Patron, Chair & Secretary
Mike is the author of three books on climate change and sustainability:
* How Bad Are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint Of Everything
* The Burning Question
* There Is No Planet B: A Handbook for the Make or Break years
Having trained and worked in London and run her own practice, Tracey moved to Cumbria in 2011. Since 2014 she has been associate director at 2030 architects in Penrith, and has strongly promoted the practice commitment to architecture with a low environmental impact.
Tracey has worked with CAfS on many occasions. She’s been doing a self-build renovation of an off-grid farmhouse and hosted home visits and talks as part of our Cumbria Green Build Festival. She brings a focus on the built environment and renewable energy, along with valuable experience in business management, communication and generating income.
When not working on her own house, Tracey loves walking on the fells with her two border collies and cooking up a storm using windmill power.
He has set up a water quality testing citizen science programme in Ambleside, using weekly river tests, publicly-available flow data and satellite images to analyse results and publish reports.
He is a member of the British Computer Society and a chartered engineer. He moved in 2018 to Ambleside from West Yorkshire and enjoys cycling, mountain walking and orienteering in his spare time, as well as being a volunteer walk leader.
Trustees
Her support will help CAfS with the ‘people’ part of the three Ps; supporting Cumbrians to make the biggest difference they can in our challenging times.
Mandy was a change consultant for Government for several years, focusing on multi-agency working for the benefit of young people. She has an MBA from London Business School, and worked in the arts and museums, before specialising in a collaborative approach to caring and community.
Mandy is highly committed to creating a zero-carbon, wellbeing way of living that will support our 12-year race for climate sustainability – professionally, politically and personally through her activism.
Tim spent his childhood near an oil refinery and that shaped his desire to ‘escape’ and spend his working life in applied geography. This encompassed construction, planning and education in the private, public and charity sectors. In the early part of his career, he was a planning analyst for ARAMCO, but decided to leave the corporate world and to ‘make a difference’ working with young people.
His favourite quote comes from Confucius ‘If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people’.
By background, Tim is geographer and a former Chair of the Royal Geographical Society’s NW region. He moved to Cumbria in 2004 and he is a former Threlkeld parish councillor.
Tim says what attracted him to CAfS was the opportunity to share his skills and experience with a like minded committed team to help have a positive impact towards building a sustainable economy whilst protecting our biodiversity.
In her previous role in BT, 20 years of managing customer experience and process improvements instilled a strong understanding of scaling operations and the importance of making customer journeys easy. Earlier roles with the Audit Commission and CBI also refined her skills in policy communication and government engagement.
A previous a professional fundraiser, school governor, and Chair of Governors, and based in Cumbria since 2021, Joanna is committed to CAfS’ mission and looking forward to the opportunity to support a fair transition to net zero in her adopted community.
In running her own consultancy, Kirsten seeks to drive a focus on sustainability when helping clients to explore strategic options, develop robust investment cases and practical benefits realisation plans, to maximise value to people, planet and local communities for every pound spent.
Originally from a tenant farming background, Kirsten has a keen interest in reconnecting people with land and nature, land use and real food, particularly in supporting the next generation, and is actively involved in a couple of local, micro-projects.
Having lived in West Cumbria for 17 years, Kirsten loves to spend time with her family and friends in and around the lakes, walking, running and being in nature. Through the role of CAfS Trustee, she hopes to have a more direct impact on, and understanding of, the local drive for sustainability both professionally and personally.
Harrison is 2 years into reading LLB (Hons) Law with Politics and will be using the final year of his Undergraduate Degree to focus on environmental law and policy, before going on to study a Master’s Degree in a similar field. In July of 2024, he was appointed as a Governor of Lancaster University.
During his time as Lancaster’s political lead for Climate and Sustainability, Harrison found a strong passion for political ecology and aspires to use his passion to protect the planet as an Environmental Solicitor and Climate Advocate.
Away from his career, he is an avid sportsman and is the Vice-Captain of Lancaster’s Lacrosse Club.
Patrin moved to Cumbria in 2021 to be near family, after many years in London, The Hague, Bangkok (where her parents live), and various US cities. She is a volunteer with Anti Racist Cumbria and loves books, museums, singing and eating with friends, and gentle runs in the trails around Ambleside, especially accompanied by her young son.
Associate Trustees
Prior to returning to his studies, Charlie spent two years in Australia working in agriculture and landscape restoration after a brief stint in business consultancy in London. He loves seeking out diverse perspectives on land management and studying the innovative ways we can adapt and mitigate the challenges facing us in a warming world.
Charlie grew up in a farming family in Kings Meaburn, just outside Penrith. Alongside conservation and agriculture, he has an interest in the use of traditional building materials, particularly lime, in retrofitting old stone-walled properties to make them more energy efficient. He is also a keen dry-stone waller and hiker.
Martyn enjoys encouraging conversation about sustainability and responsible business as well as bringing together stakeholders to tackle challenges.
Passionate about social impact where Martyn often gets involved in employer sponsored projects with local schools and colleges mentoring the students in applying their environmental & sustainability knowledge to a specific challenge.
Tony is keen to promote all aspects of sustainability which impact upon his clients and upon the wider community. Towards this goal he has completed the ICAEW sustainability certificate which enhances the skills required to identify climate related risks and to incorporate performance and financial metrics into risk management, financial planning, and ESG / sustainability reporting.
He regularly delivers business advisory sessions in partnership with our local Chamber of Commerce, and with various educational establishments. Sustainability is naturally featuring in these discussions and Tony is determined that this awareness and education should become commonplace throughout the region as we work towards our zero-carbon goals.
She also has an interest in seeking ways in which to empower children and young people to mitigate the worst effects of the climate and ecological crises and is an active environmental campaigner.
Vicky has lived in Cumbria all her life and would like to see climate change education and greater provision of sustainable catering being provided in Cumbrian schools.
When she’s not campaigning or researching, Vicky loves plant-based baking (and eating!), and getting out in the beautiful local countryside with her family.