Chair, secretary & patron

Mike Berners-Lee
Mike Berners-LeePatron
Mike Berners-Lee consults, thinks, writes and researches on sustainability and responses to 21st century challenges. He’s the founder of Small World Consulting, an associate company of Lancaster University that works with organisations from tech giants to supermarkets. Small World is a leader in the field of carbon metrics and their use. He is a professor at Lancaster University where his research includes sustainable food systems and carbon metrics.

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

Tracey Hart
Tracey HartActing Chair
Tracey is an architect with over 25 years experience and developed an interest in natural materials and sustainable architecture in the 1990s. She is a passionate advocate for low-energy and healthy buildings that make the best use of traditional and modern building methods.

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.

Tim Boden
Tim BodenSecretary
Tim is a retired IT solutions architect and brings a range of technical consultancy and programme management skills. He’s keen to promote greater take-up of community energy solutions in Cumbria, having recently installed solar panels on his own house. He has always been fascinated by Earth sciences and completed an Open University degree in Environmental Studies, which reinforced his interest in low-carbon energy technologies and in mitigating climate change.

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

Adrian Banford
Adrian Banford
Adrian joined CAfS as a trustee in July 2017. He’s currently working part time as a Director of Environmentors Ltd, a small company specialising in evidence gathering for, development of, and the coaching of staff involved in environmental projects..

Adrian has been involved in environmental work throughout his life, working for local and national charities as well as governmental bodies and community enterprises. His main focus is practical environmental and wildlife conservation. Adrian has also brings his knowledge and experience teaching on countryside management for Agricultural Colleges and Universities
He was previously rural development officer with Cumbria County Council, focusing on community and economic development. He’s a board member of Cumbria Wildlife Trust and honorary warden of Smardale Gill National Nature Reserve. Adrian’s also a director a heritage building trust, Cultura and grant giving body Cumbria Waste Management Environment Trust.

Mandy Barnett
Mandy Barnett
Mandy runs MB Associates from Kendal, working around the country with organisations committed to developing their social value, that is their impact on people, prosperity and planet. She is an accredited Social Return On Investment analyst, on the board of Social Value UK and increasingly involved in sustainable wellbeing economics.

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 Foster
Tim Foster
Tim joined CAfs as a trustee in December 2021. He’s currently the Head of Group North for the Field Studies Council, a leading environmental educational charity.

By background Tim is a geographer and a former Chair of the Royal Geographical Society’s NW region. Tim was Head of the Blencathra Centre and promoted low carbon energy solutions to mitigate climate change. This goes some way towards offsetting his earlier career as a planning analyst for ARAMCO, the world’s largest oil company. Tim left the corporate world to ‘make a difference’ working with young people. He has spent most of his career as a senior manager in education and the outdoor sector.

He will be stepping down from the FSC shortly and will be sharing his skills and experience to help CAfS have a positive impact towards building a sustainable economy whilst protecting biodiversity. His recent work has been building resilience in a competitive and complex marketplace against the background of the pandemic.

Tim moved to Cumbria in 2004 and is a former Threlkeld parish councillor.

Associate Trustees