"I moved down to Wallingford from Edinburgh with my husband in 2015 - two weeks before we had our first child.  Not knowing a single other person in Oxfordshire, let alone Wallingford, I started to slowly find my way around town at a time that can feel very isolating even in the most neighbourly of places.

I’ve had a diverse range of job roles working in a diverse range of organisations - but have found my happy place firmly rooted in the community and voluntary sector.  I currently support grassroots groups and charitable organisations across the county at Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action (OCVA). Having led a programme that distributed £1.3 million NHS funds to 128 activities to support everyday health and wellbeing in communities, I’m always in awe of what communities can achieve when they have the opportunity.

In town, I co-founded a greenspaces charity in 2000 - Wild about Wallingford - and have more recently been involved in setting up a hyperlocal community connecting organisation - Wallingford for All CIC.  

I’m very excited about the opportunities that can be created through Wallingford Community Land Trust Limited - for the whole town and beyond!"

"I am a Wallingford native and apart from 3 years at Falmouth University I have lived here all my life. I feel very lucky to have grown up in a town with a strong connection to community and nature.

I studied Product Design at university and I currently work in London and Oxford as a Materials Consultant and Cycle Courier respectively.  I am starting out in the world of community action, and I am excited to give back to a community that has given me so much."

"Originally from Yorkshire, I took the indirect route to Wallingford, living in Belgium before settling here in 2024. What immediately drew my wife and I to the area was (of course) the great access to green spaces - but in particular the strong sense of community.

In my professional life, I have worked in strategic and local economic development roles internationally and across the UK. I currently lead a £1 million funding programme in Oxford that supports a range of projects across the city. Much of my work has involved bringing together businesses and stakeholders in sectors including tourism and food and drink.

Through the Wallingford Community Land Trust, I’m most excited to bring my experience of partnership-working to help drive inclusive economic growth in my hometown (and the town where my newborn son will grow up!)

In town, you’ll usually find me walking my dog Elton, playing football on the Sports Park, or enjoying a drink at the Cross Keys."

Coming soon...

"I first lived in Wallingford in the late 1980s and immediately fell in love. Unfortunately, I didn’t drive at the time and was hampered by poor public transport connections so had to move away, vowing to return. I moved back with my husband and son in 2003 and have been here ever since, enjoying both greatly improved public transport and having my own car. Sadly, my husband died a year later, leaving me to raise our son as a single parent. 

In 2009 my disabled widowed mother came to live near to me and enjoyed as full and happy a life as she was able, thanks to Wallingford’s caring and supportive community. I’ve had had a long academic career as a medieval historian, covering NW France, the Norman Conquest, Mont St Michel and medieval Wallingford, as member of The Wallingford Historical & Archaeological Society (TWHAS) and Wallingford Museum, of which I am a director. 

Having developed a long-term disabling condition I have become very interested in health-related issues. I have been a public contributor to health research for many years, where I take every opportunity to advocate for family carers, inspired by those who attend Wallingford’s Caring for Carers group each month.Its founder Val Wolsey and I have laid the foundations for Dementia Friendly Wallingford.  

I have served as a Wallingford Town Councillor since 2019 and  District Councillor since 2023, where I serve on Planning, Health Scrutiny and Licensing committees.I also represent Oxfordshire on the National Association of Local Councils.  This gives me valuable insights into how much can be achieved by communities working with or alongside their town or parish councils in providing what might be missing. Here it is the lack of a community hub in its widest sense, a place where anyone can drop in and find the best of us, where our varied community groups and our young people can meet regularly and safely, where the important social networks are discovered, formed and nurtured, open to all. 

We’ve lost great groups for lack of a physical base – that needs to change. Wallingford CLT is open to all and anything it achieves will belong to all. Working together we can achieve what we need to achieve to ensure Wallingford offers the very best it can for all of us – so let’s get started!"