About the Trust
The Trustees
PDF Documents are used throughout this site. Click here to get Adobe Reader to be able to view these documents.
The Barn Owl Trust is a registered charity and has Trustees who are legally accountable for controlling the management and administration of the charity. It's a voluntary post with responsibility for decision-making, policies and expenditure. Trustees attend regular meetings in their own time and each of our five Trustees has a different area of expertise that they bring to their role.
Here's a little about the five trustees and the advisory officer who look after the Trust's affairs today.
Keith Grant. Senior tour guide with a specialist bird-watching holiday company. Keith is the current chair; he is a British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) ringer and trained the other BTO ringers at the Trust. He is responsible for overseeing all our bird ringing, involved in the recruitment of new conservation staff and was instrumental in the development of the Trust's Health & Safety policy and Forward Plan. He line-manages the Head of Conservation. Keith has been interested in birds since he was a child and also knows a huge amount about butterflies and plants.
Keith has been a Trustee since 1992.
Frances Jaine Ramsden. Frances runs her own business providing financial assistance, PR, photography and training for charities and not-for-profit companies. Until 2003 she was responsible for the day-to-day workings of the office, staff and volunteers as Managing Trustee. Now semi-retired from this role, Frances line-manages the Office Manager and is joint editor of Feedback (the Trust's bi-annual magazine). She is a BTO ringer and helps with the Trust's annual monitoring of Barn Owl sites. In her professional capacity Frances is responsible for paying all the bills and producing the annual and management accounts for the Trust. In her spare time she has a garden, makes baskets, takes photographs and keeps quite a few animals.
Frances has been a Trustee since 1987.
Simon Wilson. Solicitor and a Partner in Hooper & Wollen Solicitors. Simon became the Trust's Honorary Solicitor in 1999 after moving to Devon from the South East of England where he practised law for over twenty years. He advises the Trust on legal matters. He has a keen interest in the environment and has been a member of Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace for many years. He was also involved in the creation of GASP!, a local environmental pressure group in Greenwich. As a result Simon took an MA in Environmental Law and is an active member of the United Kingdom Environmental Law Association (UKELA). Simon is active in the local community and is a Director of Torbay Development Agency Ltd. In his spare time Simon plays bass guitar in a band even though he is old enough to know better.
Simon has been a Trustee since 2000.
Chris Robinson. Chris was an advisor to the Trust for many years on any matters relating to education. She helped produce the Trust's schools' pack and helped with interviews for both the Devon and Cornwall Barn Owl surveys. Now retired, Chris was a teacher-governor at a local primary school. She and her pupils organised and maintained a small area of ancient willow coppice with stream as a wildlife habitat. Her classroom acted as a bird hide with a winter bird count of over 30 species. Ex-pupils still comment on the fact that work would stop if a new bird or new bird behaviour was spotted. She encouraged the use of school grounds as a cross curricular outdoor classroom long before it became mainstream. Chris continues her lifelong interest in ecology and conservation in retirement. Her new home includes an orchard and a stream where she can encourage wildlife and is able to involve her grandchildren's generation.
Chris has been a Trustee since January 2007.
Heather Buswell. Heather is passionate about animals and animal welfare issues and has been a Trustee since 1987.
Mark Pountney. Mark is a Senior Business Bank Manager and works closely with small businesses. He oversees and advises on all financial matters for the Trust. He was born in Gloucester where he grew up with several Dalmatian dogs but now lives in Devon. A keen bird watcher, he also loves sports and spends quite a bit of his free time working with people with mental health problems via Rethink.
Mark has been Honorary Treasurer since 2001.