Meet our Board of Trustees

Having reared four daughters in West Cumbria, Liz became involved with running and driving a community bus. This has led to involvement with the West Cumbria Community Empowerment Network and the Patient and Public Involvement with Health Forum for the Cumbria Primary Care Trust. She believes that representation and a voice in the way services are delivered is very important in such a diverse County as Cumbria.

Leonard Coulthard is Chair of the Board. Leonard joined the board in 2001 and is an Architect in practice, based in Appleby. He has a personal interest in all development issues.

Jocelyn and her husband farm near Carlisle. She has been a Parish Councillor for over 20 years and is currently Chairman of the Carlisle District Parish Council Association, and Vice-Chairman of the County Association of Local Councils (CALC). As well as being involved in a range of rural issues, she is also a trustee of the Lakeland Arts Trust.

Andrew Humphries is the President of the Board. He has been directly involved with VAC for 5 years, but has had indirect links for the past 20 years. As President, Andrew is interested in farming and its place in rural society/economy, Communal Land Management, Regional Food, and the Leader+ programme

Alan McViety is a chartered accountant and senior partner in Dodd & Co (a local firm of chartered accountants). Alan is a native of rural Cumbria and takes a keen interest in keeping things in Cumbria. He is a member of both the Finance Committee and the Personnel Committee where he contributes financial knowledge and commercial experience.

Des O'Halloran is a professional environmentalist, working for Natural England on climate change communications. Des has worked in the environmental sector for 20 years and is especially interested in sustainable development issues in rural areas. Des also chairs the Cumbria Rural Forum on behalf of VAC.