I have come to really appreciate the pace of travel and simplicity of life that cycle touring offers: I am undoubtedly hooked, and could bore you for many an hour with details of routes and memories of exploits! Many of my British trips and outings have been greatly enhanced by the use of Sustrans maps and signage but it was only last October, while meandering from Land’s End to John O’Groats with my husband, that I decided to step-up to volunteering with Sustrans/ Trans Pennine Trail and offer some practical help with maintaining my own local trails. So far, it looks like this is going to feature a lot of litter-picking! I certainly hadn’t expected that our month long, ‘ quick, let’s go before the next lockdown’, cycling escape would lead me to this! Since becoming a volunteer, I have offered to become a TPT Trustee as I feel it is high time that I undertook a ‘grown-up role’ following my early retirement from teaching 3 years ago and hope that I can make a worthwhile contribution to the Board. I am passionate about trying to encourage as many people as possible to take to a bike instead of a car, both for the sake of our environment and for the well-being of individuals.

Hopefully you’ve found this introduction useful in terms of highlighting how important the role of the Friends is within the TPT partnership.  Yes, sometimes it not always easy to keep upbeat when all the Local Authorities across the Trail are facing such dire budget cuts and green infrastructure is sadly often at the heart of this but by becoming a Friends of the TPT you can help make sure our voices are heard and that the Trans Pennine Trail is acknowledged in its own right and protected for us and our future generations to enjoy.

If any of you would also like to join the Board of the Friends, please get in touch with any one of us.  We’d be more than happy to help provide guidance about the role and discuss how you can help support the TPT.  In particular, we’re looking for an Eastern Trustee.  The Eastern group covers North Doncaster, Selby, North Yorkshire, York, East Riding and Hull – at the moment we don’t have a presence in this area so please do get in touch if you think you can help.

Simon Geller – Chair of the Friends of the Trans Pennine Trail
Email: friends@transpenninetrail.org.uk