Rural Conferences: The next decade. What next for rural communities?

David completed an MBA at City University Business School, following an engineering first degree at Loughborough University. He has considerable defence acquisition experience culminating in his role as Chief Operating Officer at the Defence Infrastructure Organisation where he was responsible for delivering proposals on the management of the estate as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2010.

Subsequently, David had been Managing Director within the Babcock International Group responsible for 4 businesses ranging from media and education to infrastructure both in the UK and Brazil. David is a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology as well as a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

David is a Non-Executive Director of WaND Consulting and a Trustee of Thedwastre Education Trust.

Karen studied Environmental Biology at St Andrews University and holds a diploma in Therapy at Warwick University. She lived and worked on Shetland soils for 25 years before moving to North London to work as a Nature Recovery Ranger. 

Her internationally-acclaimed ‘Nature Prescriptions’ project (RSPB Scotland) is an example of the innovative way she enjoys working. Karen looks forward to inviting people back into deeper connection with the wonderful wildlife of the Fens. 

Lucille joined Cambridgeshire ACRE in 2024, as part of the team of Village Agents, covering the Fenland area. 

Prior to joining Cambridgeshire ACRE, Lucille managed her local village Post Office for over 17 years, a role she was passionate about. She has also been heavily involved with a village hall committee, organising many social events, as well as continued fundraising for charities. 

Rachel joined the Cambridgeshire ACRE team in 2024 and leads the development of our community wellbeing work. She manages the organisation’s team of Village Agents who support individuals with their health wellbeing needs.

Rachel has an extensive background in the charity sector, with over 20 years’ experience of developing advocacy and involvement services in Cambridgeshire and of managing people. More recently, she was national Practice Lead responsible for the continuous improvement and quality of advocacy practice for nearly 400 advocates. Rachel is a BA (Hons) Psychology graduate from University of Bedfordshire.

A laboratory research scientist by training, Tate worked for over seven years in the field of infectious disease and immunology before setting his sights on a career in conservation. Eight months spent as a full-time volunteer officer with the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire provided an immersive and highly varied introduction to life as an ecological conservationist, where he developed skills in conducting biological surveys, research and monitoring of habitats, land management, and practical conservation methods among others.

Tate has a particular interest in regenerative agriculture, and the role farms have to play in response to the climate crisis and environmental degradation. He is highly involved with a local farm cluster aiming to promote and encourage more sustainable and wildlife friendly practices on agricultural land.

Angela joined Cambridgeshire ACRE in 2024. Prior to joining the team, Angela worked as an Estate Agent for over 35 years. 

After leaving her role in property, she then worked as a gardener for five years, enjoying the slower, but still rewarding, pace of work.

Gary joined the Cambridgeshire ACRE team in March 2024. His role is focused on developing affordable housing on rural exception sites.

Gary has previously worked for a number of Local Authorities and Housing Associations managing social housing. He also worked for the Audit Commission’s Housing Inspectorate and the Housing Ombudsman Service.  

He has a BSC(Hons) in Social Science from the University of Bradford and a postgraduate Diploma in Housing from the London School of Economics.